Mini-Case: Runa Raises $5,000 for Education Scholarships

About Fundación Runa?
Fundación Runa provides tools and resources to indigenous communities and farmers’ associations working towards their vision of sustainable development in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Runa focuses on three core areas: social empowerment, community development, and environmental management.

Campaign Techniques
Runa sought to raise $5000 to send two indigenous leaders, Ernesto Huatatoca and Patricio Andy, to an MBA program sponsored by USAID. Runa needed to reach as many of their constituents and possible donors around the world in a short amount of time.

Runa is based in Ecuador and has a very strong presence in the U.S. and Europe because of their for-profit tea business. An online campaign would allow them to reach all of their supporters around the world. CauseVox made it simple to create their fundraising site and allowed supporters the opportunity to create their own donation pages toward their cause.

Runa promoted this opportunity through their social media networks as well as including it in their monthly newsletter. They focused their communications on Patricio and Ernesto to personalize the message and motivated people to donate. By just sending a link to family and friends, Runa was able to reach their goal. They also made it easy for donors to share the campaign with their networks as well.

Campaign Results
The results were fantastic. Fundación Runa raised $5,000 to send two indigenous leaders, Ernesto Huatatoca and Patricio Andy, from the Ecuadorian Amazon to attend an innovative MBA program co-financed by USAID at the Escuela Politécnica del Ejercito (ESPE). During their studies, they will work with Runa to apply their skills to solve real world business problems in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They will also commit to working in the Amazon for at least three years after graduating.