NZ’s Top Tee Designer is Found

Andrew Harbott, one of our designers from the Mental Health Foundation 2008 collection (the Normal is Over-rated horse/unicorn design), has made it into the ranks of NZ's top tee designer!!

Andrew will have his winning design created into a t-shirt, which will be sold throughout Hallensteins stores nationwide. His t-shirt will be part of an impressive collection of designs by some of New Zealand’s leading graphic designers and artists, such as Otis Frizzell, Stephen Richardson, Shine, Inhouse, Federation and the Bro’ Town illustrators who have collaborated with Scribe.

In-store and online from mid-November, $10 from every t-shirt sold will be donated to Make-A-Wish NZ, with each dollar going directly towards making wishes come true for children with life threatening illnesses.
Awesome work Andrew!! : )

Spring cleaning sale

Everything must go!

Women die needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth everyday in the Pacific. At the global level, every minute another woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth. That is VERY scary (talking as a mum, my labour/birth was already hard enough here in New Zealand)....and to think that it is a preventable tragedy!

On 22nd October 2009, Family Planning International will proudly present 'Safe and Sound', a music concert in support of maternal and related sexual and reproductive health in the Pacific.

A selection of New Zealand female artists will perform at the San Francisco Bathhouse in Wellington. They include Lisa Tomlins, Jess Chambers, Iva Lamkum, Tessa Rain, Bella Kalolo and DJ Ayesha.

Buy your ticket now from Under the Radar or Real Groovy in support of maternal health in the Pacific. Note that this event is R18.

Reading KR Connect: Change the World? Why Not gave me an encouraging oomph. I could especially relate to this part:

If you want to know what the road looks like, here's an idea. In trying to pursue your dreams, you will fail. A lot. And it will hurt. A lot. But you will get back up. And that will feel good.

To say you will have the boundaries of what is courageous for you pushed will be an understatement. Sometimes you won't find the courage, and that too, will hurt. Sometimes, a lot.

But with each challenge, you will grow stronger. And you will learn, as I am learning, that the reward of living life in a world where everything remains forever possible is a reward far greater than any material prize could ever be.

So now I must live up to the seed I have sown, and the very idea of trying to do that terrifies me. The 99 percent is already telling me I'll fail and stuff it all up. However, in reality, that just means I have another opportunity to prove those voices wrong.

So, my question to you is this;

Are you ready to Change the World?

Because you are only one choice away.
On the more cynical side, even with all the positive speak, one blogger put it well: "your actions will speak louder."

A lot of the times, it feels like thehinitiative (or I!) haven't made a bittiest difference to anyone anywhere. There are so many other clothing labels & businesses doing more, faring better, going farther - it's so easy to compare! So, it's when I get feedback like below, that really helps keep thehinitiative & I going. It's feedback from a long time ago but something to be held on to : )
Thanks so much for the t-shirts-they are so cool!! We love them. I am a teacher and my students have been asking about them-so we have had a great discussion about the reasons for movember, mental health and children in crisis.
As a result my students have brought in money amounting to $40 which we are going to spend on the oxfam website buying gifts that keep on giving.
Just wanted to let you know what differences wearing the very cooly designed tshirts-has made!!
- from a teacher of 12-13 year olds in South Auckland, December 2008.

Eat so they can


I have to admit, I was a bit cynical about this at first glance - Eat so they can?

But upon reading more into it, it's really all about friends/community, and using something as simple as a home cooked meal & inviting others around to help collect funds for a worthy cause.

You could host a brunch, a lunch, a dinner, a cocktail party, a bbq - and your guests will just need to contribute e.g. $10 donation towards it.

Donations go to the Global Volunteer Network Foundation Global Children's Fund set up especially to aid children living in poverty.

It's meant to all happen this weekend - so anyone up for an impromptu meal with friends? : )

In response to Seth Godin's the problem with non(-profits) , Jeff of the Donor Power blog mentioned something that was close to home:

Our #1 problem is hatred of fundraising and donors. Hardly any nonprofit was founded in order to raise funds. But most depend on fundraising to exist. This seems to fuel a sort of resentment of the craft and of donors that blocks effective, donor-focused communication. Organizations with this problem yearn for "better" donors that don't need the "demeaning" tactics of effective fundraising. They spend needless millions on this failed alchemy experiment. (Read the full blog post: Seth zeros in on our third-worst problem )
I wonder if fundraising can feel like a dreaded chore. Something that has to be done to keep things in good order, but frankly, you'd rather spend your time doing something else? Is it a hassle to hunt down something to fundraise with that will work for you or the organisation, having to find funds to pay upfront for it (if it's product related?), then trying to sell it and/or convince others to get it.

A quick look at the typical fundraising product scene came up with:
Note: This is just a list of things found, not a list of recommendations : )

....but what other fundraising ideas are out there? Product or non-product related?

What works better for the organisation that's trying to raise funds? (so that it's not so dreary)

Or (more importantly?), what works better for the people/supporters who are buying / donating towards it?

New Mental Health Foundation tees!!!

The latest range of limited edition Mental Health Foundation t-shirts have been released as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2009!

This year thehinitiative was only involved in the design stage, providing designers with a brief and then passing it onto the Mental Health Foundation for them to take further. Due to the economic recession & its financial impact on thehinitiative, we had been (sadly) unable to run any further t-shirt campaigns or produce new collections for our charities.

So....haven't the Mental Health Foundation done an awesome job with the t-shirt collection?! : )

Design credit goes to the lovely Mari Pettersson and the designs relate well to the Mental Health Awareness Week theme, Winning Ways to Wellbeing.

The full collection is now available from the Mental Health Foundation's online shop with t-shirts selling for $45 each. Every sale raises money for the Mental Health Foundation. T-shirts from previous years' collections are also available for purchase from the Mental Health Foundation's online shop (note: they are no longer available from thehinitiative's online shop).