Cotlands Adventures of the Little 5

Taking a ‘little’ adventure through nature with a non-profit

The power of play is extraordinarily important in igniting little sparks of creativity in the little people of this world. As one of the fundamental building blocks in early childhood development, play gives room for little ones to learn, engage and grow. This is what Cotlands strives to do, to provide young South African children with the means to explore and flourish at a foundational level.

However, the NGO space is cluttered with the noise of requests for donations and funding in their valiant quests to support those who have little support of their own. The question that begs asking is, “how does a non-profit such as Cotlands, generate more donations and create loyal donors without begging?”

Cotlands approached the agency with a simple yet important challenge – to conceptualise an engaging way in which donors and their families could still contribute to Cotland’s efforts while enjoying fun activities together during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The answer? Create a fun activity book for kids to complete by themselves or together as a family.

The concept had legs, and we grew the activity book into a fully-fledged digital experience, recording videos with Cotland’s play facilitators whereby they explained the activities in the book. A QR code from the printed book could be scanned, leading the user to the Cotlands YouTube page to watch and follow along. This element added a digital push for Cotlands, allowing them to add content to their YouTube page, garnering followers and future visits.

My role in the project included the design of the book, strategic direction, and creative execution and direction of all creative elements. A senior designer assisted on the project and we collaborated on the execution of the book itself. The positioning of Cotlands, “Igniting potential through play” was embodied in the piece of work and took a practical, simple idea to the next level.

The activity book was well-received by all and fostered new donors. Edition 2 of the book is currently underway (2021) and the client has high hopes of it garnering further new donors.

Follow Cotlands YouTube Channel to see more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6n85ewiMZo&list=PL_PX4av0HFMPL2KsNu9WqNJLqcm9G4i7P