Description:

It takes over $50,000 to train one guide dog, with all funds coming from donations. But in the tough economic times of 2025, fundraising is facing immense difficulty as people chose to tighten belts. Trusted, reliable channels such as direct mail were also showing declining returns as the potential donor base began to age out. We had to build new, warmer leads from a younger, differently motivated generation.

Doggy Doonations. To be truly effective, we needed to hyper-target a demographic most likely to empathise with the cause of guide dog training, realising that New Zealand’s 850,000+ dog owners were a sitting target. But we needed to reach out with something that would truly motivate donations with a genuine value exchange. So we grabbed something dog lovers already used in their thousands, every day - doggy poop bags - and turned them into a donation mechanism. Boxes of twenty biodegradable poop bags were packaged and designed in a fun, relevant and unmissable way, for $20 a box plus shipping, and all proceeds going to directly fund training of guide dogs.

The box itself was a nod to the “source” of the donations, with a simple lid opening mechanism that involves lifting the “tail” to open the box, revealing a hole for removal of each bag. The playful design uses bright yellow and black high contrast, like the tools used to assist low vision people, with typography reflecting international accessibility guidelines such as minimum point size and left aligned copy blocks. This, combined with humorous copy and fun branding also made it memorable for repeat purchases, leaping out at points of sale such as vet clinics, pet stores, and supermarkets. Packaging was enabled by a partnership with proud employer of neurodiverse and differently-abled people, Will & Able.

The playfulness, boldness and hi-visibility look extended at every touchpoint, with targeted posters placed along well-known dog walking areas and urban metro locations, with a simple QR code to make purchase simple and easy - itself embedded with a witty poop icon. Purchase was through a simple, hi-vis Shopify enabled page that made buying effortless.

Blind Low Vision NZ is now developing Doggy Doonations as an always-on revenue fundraising stream, with nearly half the stock sold after just the first week. It’s more than just a fun box of poop bags: it’s a whole new way of seeing Blind Low Vision NZ for a new audience, and the beginning of new opportunities and channels for future fundraising.