C is for... Contest and a Cause

We had guests at home since a few days and so, I hardly got time with my laptop. Today, when I sat snug in my usual place and thought of writing something on a word starting with the alphabet C for the A to Z challenge, I happened to check Indiblogger.

And guess what, results for this contest were announced and I won the first prize for THIS post! Surprisingly I was not so thrilled because I got that satisfaction when I was trying to gather funds for a good cause. Also, I was sad to see that not many people had written for the same and the contributions made were really less.

A rather blurred screen shot of the contest page

I’ve done a lot of thinking and I fail to understand why this happened. Normally, when we have contests on the same website we get anywhere from 150 to 400 entries. The prizes for this one were as awesome as any blogging activity for shampoo/oil/social application. For this particular contest we had to inspire our readers to give loan to the needy. You could give as little as Rs. 500 (for Indians) or 25$(for foreign nationals). They were not asking us to donate, nor did they tell the bloggers to contribute; they just asked us to write! And most did not. Yes, I will make you feel guilty about it! If you can write a eulogy on a particular oil without even using it, why can't you write a post on small borrowers? *Hint: You can still write about them. The contest might be over, but life goes on.*

Coming to the lenders, when I was talking to them about the firm that sponsored this contest, I faced three problems – One, people thought it could be a scam i.e. the loan will not reach the right people. Two, people pledged to contribute but conveniently forgot. Third and the only genuine reason for not lending was that people had already given loans to their house help/employees and so, they were already doing their bit. 

I was obviously ok with the third. But the fact that people thought it could be sort of a ponzi scheme was ok to start with but frustrating when they did not contribute even after explaining a lot! I mean, there are hundreds of microfinance firms in this world. How come we do not know anything about their operations? The sponsor, which is a 4-year old firm, has all its facts mentioned clearly in black and white. Normally, they connect with NGOs that choose genuine borrowers. The borrowers usually form groups. If one fails to pay back, the whole group suffers. Therefore, in almost all cases, the loan has been repaid. It is as simple as that. 

Secondly, either you don’t commit or you don’t forget! I had to send umpteen reminders to various people. A lot responded well in time and I am really grateful to them for their help. I understand that life can sometimes be very busy and I'm really, really glad that they did take out time to do this. But the ones who did not, hmm, I don’t have anything to say to them. *Hint: You can still contribute whenever you want.*

I am very happy for Blogwati G who, I think, was able to inspire a lot of people from blogosphere. Her post has reaffirmed my faith in this community. Otherwise, seeing the number of entries, my faith was somewhat dwindling.

By far, as a participant, this was the most satisfying marketing activity I have done through this blog. It actually feels useful. Although I wish everyone was as enthusiastic about it as any other challenge. This cause is close to my heart and so the quest doesn’t end here. I would try to keep encouraging people to Loan a Little and Change a Lot. You will too, won’t you?