Adrian's comment

[Guide]

Hey there guys. Probably the employees who read such letters have the question "what's in it for my company?" embedded in their little heads and this is all they think about after thery read the words "donation" or "money". I think that just adding a link to the company's site isn't enough.  

I think it would be better to present the marketing(like free publicity) possibilites for their companies. We should underline that we have direct contact with the largest 2 rosacea discussion boards with 7000+ members.  

Eventually, we could also offer to list their products with brief descriptions on a section of the website.

I also think that companies usually donate for Awareness campaigns. This is a sort of free publicity for them, done through a respectable non-profit. Maybe we should state that money will be used for awareness campaigns and research?

I'll post some more thoughts tomorrow. What do you think?

Regards,

Adrian

I like your ideas Adrian and we need to funnel your energy into something so we can use it. Maybe you would synergize others to help.

As to mentioning our 'direct contact with the largest 2 rosacea discussion boards' we should remember that the RRDi is officially connected to the Rosacea Forum as the public forum to discuss rosacea. However, the RRDi is not connected to any other board. Many of the members of the RRDi are members of other boards. Not all these other boards are supporting the RRDi directly or indirectly.

I think we should indeed look into AWARENESS campaigns since companies sponsor such events. The NRS has a 'Rosacea Awareness Month' in which they no doubt get such sponsorship from pharmaceutical companies.

At this point, we are just beginning to send out letters to find out what the response is from the major pharmaceutical companies. Jenny's letters are a good start and we will probably be doing this for months, if not years, before we find out what we are doing.

Another route to take is to hire grant writers which is what many non profits do, along with hiring many other professionals to do the work that the RRDi is doing with volunteers. Volunteers are nice, but the sad fact is that volunteering has its limits. Most people don't have the time to volunteer and need to be paid for their services.

Patience is the word with volunteers. Whatever anyone volunteers for, they should be commended and appreciated. And Adrian, I appreciate your thoughts. I hope we can use your energy to get some of your ideas working.