Cox asks donors to say bollocks to male cancer

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 1 Jun 2007

Move over children, donkeys and guide dogs. The traditional host of ‘Adopt a…’ schemes are being challenged by a new idea from the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign which asks supporters to Adopt a Bollock.

The quirky face-to-face campaign, which launches on 1 June, will invite donors to pay £7 a month to adopt the charity’s mascot and icon ‘Mr Testicles’. The marketing and printing for the campaign has been supported by a £3,000 social entrepreneur award from UnLtd, which the charity is hoping to use to generate £400,000 of income over two years.

In July Patrick Cox (pictured), chief executive of the charity, is planning to embark on a 20-day hitch-hike from Lands End to John O’Groats dressed as a giant pair of testicles to get people to sign up to the campaign through direct debit. “The adopting scheme has worked well for other charities,” he said. “I have limited the adoptees to 4,000 supporters nationwide and I want to provide the best in supporter care and maintain a high retaining rate.

“We only have seconds to grab men’s attention and realistically we’re in the same market as Apple, Nike and Playboy who are all fighting for UK male’s attention, except we don’t have their multi-million pound marketing budget. We have to be clever and resourceful so laughter is the key. If we can make you smile and grab your attention we can then educate you that we’re a positive charity and believe we can provide lasting change in the fight against cancer using education,” he added.

Who's Who: Gemma Ware | Patrick Cox

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