Nothing But Nets Champions Prove That There’s Power in Numbers

Effective change requires two components: a strong message, and people power.  If you can manage to create both, you’ll also likely create long-lasting results.

This past World Malaria Day, April 25, meant that April 2018 was an ideal period for creating such results. The omnibus spending bill had just passed with full funding for the Presidents Malaria Initiative and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and Members of Congress remained more likely to take action around World Malaria Day than at other points throughout the year.

The Nothing But Nets team designed the message, but our champions brought the people power.

Throughout the month of April, Nothing But Nets champions hosted 31 World Malaria Day events across the country. These events ranged in structure and objective, some focusing on advocacy and recruitment and others on fundraising. The results were staggering:

• Chip Huber, in collaboration with Cornerstone University’s Night of Nets campaign, hosted a philanthropically-charged 5k run that saw participation from over 100 students and raised $3,100.
• Justin Adjasu and Sean Darcy, two high school Juniors from Chula Vista California, hosted a Students vs. Teachers charity basketball game to engage their classmates around the issue of malaria and raise almost $500 for Nothing But Nets.
• William Eger, Karla Alas Rivera and others hosted tabling events at their respective college campuses, recruiting new individuals to join the fight to defeat malaria and raising funds along the way.

We know we have amazing champions – but they exceeded our expectations! Overall, we saw 2,400 individuals engage around the issue of malaria in April, with many signing up to learn more about our campaign and how they can join the fight.

Over $10,000 was raised – and this World Malaria Day, all gifts were tripled. That means our champions were able to raise enough funds to send 3,000 lifesaving bed nets last month!

Three events were featured on local news outlets, expanding their reach far beyond what was originally expected. In addition, over 150 people posted on social media urging their communities and Members of Congress to support the fight to end malaria, and seven members responded in kind, with positive words about World Malaria Day and their support for this important cause.

Strategic messaging plus passionate champions equaled a very successful grassroots advocacy moment around World Malaria Day. We hit all our major benchmarks: We raised funds, recruited new volunteers, and called our leaders to action.

World Malaria Day may have come and gone, but as our champions know, when it comes to the fight to end malaria we can’t take our foot off the gas pedal. There’s critical work yet to be done – and we’re grateful to have our champions on our team to help defeat malaria for good! 

If you want more information on becoming a Nothing But Nets Champion, visit our champions homepage.