A tense atmosphere as the Winner of the Fundraising Award went head-to-head with the Winner of the Accessibility Category. The Prize? The much sought after 2012 Winner of Winners Trophy.

The voting system was measured with light sensitivity using glowsticks, created by BAFTA-Award winners Plug-In Media. A spectacular display of vibrant colours filled the auditorium as voters waved  their glow sticks (some got a little hysterical with enthusiasm) in favour of who they wanted to win. It was a nail biting finish as Child’s i Foundation pipped LexAble to the post to scoop the top trophy. 

About Child’s i Foundation

Child’s i Foundation finds imaginative solutions to the problem of child abandonment in Uganda and has successfully developed a blend of online and offline fundraising. At its heart, the work of the charity is collaborative and social media has been used to build a strong community and keep supporters up to date.

Already over 25% of its donations are made online and a recent campaign raised £10,000 in 48 hours for a life-saving operation for baby Joey – an abandoned baby who had recently been adopted. Best In Show Winners in 2011 Lifelites boosted their fundraising by £100,000 after winner a T4G Award. We talk to Kirsty Stephenson from Child’s i all about their T4G experience: 

1.       What made you decide to enter the awards last year?

Child’s i Foundation is reliant on its community of supporters, not just for fundraising and helping finance many of their projects, but on volunteers lending their skills to run campaigns and contribute to the website.

The strong community that has built up around Child’s i Foundation has been facilitated by the use of the internet and online social network sites, including Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Flickr. The internet provides the opportunity to share and exploit our most powerful asset – our story. We’ve been able to keep supporters updated using video, photos, blog posts and status updates. A critical part of our offering is that the entire proposition of the charity is collaborative, and the technology reflects and supports that.

We thought the Awards were a perfect opportunity to recognise how crucial technology has been in achieving our goals and celebrate our amazing community.

2.       How did you feel from being shortlisted, to winning your category, to battling it out for the top spot and winning? 

We were absolutely thrilled to shortlisted – especially considering the number of applicants in a competitive category. We were honoured to win – and genuinely surprised. Battling for the top spot was nerve-wracking to say the least but a lot of fun. It always fills me with pride to tell the story of Child’s i Foundation and thoroughly enjoy the well-deserved enthusiastic response that it receives though. 

3.       Where do you keep your T4G trophy?

Currently one award is on my mantelpiece and the other is on Matthew Knight’s (Voluntary Head of Tech). They are pieces of craftsmanship. 

4.       How did you find the Tech4Good Awards Experience?

It was such an enjoyable day. There was a real spirit of being in it together and sharing and enjoying the success of all of the great things others are doing.

5.       What has changed for Child’s i since winning Digital Fundraising Award?

It gave us great impetuous to continue to challenge ourselves with technology. It is easy to succeed and then rest on your laurels. Since then we have embarked on the new challenge of mobile fundraising in partnership with Open Fundraising. We’re aware that people are on their smartphones all the time and we can share information and video updates with our donors. It’s a complimentary technology to our social platforms.

6.       What does the Future hold for Child’s i?

We will endeavour to keep on finding families for abandoned children, building our community and sharing our story to our supporters.