IDEP: Tsunami Relief and Recovery PR Project

Nonprofit foundations are notorious remiss in getting credit where credit is due. The problem is often a lack of understanding, planning and foresight regarding effective media coverage for their work and its benefits to society.

IDEP Foundation (http://www.idepfoundation.org/), a GIVE program partner, has spent all of 2005 gearing its once-sleepy Balinese foundation toward Indonesia tsunami relief and recovery efforts.

Almost immediately after the earthquake and tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004, IDEP leapt into action. They drew from their vast network of connections in Bali and throughout the Indonesia NGO community to boatlift aid packages and down the coast of Sumatra, the hardest hit in Indonesia.

Before the Red Cross and other large international aid groups were even cleared for landing, IDEP was delivering aid into the most remote, and desperately in need areas. Leasing or borrowing boats from sources including surf and dive businesses, they assembled a team of volunteers that made a real difference in the lives of many.

Yet, they received almost no press coverage, despite the fact that they delivered over US $330,000 in aid.

GIVE has awarded a professional service grant to help IDEP gain media exposure for their work in Indonesia.

GIVE will provide marketing and public relations via its Marketers Without Borders program (http://giveindonesia.org/marketerswithoutborders.htm), taking advantage of the window of opportunity in late December as the world marks the one-year anniversary of the tsunami.