Little Steps Matter are an animal charity based in Tabanan, the largest regency (like a county or state) in Bali, Indonesia. I met the founder Sabine during the pandemic in late 2020, and was able to see first-hand how much they were struggling to make ends meet, and how important the work was that they were doing.  Too many dogs and cats were being born on the island, most ending up on the street to fend for themselves, eating out of trash bins. Many were covered in mange, fleas and ticks, or struggling with other conditions, and there was a severe lack of awareness among the local people around animal care. 

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Sabine was doing her best to make a difference in her local area, using her own life savings to finance food for street animals, treatment for skin conditions, and the occasional sterilisation. However, she was overworked and feeling the misery of trying to support so many devastated animals, and there seemed to be no end in sight. She had started an Instagram page and achieved several hundred followers, but the regular donations were paltry. However she had some great images that she had taken of her success stories, healing many street animals or rescuing them from a caged or unloved life. 

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Working remotely from the UK, my initial focus was to create a new website that better showcased the animals dire need in Bali, and the incredible work she was doing to combat it, while also making it much easier for people around the world to donate. I built a new website from scratch, devising the layout and all website copy, and implemented new tools for donation, like Donorbox. We included a page that shared the ancient and majestic history of the Bali dog (one of the oldest breeds that are known of) and gave detailed insight into the work the foundation was doing to make as big an impact as possible.

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From here, we slowly began sharing more and more content through Facebook and Instagram and devised a plan to improve the video content around rescues. I began liaising with a contact at The Dodo, a well-known animal video platform. The first video was picked up in May 2021 achieving 4.6 million views within the first week, and the second in December 2021, achieving even more. 

 

I then created a strategy around partnering with an Indonesian pet food brand to provide promotion of their brand to our growing following, in exchange for a large amount of dog and cat food. We created a successful 3 month partnership beginning in August 2021, that generated several tonnes of food for street animals, whilst giving some great 'halo marketing' exposure to the pet food brand. 

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From this point Sabine was keen to ramp up the charities' efforts, and had found some land with buildings that would be the perfect layout for an animal shelter. I created an in-depth presentation document that included the impact projections and relevant financial needs, and we began reaching out to potential investors. However, at the same time, in early January 2022, our efforts on social media were rewarded, as a video went viral. Suddenly, the social following that we had fought so hard to build over the past year, now leapt up effortlessly, and donations began rolling in. Over the 3 weeks that followed, the Instagram following grew to over 93,000, and soon there was adequate funding to buy and rebuild the 'Safe House' rehabilitation centre as planned.

 

To this day, the charity continues to grow, with their Instagram following currently exceeding 295,000, while donations are beyond the wildest dreams of the founder when we first met :)  

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