BABSON PARK, Mass. (December 9, 2014) – SaveOhno Inc. launched a Kickstarter campaign last week to promote and fundraise its climate change web platform, SaveOhno.org, which will launch in early 2015. The team has already raised 40% of its Kickstarter goal, and is looking to garner support from the local Babson and Wellesley community as they move forward.
SaveOhno.org attempts to educate and drive legislative progress on the issue of climate change through gamification and social media.
“‘Ohno’ is a character that represents the site visitor’s great granddaughter, and she is living far in the future, in a time seriously affected by the climate change caused from today,” said SaveOhno.org cofounder Dylan Husted. When people visit SaveOhno.org, they see Ohno’s town get destroyed by extreme weather. Then, it’s up to them to rebuild it by taking action in the real world, through the platform.
Ohno’s town improves every time users participate in any of 5 core activities. They can:
· Start and support local petitions to drive legislation on fossil fuel divestment or renewable energy implementations
· Launch or join online protests where people speak out against political inaction or corporate irresponsibility on Twitter and Facebook
· Launch or contribute to crowdfundable social media ad campaigns to boost awareness of SaveOhno initiatives
· Contact political representatives to voice their opinions on legislation and climate change in general
· Start a ‘Create Your Own’ campaign that allows them to create any climate change initiative they want, as long as they comply with SaveOhno’s rules.
However, if a user is inactive for extended periods of time, Ohno’s town begins to regress again. In addition, users gain ‘Hero Points’ and badges to create a public profile of what they’ve accomplished.
“Gamification is a very powerful tool for incentivizing and educating people, and that’s exactly what we need to do to get more Americans involved in this issue,” said Husted, SaveOhno’s President and Chief Technology Officer. “But that’s only half the battle. We also need to provide people with the ability to easily drive change by voicing opinions, which is really the core functionality of SaveOhno.org.”
The Kickstarter campaign is in full swing, garnering 22% of its goal within 6 hours of its launch and a total of 40% after 1 week. “This is a very exciting opportunity to create a community of SaveOhno users who are involved with the project from the beginning,” said Neil Narain, SaveOhno’s Chief Marketing Officer. The campaign serves to create an active community and generate the financial backing necessary to launch the platform and reach more people in addition to the crowdfunding community. In fact, every dollar donated to the campaign results in approximately 13 more people who see a SaveOhno ad on social media websites.
SaveOhno.org and its Kickstarter campaign have been meticulously designed to facilitate climate action in a fun way. “Using playful yet serious design elements results in a fun and easy way to create impact in society,” said Will Felix, SaveOhno’s Chief Design Officer. “If a platform can make the issue of climate change hit home to every American without overwhelming them, we can create real change in this country.” This is evidenced by the fun and happy looking character whose name happens to be ‘Ohno,’ which instills a sense of seriousness and urgency.
