Cheryl Sing, founder of the Australian charity The Laptop Initiative, is dedicated to bridging the digital divide by providing laptops to those in need, including disadvantaged youth, refugees, and victims of domestic violence.
Cheryl shares the origins of the initiative, the importance of access to technology, and the impact of their campaigns.
She was horrified to learn that over 2.6 million tonnes of e-waste are generated in Australia each year, with some laptops potentially going to people who desperately need them.
The conversation highlights the collaboration with corporate donors and advertising agencies, shares success stories from beneficiaries, and discusses the challenges faced in engaging larger organisations. Listeners are encouraged to get involved and support the cause.
It’s a remarkable story that Cheryl shares with Anton. And she proudly shares that they have also just partnered with Clean Up Australia.
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And you could see the joy and the happiness in her being able to pick out that laptop.
Transcription:
Anton:
Hi, I am Anton Buchner, Business Director at TrinityP3 Marketing Management Consultancy. Welcome again to Managing Marketing, a weekly podcast where we discuss the issues and opportunities facing marketing, media, and advertising with industry thought leaders and practitioners.
Today, I’m talking with Cheryl Sing, the founder of an amazing new charity called The Laptop Initiative. Cheryl’s organization is aimed at bridging the digital divide through access to technology for people in desperate need. And after a stellar career in PR, Cheryl is not only getting corporate donors to get laptops in the hands of people in need, but is creating a real movement and groundswell.
To tell you all about it, it’s with great pleasure that I welcome Cheryl Sing to the Managing Marketing Podcast. Morning, Cheryl.
Cheryl:
Good morning, Anton. And thank you so much for having me. It’s a delightful pleasure to be here.
Anton:
Well, it’s a pleasure for me to have you here because I was introduced to you … oh, has it been over a year ago now? And a dear old colleague or client of mine, Susan Wright, introduced me and said, “You must talk to Cheryl. It’s amazing what she’s doing with The Laptop Initiative.”
So, there’s been no turning back really since we met, had a coffee, and talked about ideas. But what is The Laptop Initiative? Maybe share for anyone who hasn’t seen it so far. What are you doing?
Cheryl:
What am I doing? Well, The Laptop Initiative is a small charity, and fundamentally, we ask corporates who turn over their laptops every three to four years to wipe the data, gift them to me, and then we give those laptops to charities that work with disadvantaged youth, refugees and asylum seekers, and people in domestic violence situations.
We only work through registered charities because we’re not social workers or counselors at all. So, we leave those decisions to the charities to distribute them to those most in need.
Anton:
Indeed. Yeah, which is awesome. And it’s a simple idea when you think about it. I think when you told me about – yeah, but it got me thinking, where do corporates normally send computers? I’ve worked for big organizations, and corporate IT comes and takes your laptop, gives you a new one. So, what did you find? You unearthed, I guess, a whole story of where laptops were going, did you?
Cheryl:
Yes. And not only do corporates turn over their laptops every three to four years (and of course that’s a whole tax write-off thing), but it’s also when they have new employees come along or they just want to upgrade the technology, because you think about auditing firms or graphic design firms or architecture firms, they want the best IT available to them.
So, it’s even, in some cases, more regularly than every four years. And sometimes, companies don’t have a policy on where those laptops will go. And I suppose what we’re doing is raising that question and it’s got a term, a jargon term called-
Anton:
What is it?
Cheryl:
Product stewardship. When you have a concern about the life of that device, and we’re saying to the corporates, “You might have finished with that device at four years or three years or whatever, but there is someone in the community – rather than send it to landfill or don’t even worry about where it goes, we could give that laptop a second life with someone that desperately needs it and it will change their lives.”
Anton:
Yeah, I can imagine. And when we started talking, it’s someone in desperate need, whether it’s someone escaping violence or someone is an asylum seeker who comes with nothing or has nothing. So, we probably take it for granted, but having a laptop to access whatever it may be, banking or search or whatever you need to do, even just writing a document is something fundamental, isn’t it?
Cheryl:
Well, I do think we take it for granted. And if you reflect on how many times a day you use your laptop and the internet, if you then think of a situation where you have a newly arrived Australian with very little language skills who doesn’t know how to access services, who’s looking for employment that’s looking to improve their language skills and learn English and/or just fundamentally reconnect with their family back home in their country of origin, a laptop is so important.
Anton:
So needed, yeah. So, that’s the moment, I guess, isn’t it? The sort of three-year mark if corporates are doing it. And I guess as an employee, I never really thought about the laptop went back to IT. So, this is a while ago because I’ve been out and running my own business and in consultancy.
But I guess many other people think the same, the laptop just goes back to the IT department. Whether that gets recycled or sent somewhere else, who knows? It’s a bit of “out of sight, out of mind.” And you are saying to everyone actually bring it front and center and challenge internally to ask those questions. Can’t they be used again or reused again or repurposed? It’s awesome.
Cheryl:
The reason we only take laptops up to four years old because we don’t refurbish, repair, or do any of that stuff. We have a business model or an operations model. We don’t sell the laptops, we gift them. So, we’re trying to keep our costs in warehousing and repair and all that sort of thing and staff, to a minimum.
Because one of the criticisms of charities is that, of every dollar that goes to a charity, how much actually goes to the charity admin? So, we’re trying to keep our admin costs very low and our model very flat. So, it’s really a networking thing that’s working together.
And at the other end, we’re also trying to help charities that are grassroots and small like us. So, we’re not helping the charities that have turnovers or donations of millions of dollars and who have multiple, multiple staff. We’re a small group of volunteers. Just put on our first halftime person to help us in this space.
So, there’s lots of considerations, but yes, often, we are finding corporates have got storerooms or back pockets full of laptops that they don’t know what to do with or they’ve just forgotten about.
Anton:
Well, there’s the first action. Go to your IT manager in any corporate and just say, “Where the heck are all the laptops?” If there’s a storeroom or something that has them all in, contact The Laptop Initiative. We’ll come to that in a minute.
What I’m really interested to ask you before we go on (because there’s a lot to talk about), what was the gem of the idea? How did you decide that this was even an opportunity?
Cheryl:
Well, I first had exposure to this issue, I think it was 2022, when those Afghan refugees were being flown out of Kabul. And it was a worldwide event that gained great attention. And a family of 32 arrived in Australia with nothing.
They were given emergency visas because of the patriarch of the family was running the Afghan prisons. And the family was in danger, and they were given visas. And a great group of women got together and said, “Oh, look, we’ll help them. We’ll give them clothing, furniture, school bags, etc.”
And I put my hand up. And with a few phone calls, I was able to get like 20 laptops, a couple of iPads, and a phone really easily. And I thought, “Hang on …” They’re all seeing my hand, of course (companies), but I couldn’t work out why I was able to access them so easily. So, it led me down this path of learning about the whole culture of how IT devices are handled in the corporate space.
Then the emotional pull was that I was able to give a laptop to a Ukrainian refugee, a 42-year-old man with two children that had fled the Ukraine. And he was in desperate need of devices because the kids were doing their homework online with a mobile phone from one country to another.
And I was told that when he was actually gifted the laptop from me, he started to cry. And that really hit home for me, and it made me realize the importance a device can make to someone’s life.
Anton:
Yeah, wow, I’m picturing it as you tell that story, and I think we can be desensitized sometimes as people watching the media, and you see the horrors that are happening in Gaza and Ukraine and all sorts of other parts of the world, and often we don’t take action.
I think the fact that you have taken action and gone, “Right, it’s a laptop, it does change someone’s life to give them access (just as you said) to talk to their family if they can back home or wherever they are and reconnect again.” It’s just connection, yeah, I think we take it for granted. That hit home.
So, I guess when I first heard the story from you and we started talking about a year ago, all sorts of things went on in my head, and we started bouncing ideas off each other over a coffee, didn’t we?
Cheryl:
Yes, yes.
Anton:
It was like, “Where could we go with this?” And I think we had ideas of-
Cheryl:
Grandeur.
Anton:
Absolute grandeur. But it felt to me as well … and I work in the advertising industry and the marketing industry, and I thought, “Okay, why don’t we get that side of the industry opened up?” And we talked about why don’t we go to advertising agencies who have clients, and maybe they can get in the door quicker.
How to find the laptops? I guess is one of your early challenges. Who has control over them? Was there leasing arrangements? Where were the laptops actually going? So, I said, “Well, let’s just go to advertising agencies as a first step and put a call out. And the rest went from there. What did you think with that whole idea when we started targeting?
Cheryl:
Well, I think the campaign with the advertising agencies was fabulous. And of course, Anton, I need to thank you and Darren for that because it was an amazing introduction to that space, and it was wonderful.
Some of the advertising agencies came up with some campaigns which were fun. But more importantly, some of the advertising agencies went to those cupboards and gave me wonderful laptops. And they have continued to give me laptops.
Because as you guys would know in the advertising world, it’s easier to keep a repeat donor than go out and find a new donor, and I take that to heart really seriously. So, to have corporate donors and advertising agencies repeat-donate is fabulous. And the advertising agencies have certainly been great, and so that’s been wonderful.
And also, of course, they did have discussions with their clients, which spreads the word. But I suppose the most exciting thing that’s happened out of all of that is that we’ve now got this fabulous campaign that Hook Creative have done as a pro bono for us this year. They came back and said, “We’d love to do this for you.”
And now, it’s on public service announcements on SBS nationally, and is rolled out as an outdoor digital campaign. And I think one of the reasons people have been so excited about that campaign, it is aesthetically beautiful and it’s impactful. And I just can’t thank the Hook Creative guys enough for their fabulous work in that space.
Anton:
Yeah, it’s awesome that they’ve jumped in and really come with the great idea. Being a podcast, explain it to us, explain it to the listeners if they haven’t seen it yet. What is the idea?
Cheryl:
It’s called Wasted Potential (is the campaign), and it gives you images, not of just people that – there are two advertising videos, but one of them is, it shows people trying to use a laptop that’s actually broken, and not being able to access language courses or access to education or access services.
And then showing this is just the wasted potential of all these people because of the waste of the laptops. And it’s very powerfully presented and shows council garbage tips with thousands and thousands of pieces of refuse, which of course, we now know something like 50% of TVs, laptops, and computers actually go to landfill.
Anton:
50%?
Cheryl:
50%. I can’t give you that specific number for laptops because no one collects that data because it’s collected in a clump, but we know that hundreds and thousands of laptops go to landfill because we know roughly 4 million are sold every year. So, we just have to-
Anton:
Yeah, I love the execution when I saw it too, because that idea of sort of the scratchy screen and things stopping and everyone’s had that. And you sort of zap, and then suddenly, you’re in the tip of wherever it is, seeing this refuse of technical gear.
Cheryl:
The other fabulous thing that has happened because of the impact of that campaign is that we were able to approach Clean Up Australia as a potential partner in the eWaste space, and they’ve fabulously come on board, which is way beyond my wildest dreams because they’re such a well-known brand in Australia, in the eWaste space generally.
And they saw the potential of the campaign, and they are supporting us not just by giving their fabulous logo to be on the outdoor advertising, but also, they have their own business partners and are hoping to introduce us to their business partners and have a more in-depth ongoing conversation about how we can collaborate with those organizations going forward.
Anton:
Wow, this is snowballing. I think we felt this when we first met again, if I hark back to it. It just felt, again, an obvious idea, done very well, as you say. You’re talking to corporates and getting in the hands of the right charities and then off to the right people who need. And I keep talking about it as a movement. I think the more people I see you talk to, this snowball of a movement is starting to happen, isn’t it?
Cheryl:
Well, I’m very heartened, this is my first real foray into the charity space as an individual. And I think there’s a couple of things that I would make a comment; we only do laptops, we don’t do phones, we don’t do desktops, we don’t fix them, we don’t do anything. So, our offering to corporates and to charities, we only do this one thing, trying to do it really, really well. So, that’s one thing.
We’re not making money out of it, this is just purely a model to help those in needs within our target audiences. But as you say, I think lots of people go, “This is such a simple idea, it’s such a great idea.” And I’ve been really heartened by the generosity of people that have reached out to me, like you and Darren, and also Hook Creative and all our corporate partners to date, who have been so generous with their time. And it’s heartfelt, it’s wonderful.
Anton:
And well, it is emotional, isn’t it? We’re amazed by what you’re doing. I think, as you said, as a first time, putting your hand up to run a charity is not easy to take that action. But gee, you’ve done it and you’re a powerhouse, I think going, and the way you’re connecting. Cheryl, the powerhouse, I’m going to call you.
Cheryl:
Well, it brings me lots of joy, and I would say our charity partners have been wonderful in that they send me back some fabulous testimonials in video, and pictures, and written which I then (as I said, we cherish our corporate donors) make sure that feedback loop goes back to the corporate donors.
And we shout out and tell people how fabulous the corporate donors are. So, whether it’s through LinkedIn, or our newsletter, or a personal email to the donors, sharing those pieces of information so they can use it in newsletters is really important.
And also, of course, Anton, I have to mention that if a donor gives us laptops, we know that their IT department have done a little bit of work in wiping the data or making sure they’re all neat, clean, and tidy. So, we send them a box of thank-you donuts when we pick up the laptops. And I must say it’s become one of our little signature quirks, and it works really well.
Anton:
Ah, beautiful. Well, so it’s emotional in all angles there, isn’t it? Yeah, thank you and total gratitude, but also the hands of the front line, which is ultimately the story of success.
Can you share some of the successes, the frontline, the type of people … I’ve seen some of the videos, some of the photos of people that are actually receiving laptops.
Cheryl:
There’s this wonderful organization in Perth called Youth Ventures, and they specifically deal with homeless youth from 14 to 25 (and it just shocks me that they’re actually 14-year-olds that are homeless), and they send a lovely photo of one of their 16-year-old young females, and she was transitioning from high school to TAFE so she could earn money to support herself.
Now, your listeners will know, trying to go to any form of higher education or study without a laptop or a device would be an absolute nightmare. While she might have tried to do that and use the TAFE facilities, eventually, she might’ve dropped out because she didn’t have a laptop.
Anton:
All too hard.
Cheryl:
It’s all too hard. So, giving her a laptop and that photo was just lovely. And then I had a lovely video of this young girl in Heather, also at TAFE, who, through one of our charities, they had four of our laptops there, she got to pick her laptop out of this pile of laptops. And she was like 21, so excited, disadvantaged youth, and you could see the joy and the happiness in her being able to pick out that laptop.
One more? One of our charity partners is Creative Bytes that teach online coding workshops to kids in the most remotest parts of Australia, in the desert, in the outback.
And off my own bat, I went up to be with them on the day when they were doing a face-to-face coding workshop. And so, I’m in the middle of the desert, two-hour plane ride north of Perth, with these kids in this library. And the library could only offer (like many of the other Creative Bytes’ venues) the course because they were given a donation of laptops.
So then, rather than just two kids doing the course, they were able to have 12 kids doing the online coding and the workshops. The kids, they’re 10-year-olds, 12-year-olds learning to code and build games.
And they all came in, their parents came in to pick them up, and they were all so excited to be able to attend this course every week and learn how to do this amazing stuff. And it was fun, so much fun. I just laughed the whole time, the kids were so funny, and they were so gorgeous.
Anton:
Of course, so rewarding. Did you say this is boring? I was engrossed, sorry, I was probably – I’m just engrossed in these stories, and I can feel it through what you’re saying. The emotion at the charity or at the frontline, as you said, if a child on the street at 14, it has no access to a computer, gets a laptop, wow.
And I’ve seen some of the videos of thanks and how they’re in tears thanking the charity and you for what you’ve done. You just go, “Oh my God.” I can only imagine someone fleeing either from their own country or from violence where everything’s up in the air.
And whether you come to a new country or a new location, where do you turn? Where do you start? And all the challenges of probably opening bank accounts through to getting a mobile phone, through to just having a computer, a laptop – what a change.
Cheryl:
We had a family in South Australia from Somalia, they arrived, they had eight children. So, how do they help those kids assimilate into the local school without some access to a device? Because every kid at school these days has access.
Anton:
Has a device.
Cheryl:
If you don’t have access to them at home, you can’t do your research, you can’t submit your assignments, you can’t talk to the other kids about what’s going on, and you can’t learn English, in that case, you can’t learn your English. So, in that case, it’s super important for those kids to help them assimilate into the local community.
Anton:
Yeah, it is incredible. So, I go back to the movement. I think it is a movement you’re creating on both sides, that sort of B2B, the corporate donors, and on the end users and the end people in need, it’s a groundswell.
I hope listeners are probably … well, I hope they’re going, “Oh my God, how can I help?” I think that’s the action we’re probably wanting. And then the action probably is a myriad of directions.
Maybe run through what you found in talking to donors, the corporates. Who have you spoken to and what have been some of the hurdles of helping get people to take action? What have you discovered?
Cheryl:
Well, I think that just recognizing that they have – because the C-suite, or the CEO, CFO, and CTOs, sometimes, they actually don’t know where their laptops go. And especially in really large organizations with multiple layers of management, they actually don’t know where the laptops go. So, that’s a really good first question.
And one of the hurdles often is data security. And because (let’s be frank) I don’t want to know someone’s personal bank account details on the corporate side, but on the charity side, we don’t want to give a laptop to a 14-year-old that’s got pornography on it. And I know I keep giving that example, but it’s important on both sides of the equation that data security is taken care of.
And so, we can have discussions with the corporates on how we approach the data security and how they can approach it. But it is in their interest at the end of the day, we have terms and conditions where it’s their responsibility, but if they don’t have that lockdown, we can suggest third-party suppliers that can do-
Anton:
Can clean it or wipe a laptop.
Cheryl:
Yeah, and it’s a minimal cost. So, that’s one of the issues. And the other issue for the corporates is they do want the feedback, and they do want to be assured that their laptop’s not sold. And they also want to know where they’re going. So, we keep a log of where those laptops go.
So, if an organization gave 10 laptops, I can say, “Well, five have gone to the Asylum Seeker Center at Newtown, and five have gone to The Women’s Resilience Center in the Northern Beaches to help victims of domestic violence.” So, we do keep a log, and we give feedback to the corporates.
Anton:
So, there’s a clear audit trail there, so that ticks off corporate social responsibility. Just back to who in the organization have you found has been the best contact? Is it CEO or CTO, or-
Cheryl:
Anyone in the C-suite, really. And the word’s getting out there, and I’m getting more and more contacts through LinkedIn, which has been fabulous because especially within the IT world, that’s an important space for us. And it’s been wonderful.
I’m going to talk to an IT recruiting firm in Brisbane called BlackRock. And they have a regular monthly meeting where they speak to their clients, and 50 IT executives are supposedly bringing along their laptops and their donations and want to learn more about The Laptop Initiative.
So that’s why I suppose that movement (what you’re talking about, Anton) is real, because people are coming to me and saying, “We’d love to hear your message and your story, and we want to help you.” Which is-
Anton:
Heartwarming. Well, yeah, it was just a matter of getting the story out. We’ve just helped to get the tip of the iceberg, I think out there, and it’s going. But yeah, I think that was one of our questions; who would be the main contact? The obvious one was CTOs, I guess we were going to the tech managers.
But I think as we’ve talked, some of the influencers, a CEO who’s all over this and into either environment or into corporate social responsibility requirements, they tend to have come forward to you, haven’t they?
Cheryl:
Yes, because within the whole space of corporates, environmental and social governance is a talking point within the boards of Australian companies. And from the 1st of January this year, there was an auditing requirement for all major companies to actually report on what they are doing in this space of environmental and social governance.
So, it’s much more top-of-mind, especially for CEOs and board members. And today, we’ve been really effective with the small to medium-sized businesses. We’re talking more and more in the big corporate space. But that’s a harder ask because often, they already have leasing agreements and financial agreements, and they’re locked in.
We are talking about ways of having an impact in that space. So, but on that small to medium-sized businesses, it’s really the CEO that pushes it through to the C-suite executives. We really need to do something about this. And can I give you just another little anecdote or story?
Anton:
Sure.
Cheryl:
One of the fabulous ad agencies that have been a repeat donor (because I had visited the Pilbra, and they store their laptops in place in the desert), I sent them back some photos and said, “I know it’s been months after your donation, but I’d thought you’d love to see your laptops.”
And that particular contact wrote back and said, “Cheryl, this is great timing because we are going through some difficult issues and times and merges and all those sorts of things. And this is a lovely good-news story to send back to the staff who are so excited about your program.” So, it can have benefits for the corporates as well.
Anton:
Yeah, I think it’s fabulous because we did have, oh, 20-plus agencies get on board and help in a myriad of ways. Some just one or two laptops, others could get you five, and others have put you in touch with their clients. So, yeah, it’s been a great involvement from different advertising agencies.
What about the type of charities that you support? So, just to be clear, you are getting laptops from corporates that are still having potential cleaned, completely wiped, et cetera, and then handed off to charities, you’ve mentioned a few. How do you go about finding those charities or other frontline charities?
Cheryl:
There’s a couple of ways. Sometimes, it’s word of mouth from a charity that we’re already working with that we respect the work that they’re doing. They’re smaller charities, as I said, they’re grassroots charities with not a lot of funding or donations.
So, one of the things we can actually do if it’s a charity that we don’t know, we go onto the ACNC, which is the register for charities in Australia, and it’s part of the Australian Taxation Office. And you can see a snapshot of the financials of how much money they’re getting and where it’s coming from.
So, I do that as a check. And frankly, if they’re getting millions and millions of dollars and they’ve got 85 staff, it’s probably a no from us because they can go out and find their own laptops.
Anton:
Too big, yeah.
Cheryl:
But if I go on and find they’ve got one staff and they’ve got mostly volunteers, and their budgets are less than $500,000, they’re a smaller charity, even like 70,000 or $80,000. And then often when I go visit them, I can see when I drop off the laptops, they’re selling secondhand clothes, they are selling chocolates, they are running sausage sizzles.
Anton:
It’s tight, yeah.
Cheryl:
It’s tight. And the staff on the front desk are volunteers. So, they’re the ones we’re going to help. But there are some exceptions. For example, The Newtown Asylum Seeker Center, which have been a long-term partner with us, I go there, they’re a hive of activity. They’ve got people of every country, origin standing there waiting for help.
And they have a waiting list always of a hundred people waiting for laptops. And the only reason their waiting list is not longer is people give up and think, “We’re never going to get a laptop.” The other interesting thing to mention for them is that with some of the financial uncertainty and global issues, they’ve seen a drop-off of donations because they will receive and donate laptop devices directly.
And they fix them a little bit and do all that sort of stuff, and they will take them up to eight years old. They are seeing a drop-off in donations, so they really value the devices we’re able to give them.
Anton:
What thing’s driving that? Do you think people are holding onto devices longer or it’s a copy of donation?
Cheryl:
I think it’s a combination of uncertainty, cost of living, a whole range of – I’m not quite sure, but that’s sad.
Anton:
It’s the age-old, “There’s pressure everywhere,” of course. But I think the two big wake-up calls for me listening to you talk, one is, anyone in corporate. In C-suite in corporates, talk to your manager, talk to your IT departments, and find out if their laptops that at least have some potential that aren’t on leasing arrangements or some other arrangement (first step).
Second step, if there’s anyone who works in charities relatively smaller or mid-sized, as you say, doing it tough and they just have people waiting for help on the front line, put Cheryl and this Laptop Initiative in contact.
I sound like I’m doing a promotion for you, but please, I think it’s one of those callouts, wakeups where you go, “We know things are difficult, but please try and help, even if it’s one laptop or five laptops putting in touch to a charity. Let’s start to get connected.” And as you say, the demand is there, people desperately need them.
Cheryl:
Yeah, the demand is there. And sometimes the charities use the laptops in different ways, and that’s fine. For example, one charity that’s working with the Somalian community on digital literacy in Northern Melbourne, we were able to gift them 12 laptops, and rather than give those to individuals, they keep those 12 laptops so they can teach 12 people at a time continuously as part of their program. So, they’re helping many more people.
And The Women’s Resilience Center in Northern Beaches that I’ve mentioned, we’ve been able to supply them with a number of laptops. So, the women who can’t have devices at home because of security, they can come into the center and use the devices.
Anton:
As a safe space or safe environment.
Cheryl:
So, sometimes there’s slightly different models for the charities, but that’s fine. Our agreement with the charities is, you don’t sell them, you give them to those in most need. And if you do give it to an individual, you spend a little bit of time with them to get them on board so they can work out how to use it and get onto the internet and that sort of thing.
Anton:
And look, as things unfold, I’m sure there’re going to be a myriad of other uses as well as you get different types of charities on board. But I love hearing the … because you’re right, you hear a lot of the lack of transparency with charities, but you are 100% transparent.
There’s an audit log, you know where it goes to, and you’re closing the loop on his examples of how they’re being used and fabulous stories from people in need as a little moment in their life that’s challenging and difficult and dangerous and all those great emotions for people.
How can people get involved? I don’t normally ask for calls to actions, but this is really important. How can people touch base with The Laptop Initiative?
Cheryl:
Of course, you can find me on LinkedIn and The Laptop Initiative on LinkedIn. But also, we have a fabulous website that will tell you all about how to become a corporate hero, which is the term we use for our donors.
Anton:
What’s the URL, Cheryl?
Cheryl:
URL, thelaptopinitiative.com.au.
And we’re very good at updating our new stories. So, you can see the latest things that we are doing, and subscribe to our newsletter would be fabulous.
Anton:
Awesome. Okay, so if everyone listening here can take a bit of action, thelaptopinitiative.com.au is the best place to start. And yeah, join Cheryl on LinkedIn is a really good bet, and The Laptop Initiative on LinkedIn.
Cheryl Sing, S-I-N-G, for those that haven’t read all the script on our website, but yeah, that’d be fantastic. Cheryl, I’ve really enjoyed talking to you. And you are getting an interview, I think tomorrow as well, on a radio network.
Cheryl:
Yes, ABC Radio with Craig Reucassel, it’s very exciting and on ABC TV news breakfast program.
Anton:
The story’s getting out.
Cheryl:
The story’s getting out, yeah.
Anton:
This is awesome. And you’re on SBS TV. Did you say SBS?
Cheryl:
Yes.
Anton:
For the next month or couple months?
Cheryl:
Yes, for the month of July and August.
Anton:
Brilliant. Cheryl, look, awesome to touch base. I think we should do another one in 12 months. And we’ll start to compare the stats of, again, more people you’ve helped and more charities.
Cheryl:
Hopefully, it’s into thousands then.
Anton:
We’ll start doing thousands and then we’ll do the tens of thousands, one.
Cheryl:
That would be fabulous.
Anton:
And for those that still can’t take any action, maybe they’ll be enticed by the donuts, I think that might just tip people over the edge. As a corporate donor, you’ll get some donuts as a beautiful thank you.
Look, thanks again. We’ve run out of time, Cheryl, but we’ll pick it up again, hopefully in 12 months’ time. Really appreciate you sharing your wisdom and what you’re doing.
Cheryl:
My pleasure, and thank you for helping me help those who need a laptop.
Anton:
As I said, I’m one tiny part that myself and Darren and TrinityP3 have done. But yeah, we’re really loving what you’re doing.
Thanks, again.
Cheryl:
Thank you, Anton.
Anton:
If you enjoyed this episode of The Managing Marketing Podcast, then please either like, review, or share it to help spread the words of wisdom.
And as we said, please log on to thelaptopinitiative.com.au or connect with Cheryl on LinkedIn and join The Laptop Initiative on LinkedIn, and look for more stories.
Bye for now.
