We have not yet used direct mail, but would like to begin reaching out to donors and even volunteers through this proven marketing method. We’d still need to develop a database before we can get started on this, and come up with some branded materials to send out that won’t just wind up in the recycle bins.

bUneke started attending community events in 2018 with little more than our smiles and some inexpensive business cards and we quickly learned how hard it is to attract volunteers, let alone donors and sponsors with just a website and an invitation to “check out our free digital magazine.” When meeting strangers face-to-face, they expect and almost require something physical. Especially when these strangers meet at a festival or other public event, because they want to visit all the vendors and may not have time for deeper conversations. So, we started printing copies of our magazines, which became our new calling cards. But this became quite expensive! Our first year, we printed 100 copies of 12 issues ranging from 20 pages up to 80.

For one year, because of another grant, we were able to print 1,000 copies! bUneke is a charity that helps other charities be seen and heard and we keep finding the most amazing organizations to write about. As the editor, my list of potential charities to cover currently has 1,615 names on it, but we don’t just tell stories about other charities.

We started holding our own event called MetaFest in October 2022 and like our magazines, this event is held three times a year. It became the best way to distribute our magazines to the most people, as well as the best way to introduce local charities and philanthropic entrepreneurs to our audience. We've learned that people love to read well-written stories about people who are working to make the world better. We also learned that the humans behind the businesses like to align with us, so they can support us, if only in social shares.

bUneke Magazine is filled with stories of charitable organizations and philanthropic businesses like Conquest Graphics, as well as individuals who haven't incorporated their kindness. In fact, since 2018, bUneke Magazine has worked with volunteers from 28 countries, ranging in age from 11 to 93 to help tell more than 600 stories about other charities and artists and musicians and scientists and experts in dozens of field and, well, I think you get the idea. We tell good stories about good people doing good things every day.

bUneke isn't on the front lines making history, like Dr. Jane Goodall and Wyland and Ryan’s Recyling and Sammy’s Buddy Benches, but we know them and some of the other people who are, and we have helped millions of readers learn about them. bUneke doesn't rescue animals or feed the hungry children of the world. We can't build toilets in third world countries, but we can introduce our readers to Who Gives a Crap, the Australian-based toilet paper company that donates 50% of their profits to ensure everyone has access to clean water and a toilet, but we don't just "report." Several of our volunteers now say they can't imagine using any other TP, simply because of the philanthropy attached to the product. bUneke Magazine reviews products and books, and welcomes writers from around the world who want to become published. Magazines aren't all bUneke does, though. We're home to 14 distinctive podcasts, with some only in archive, but some still producing new material each week. Our documentary films have won multiple international awards and each one is used as a fundraising tool by the charity organizations they represent.

Without a grant from Conquest Graphics, we cannot afford to keep the Magazine in our name and that would be a shame. It’s written by professionals and beginners who become pros. It’s edited by an award-winning editor and put together by an award-winning graphics artist. Everyone who works on any aspect of bUneke, whether it’s the magazine or films, podcasts, or MetaFest or other events spends many hours working as if they were earning six figures, and we all do it for the love of sharing great stories. Sure, we’d love to be paid for working on bUneke and we’d love to pay our writers and photographers. Until that day comes, we’ll be grateful for the generosity of print partners and other philanthropic giants who also work today to change tomorrow.