It was a pleasant surprise to receive the first substantial contribution to Fill The Dams - a whopping $100 from my friend Heath.  His icon in the Thomson Dam sticks out like a shining beacon and will be a long-lasting reminder of his generosity in helping further the cause setting a good example.

The current donation pool sits at $220, although all of this has been contributed by a handful of proactive individuals.  Whilst this tally is a nice achievement, I must admit the lack of participation by Australian organisations so far has been slightly disappointing.  Early adopters have much to gain by spearheading the donation train before the local and national press are notified.  However it seems that getting the breakthrough contribution is becoming more of a hurdle than I first thought.

As viral marketing and word of mouth via local blogs and forums has not been able to continue generating the high levels of traffic seen on Day 1, I plan to move to phase two of the promotional campaign and start directly contacting some small Australian businesses in the water conservation industry. Another option is to canvass small local businesses for contributions to the site, although I feel targeting relevant parties (tank manufacturers, water auditors etc) with a friendly phonecall will be more effective at this stage.

Site updates planned include placing more emphasis on the “Tell Your Friends” link and creating some fancy buttons/images that supporters can place on their blogs/websites/myspaces.  I welcome any suggestions from readers on guerilla marketing techniques or other methods of promotion (short of writing a press release!).

Stay tuned for a big few weeks!