Last week I chatted with Carole Baskin, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, about the organization’s experience using The Extraordinaries over the last few months. Big Cat Rescue is an educational sanctuary home to more than 100 big cats (i.e. lions, tigers, wild cats) in Tampa, Florida. In addition to taking care of their 100 + animals, Big Cat Rescue also works through education and legislation to end the conditions that cause big cats to be abandoned and abused.
Big Cat Rescue is using The Extraordinaries to empower individuals to report big cat abuse by asking people who are at a circus, a zoo, or in any situation where a big cat is being abused (i.e. in small quarters, is pacing, has untreated sores), to use The Extraordinaries to take and upload a photo.
Although they haven’t had many photos uploaded yet, they have had a positive response to their other microvolunteer opportunity, tagging the photos Big Cat Rescue already has.
Baskin says best thing about using The Extraordinaries is how easy it is to use:
“The fact that they do it step-by-step; people can’t get lost in the process. . . . People are looking for things that they can do very quickly, and this is something that they can do very quickly, without a lot of commitment, and yet still be doing something very valuable.”
She particularly loves how when you complete a microvolunteer opportunity, you can click to get credit for it.
“It appears that they are thanked by the application, or presumably by the organization,” said Baskin, “and I think that is a wonderful way to make them feel acknowledged for what they’ve done without taking more of our time and resources to be able to thank them.”
Baskin is excited to test out The Extraordinaries’ new custom micro-app builder, and feels that The Extraordinaries has the potential to help Big Cat Rescue meet its goals:
“I think this application could really help us reach our mission, which is to end the abuse and abandonment of these cats, because as the public knows about these situations, they aren’t going to stand for it, and now you’ve empowered everybody with an iPhone in their hand to help put an end to that.”
Let us know about your experience using The Extraordinaries in the comments or contact a member of the team.
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Britt Bravo also blogs at Have Fun * Do Good, BlogHer.com, WE tv’s WE Volunteer blog, and the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship blog. She is a Big Vision Consultant.