The Whoseday Book is the latest fundraising initiative by the Irish Hospice Foundation which aims, mostly through marketing to the corporate sector, to raise £4 million (€5.08m) in the coming year.
The book which costs £30 is a diary with a contribution on each page from leading artists and public figures including Seamus Heaney, George Mitchell, Bono and Roddy Doyle.
A worldwide sales target of 150,000 copies has been set and the original artwork for each of the 366 contributions (2000 is a leap year) will be sold in the course of the campaign.
There is no advertising or marketing budget so all activity will be below-the-line. The campaign began in earnest this week with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, presenting President Clinton with a copy of the book on St Patrick's Day in the White House. Mrs Hilary Clinton was presented with her copy at a ball on Tuesday night. The American Ireland Fund will co-ordinate the marketing of the book in the US largely through direct mail and social functions.
If the book reaches its target it will be the largest single public fundraiser for an Irish charity. The Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day currently raises in excess of £1 million as does the Hospice Coffee Morning. The corporate sector is seen as key potential purchaser of the Whoseday Book as a millennium-marking corporate gift and already Aer Lingus, Bailey's and Esat have placed orders.
