In conversation with NFP entrepreneur Chris Raine

What inspired you to create Hello Sunday Morning (HSM)?

I launched HSM in 2010 off the back of my own personal 12 month break from alcohol in 2009. I was working for an advertising agency at the time and we got a contract from the Government to create an ad campaign to ‘change the drinking culture.’ I was 22 at the time. When I finished working on the campaign we ended up with the same old scare tactic campaign that had been done in the past. I knew that those types of campaigns would do nothing to change the way I drank or how my friends drank so I decided to see what would.

For 12 months, I wrote a blog every Sunday morning about what it was like for a 22 year old guy to socialise, meet new people and live life without alcohol. HSM grew from this as some friends decided to do the last 3 months with me – from here the community has grown to over 8,633.

What marketing have you undertaken over the years to make HSM what it is today?

Two things. The first is the HSM brand – we have always kept this positive and focused on inspiring people to do something better. I think people find this refreshing and inviting. The second is media support from journalists such as Jill Stark and Talitha Cummings who have participated in a HSM and written about their experience.

Can you describe the HSM funding model and how this works?

HSM is funded through grants and fee-for-service contracts from the Government, as well as corporate and general philanthropic foundations and trusts. These grants and contracts focus on working to put more and more people successfully through the HSM program, thereby reducing their overall alcohol consumption and risk of alcohol related harms. We also run an online store that generates merchandise sales and offers Australia’s first charity based ‘freemium’ model, whereby users can upgrade their HSM account to a premium account for a monthly fee of $4.99 or a one-off fee of $12.50 for three months or $44.99 for 12-months.

HSM has recently been awarded $1.1 million in government funding for an intervention program, can you tell me about this and what it means for your organisation?

HSM is being funded as the Federal Government’s anti-binge drinking campaign. For us as organisation, it means we are being recognised as not only a brand, but an online program that can create actual change to Australia’s drinking culture. The funding will allow us to grow our user base to 50,000 people by September 2015, launch an iPhone app, and make our online program more individualised and effective for different types of drinkers. The funding is allowing us to grow our team so we can have a greater impact on the drinking culture across Australia.

HSM has had great success to-date, what do you think the biggest contributor to this has been?

Easy – our HSM community. Research has shown that 80 per cent of Australian’s believe we are a country with a drinking problem. Beyond this, these people want to do something to change the Australian drinking culture. HSM provides them with this opportunity. Whether a heavy drinker or not, participating in an HSM allows people to demonstrate that they don’t need alcohol to be confident; they don’t need alcohol to have fun; and they don’t need alcohol to be an Australian. Participating in HSM is a very public way of changing a person’s drinking habits and also those of their peers. More than ever, people today want to live happy and more productive lives – alcohol gets in the way of this. Participating in HSM is seen as an acceptable strategy to create a healthier life – more people are signing up year-on-year.

How do you ensure that HSM is continually motivating the community to reduce alcohol consumption?

The answer is in the interactions. We are a team of four people in the HSM office. As much as we’d love to, we can’t physically talk to every participant to offer support. Instead we have focused on building technology that can help people to support each other. Each time someone on HSM supports another participant, they essentially become part of our team. This is the big idea behind HSM.

What does the future of HSM look like?

World domination! No really, we want HSM to be the world’s best online resource to assist in creating healthy relationships with alcohol. A place where people can share experiences with other like-minded people who have made the decision that they want more out of life than to get drunk every weekend, and they want to challenge themselves to find out what that is. We’re looking at moving beyond just an online program – we’re looking to create new products that people use to help them achieve their goals around drinking, and also fitness, weight loss and healthy eating. We’re excited about the next chapter of HSM. Watch this space.

As a young not-for-profit entrepreneur, what inspires you to keep innovating?

I’m driven by the idea of creating something that will last beyond our time. I am personally passionate and fascinated by about alcohol behaviour change. I think the services like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and one-on-one counseling that have previously been the only method to change drink behaviour have worked well for a small population of people. I want to build something that can help to support a much larger population of people.