The power of people and real emotion in charity campaigns

While funds and resources are common factors in the scale of opportunities available to raise a charity’s awareness, there are so many brilliant ways to reach the audiences you want, whether that be through events, online content, or partnering with brands and influencers. 

Consider your own charity and the heartbeat of what you do, and that is your people of course. How can you bring those people to life so that people outside of your charity can see their beauty and passion and the positive differences you make? 

Some of the best campaigns have hit the spot, with little to no budget at all. When you combine real people, with the emotional strain and challenges they are going through, or simply bringing their achievements and love of life to the forefront, you can capture the hearts and minds of people you could only dream of reaching. It’s not about ‘going viral’ because often the things you want to ‘go viral’ won’t if you try too hard, often the best campaigns accidentally do well because you have the charity and its beneficiaries front and centre of anything you create. So, whether you choose to put some marketing budget to a new campaign or not, never forget the people at the heart of what you do, and showcase them to the world.

Our Founding Director Andy Nash loves working with charities of all sizes, and wanted to share a couple of campaigns that have impressed him over the years.

Orchestras For All

One of our clients is the national youth music charity, Orchestras for All (NOFA), who strive to break down barriers by giving young people the life-changing experience of making music together. NOFA is the only non-auditioned, inclusive national youth orchestra in the UK and it welcomes young people from all backgrounds, with any level of musical ability, playing any instrument – including those not usually found in a traditional orchestra, such as saxophones, electric guitars, ukuleles, harmonicas, and much more!

A video was created by Broaden Films which saw an inspiring ensemble formed of around 100 young people aged between 11 and 18 from all across the country, who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to play music in a youth orchestra due to the significant daily challenges they face – whether that’s due to physical disability, mental health conditions, learning difficulties, economic deprivation, rural isolation, or living in care or as young carers.

It shares snippets of NOFA members enjoying a dynamic live workshop during their spring 2023 residential at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where they created an exciting new piece of music with composer and multi-instrumentalist, Joe Broughton, titled ‘Strength in Numbers’.  With hundreds of schools nationwide suffering major cuts to music funding, it’s never been more important for the charity to improve access to music education and without the ongoing support of funders and individual donors, OFA’s programmes wouldn’t exist. We loved the video because it showed raw talent and infectious, joyous energy, which even if you’re not into classical music, you can’t help but relate to children trying and enjoying something brand new. 

Watch the video below…

Leukaemia UK (LUK)’s Thank You campaign

With the brief to inspire legacy gifts and broaden its audience reach, our client LUK collaborated with 11 London and Madam production company, to create a campaign that established a deep emotional connection with the audience. 

The result was the creation of a video that highlighted the harsh realities of leukaemia with the hopeful prospects of ongoing research. The film featured two characters, connected through their experiences with leukaemia, who narrate their reasons for leaving legacies to LUK. 

Filmed in a single day at West Wittering Beach, the film successfully aired on ITV3 and ITV4, reaching approximately 8.1 million viewers. Furthermore, it was awarded the ‘Best Medium Charity Film’ in the Third Sector Awards 2024! 

While the long-term effects of the campaign on legacy giving will unfold over time, early indicators like increased donations and engagement suggested a strong immediate impact, fulfilling its goal to encourage viewers to consider supporting LUK through gifts in their wills.

Watch the video below…

Prostate Cancer UK benefits from global sponsorship deal

We appreciate not all brands will be a good fit for your charity. But by understanding the core audience groups you help, and gathering insights and data about them, the more you’ll begin to understand the challenges and barriers they face. 

For example, Prostate Cancer UK identified that 10,000 men a year are diagnosed too late, and that approximately one in eight men will develop prostate cancer. So, when an opportunity came about to partner with Paddy Power as part of its sponsorship deal with the World Darts Championships in November 2023, the charity worked with the teams to develop ‘The Big 180’, a campaign that saw Paddy Power pledge to donate £1,000 for every 180 thrown during the Championships. The event itself had international appeal, but the charity’s aim was to encourage sign-ups to the prostate cancer risk checker, and encourage men to check their prostate cancer risk.

The partnership generated more than 300 press stories, spawning Paddy Power’s most retweeted and engaged-with post. Reaching 70% of the UK population, the tie-up between Paddy Power, Professional Darts Corporation, and Prostate Cancer UK notched up more than 20 million views.

Winners of the 2024 Marketing Week Award for Sponsorship and Partner Marketing, the partners celebrated a 232% increase in men using the prostate cancer risk checker and Paddy Power donated £1m to Prostate Cancer UK thanks to the number of 180s scored. In a nutshell, consider sporting or big event partnerships with sponsors but ensure they have your audience group in mind.

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) – The Last Photo

Not all charity campaigns can be positive and upbeat. Sometimes the harder hitting messaging will work best, and in the case of CALM’s 2022 campaign, it achieved what it set out to do which was to raise awareness of suicide prevention.  

Called The Last Photo, the campaign placed 50 6.5-foot-high smiling portraits of people in central London. It was supported by a TV advert sharing a series of home videos, showing happy people in their everyday lives, which later we found out to be the last digital memories of people who died by suicide.

The unfiltered footage was hard to comprehend for many, but it served as a poignant reminder that we can never truly discern the struggles someone hides behind a smile. The campaign wanted to kickstart conversations between families and friends around mental health, provide practical advice and tips to recognise signs of suicidal behaviour, and inspire a commitment to look out for each other through the ups and downs. 

Watch the video below…

Regardless of how you approach your charity’s campaign, whether it be hard-hitting, or upsetting ,or joyful and full of elation, fully understand your audience’s challenges first as those will lead you to forging partnerships that fit nicely, fundraising events that inspire, and external audiences engaging with your content and remembering what you’re trying to achieve.

If you think now could be a good time to create a campaign for your charity, consider reviewing your marketing budgets and clearly identify which elements needs budget, and what insights you can bring to life without the use of budget.