Although charities have a noble cause, they still need to create marketing strategies to be able to reach people. That’s why charity workers implement inspiring charity campaigns that spread the most important messages around the world. We present you with 20 of the best charity marketing campaigns.
#KnowYourLemons (Worldwide Breast Cancer)
CDC data shows that there are about 264 thousand cases of breast cancer in women and about 2.500 in men each year in the US. Also, breast cancer kills about 42 thousand women and 500 men each year in the US only.
The importance of a breast cancer awareness campaign is immeasurable. One of the best social media charity campaigns was launched in 2017, called #KnowYourLemons. It reached over 150 million people in the first 3 weeks upon launching, and it is still shared on every existing social media.
#KnowYourLemons is a very effective social media campaign
As you can see from their poster, they cleverly avoid nudity rules established by social media. Instead of depicting real breasts, Worldwide Breast Cancer’s campaign designers used a carton of eggs and put 12 lemons in them. On all 12 lemons, they draw one sign of breast cancer. That way people were introduced to all warning symptoms and in the addition, get educated on what further steps to perform.
Regular self-exams and doctor’s check-ups are essential for the early detection and prevention of breast cancer. Although there is no permanent cure for breast cancer, early detection is very beneficial in terms of treatment success.
This charity was so innovative that it got shared in over 70 countries worldwide, and being translated into over 20 different languages during the process. Moreover, their collaboration with a leading digital marketing agency played a crucial role in spreading this important message around the world.
Life with Cancer is still life (Macmillan cancer care)
Getting diagnosed with cancer isn’t like you got the death penalty. Thousands of people live pretty much normal life after getting a diagnosis. They only need to take much care of their lives and adjust their lifestyle to prevent the disease from coming back.
The main focus of the “Life with Cancer is still life” campaign is to present how people diagnosed with cancer live their everyday life. They didn’t want to just list cancer side effects and downsides of this illness, but to inform the public how someone can live with cancer.
Life with Cancer is still life showing that illness can’t change a person’s nature
Macmillan cancer care created one of the best charity social media campaigns raising over 190 million pounds for people living with cancer. But, more importantly, they showed that you can live a normal life even if diagnosed with cancer. The campaign also showed how you can help others and how to behave in their surroundings.
Wear It Pink (Breast Cancer Now)
One more charity campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer was started by Breast Cancer Now in 2002. From their data, for these 20+ years of being active, they successfully raised over 32 million British pounds for breast cancer research funding.
Wear It Pink campaign is effective in its simplicity
Wear it Pink is working well for over 20 years. So what’s the catch? Simple, the whole concept is straightforward and easy to understand. And on top of everything, it is recognizable, and everyone knows what it is about.
To participate in the campaign, you just need to register, wear something pink on the ‘Wear it Pink’ day (during breast cancer awareness month in October), and raise some money. It is simple as that! Everyone can participate because it doesn’t require too much of your time.
Breast Cancer Now extended its charity campaign to social networks. They had major success with the 2017 Twitter campaign when they sent personalized videos to all their followers tweeting #wearitpink at the same time. This was their way to express gratitude to all fundraisers. They even managed to collect over 77 thousand through retweets and likes reaching a vast amount of people.
Unmute — Ask Him (Movember)
Over 65% percent of suicides are committed by males. The concerning increase in suicides among men made the Movember fundraiser act. They launched a campaign named ‘Unmute — Ask Him’ just before World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10th) in 2017. The goal of this charity campaign is to reduce deaths by suicide among males.
The first phase of their campaign was a month long and featured 3 how-to video tutorials with subtitles. Each video was about doing a “manly” thing that makes you feel satisfied, relaxed, and worthy.
However, the main idea was hidden behind the perk that every video starts muted, and the viewer gets a call-to-action to unmute it.
When the viewer turns the sound on, he will hear that the story guy in the video is telling you is different from the story you could read from the subtitles. Each of them had a different story about his struggle with mental health.
Unmute — Ask Him has the goal of encouraging people to talk about mental health in males
Movember started this charity campaign to raise awareness about men who suffer from mental health issues but feel uncomfortable talking about it. The goal of those videos was to teach men with mental health problems to “unmute” themselves in real life and ask for help. At the same time, this charity campaign teaches people to ask if someone needs their help.
A Dog Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas by Dogs Trust
Dogs trust is probably the most beloved pet charity organization. One of their charity campaigns dates from way back to 1978.
Dogs trust CEO Clarissa Baldwin came up with the slogan “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas” almost 50 years ago, but it is still fresh that it makes one of the best charity campaigns 2022.
But, this campaign doesn’t start only at Christmas, it is continual during the whole year and get its peak on Christmas day, promoting responsible dog ownership and care for human best friends.
A Dog Is For Life campaign evolved into an annual charity event
Over the years, this campaign had many variations, but the core message remained the same, and it is recognizable all over the world. They had a lot of success attracting celebrities that helped this charity campaign to raise a lot of money for the cause.
We’re Not Laughing (Battersea Dogs & Cats Home)
Animal abuse is something that you cannot overlook. It is a very thin line between abusing animals and abusing other human beings. A lot of sociopaths and serial killers started with animal abuse at a young age. That’s why Battersea Dogs & Cats Home started a campaign asking for stricter sentences for people that are abusing animals. They were working closely with the lawmakers to create drafts for new criminal laws.
We’re Not Laughing campaign included many celebrities who helped in the spreading the word
We’re Not Laughing included several of the most iconic comedians from the UK (like Ricky Gervais and Tracy Ulman) who were actively asking for longer sentences for animal abusers, because “abusing animals isn’t funny in any way”. Along with a celebrity campaign, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home placed billboards and posters all over the UK to spread its message.
The online petition they initiated was signed by tens of thousands of people, resulting in increasing the maximum prison sentence for animal abusers. Although the sanction is not placed to 3 or 5 years as it is originally asked, lawmakers increased it to 12 months, so we can say that We’re Not Laughing campaign was a success.
Second a Day (Save The Children)
We continue our charity advertising examples with one of the most revolutionary and memorable campaigns. Save The Children created a shocking promo video in 2014 that collected over 60 million views!
Second a Day put Syrian battlefield into London
The Promo video shows a young British girl living in London in the style of a ‘second a day’, but there is a catch. Namely, in the video, we could see how London will look if it’s struck with a war similar to the one wagging in Syria.
As you already can guess, the aim of this campaign is to raise funds for helping Syrian refugees, mainly children. But one more aspect of this anti-war campaign shouldn’t be overlooked. That is the message that this can happen to anyone, no matter where they live. War is a constant threat to humanity.
Wasteminster – Greenpeace
The problem of plastic waste is much bigger than you think. The decomposing of plastic can last for hundreds of years, and people need to learn the importance of recycling.
That was the main goal of Greenpeace’s “Wasteminster” charity campaign. They made an emotional campaign that showed a flood of plastic overwhelming the British PM’s residence. The clever wordplay made this campaign viral in a very short time.
Wasteminster – ingenious wordplay is a warning for the UK government
Greenpeace is accusing the government of neglecting this problem because the amount of plastic dumped on the daily basis is tremendous. That is why these types of campaigns are necessary to raise people’s awareness and make government deal with it. They need to impose stricter regulations regarding the disposal of plastic.
See The Person, Not The Sight Loss (RNIB)
RNIB came up with a humorous campaign to raise awareness about blind and partially sighted people. Their intention was to show how blind and partially sighted people overcome everyday problems.
See The Person, Not The Sight Loss campaign showed that disability doesn’t change the nature of a person
The promo material showed how visually impaired people have difficulties performing simple tasks. But, on the second look, you will see that they are doing it purposely, to avoid their ex-girlfriend, or by being distracted by a handsome celebrity.
Including various celebrities in the campaign, the RNIB charity went viral in no time.
A lot of people are suffering from some form of sight loss, and that doesn’t mean they are completely blind. They still have sight in one or both eyes, and they can see around them, which means they are almost as able to do anything as any other person who doesn’t have vision problems. This campaign also gave a necessary representation of blind and partially sighted people in the vast majority of media that resulted in increased fund raising all over the UK.
Homelessness is a big problem in developed countries. It escalated after the economic crisis that happened in 2009.
A Scottish charity organization called Cyrenians initiated their campaign to help homeless people. They also used modern technology by creating a chatbot they named “Alex”, and they gave him a person of a young homeless man.
Ask Alex is a chatbot with whom you can communicate as if you are communicating with the real homeless people
You can ask this homeless man AI things like, who is he, how he became homeless, about his friends and family, what is planning to do, his hobbies, etc. The point is that people understand that homeless persons are not second-grade citizens but people who just had bad luck or difficult life.
On the other side, many homeless don’t want to talk about their lives and the choices they made. They are ashamed.
Technology gave homeless people a voice. You can ask Alex whatever comes to your mind. That way, you can get a better understanding of why someone became homeless and how that affects him or her.
Every Pin Tells a Tale (Royal British Legion)
World War I (or Great War) was the bloodiest human conflict in history. One of the battles with the most casualties was the Battle of Passchendaele, where over half a million people lost their lives.
Royal British Legion created a campaign called Every Pin Tells a Tale to save the memory of British soldiers who gave their lives during the Battle of Passchendaele.
Every Pin Tells a Tale campaign uses new technology to reveal historical facts
The campaign was brilliantly designed, combining augmented reality (AR) application and selling pins (they had a limited supply) created from scraps found on the Passchendaele battlefield. When you purchase both items, you can scan the pin with the app, and on your device see a story about the person who died during the battle.
Every Pin Tells a Tale, because of its innovation and creativity become one of the best charity social media campaigns. It portrayed the horrors of war by giving faces to those who gave their lives for a better future. The aim of this charity campaign was to honor their deaths and at the same time be the reminder of what dreaded things war can bring.
Hedgehog Road Safety (Think)
In the last several years in road accidents in the UK, every year over 1.500 people lose their life. Road safety was a major concern for the public.
Britain’s government launched Think! in 1997 as a campaign to raise awareness about road safety in children (and consequently, among everyone else). This campaign made a huge impact because of its creativity. Think! came up with a witty design of 2 hedgehogs who are talking about safety regulations in traffic.
Hedgehog Road Safety brought its message closer to everyone
Think! used some of the most iconic songs, such as Stayin’ Alive and King of the Road, to spread its message. They altered songs just a bit to get instant impact because they made them catchy and easy to remember. That’s why this campaign is viral even 20+ years after it originally appeared. Although this cartoon style is more appealing to children and youths, its message is directed toward everyone.
What makes the best charity marketing campaigns?
It is difficult to say why some charity campaigns went viral and other don’t. But we can list some things that all the charity advertising examples we listed have in common.
The message is easy to understand
When you say something in less than 10 words, and you can write that in one line, you can be sure that people will remember it. Having a memorable slogan and using plain language, along with an on-the-point picture, will boost the success of your charity campaign.
Play the emotion and altruism card
Connect with your audience by making them involved in the message. That is achieved by explaining to them how the problem that is the focus of the campaign can impact their life. That way, you will gain their trust and they will be willing to back up your charity.
Give real people space to tell their story
Although having a celebrity supporting a charity is a good way to make it popular, asking real-life people to speak about their problems makes it more personal. Only some people can identify with celebrities, but all of us can identify with someone like us. When we hear about their problems, we become aware that those troubles can strike us as well, and that we need to do something.
Why is it important to support charity campaigns?
We must admit, our world isn’t perfect, it’s not even close to it. There is a lot of injustice and violence all over it. Every day we witness horrors that bring war, crime, and pollution and hear stories about discrimination.
Humanitarian organizations are there to remind us that we can make a change and that our deed matter. We can help people, animals, the environment, and society in general. We can donate or participate in charity campaigns to raise awareness. The point is that we must do something and give an example to others.
Our list is showing that charity marketing campaigns started to lean on social media in recent years. By using social networks and high-tech they can spread the charity message and obtain its goal much faster. The bigger the audience is, the more money is raised for the cause.
If you think we missed some of the best charity marketing campaigns, you can list them in our comment section below this article. Looking forward to hearing from you!
