The brief
Raise AUD $10 million.
The strategy
Personal stories and targeted messaging.
In 2015 in Australia, over 100,000 people were homeless, and the housing-crisis and welfare systems were progressively deteriorating. After several years of campaign collaboration with St Vincent de Paul’s fundraising and marketing teams, we co-developed a strategy to hit the ambitious goals of raising much needed funds. The CEO Sleepout is an event where government and business leaders experience a night of ‘rough sleeping’ and raise money from across their networks. At its heart, the event is building empathy by inviting influential members of the community to have their own simulated experience of sleeping on the streets, and hearing the first-hand experiences of real cases.
The campaign that emerged was built on personal testimony of experience with targeted messaging. Rather than trying to ‘spread the word’ with a wide audience, short campaign films were produced and sent directly to key individuals. Integrating testimony within the context of the wider homelessness epidemic was a key messaging tool, and this format allowed for the business leaders to move beyond statistics and become personally invested in the outcomes of several individuals. Additionally, we developed messaging to also include encouragement from other business leaders to speak directly with their peers. The result was a success where fundraising efforts exceeded the goal of raising ten million dollars — much needed funds, for an ever-increasing problem.
