When we stop and think about it, we all have them, a charity campaign that we have seen on social and that has made us sit up and think. Hardly surprising given that social media has become a big part of our lives with what we see on channels like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok etc becoming a major frame of reference for us all. That’s why we tapped into the “hive mind” of our members to source a selection of brilliant campaigns that they wanted to share with the community.
We asked CharityComms delegates at our ‘Beyond the Algorithm’ event which charity social media campaigns had captured their attention and that they felt were worth sharing. Below is a selection of the CharityComms communities amazing suggestions that will hopefully inspire you too:
RNLI float to live
A great example of a long running campaign that continues to grab attention and strike a chord with audiences far and wide. Part of the RNLI’s water safety campaign ‘float to live’ aims to teach people what to do if they run into trouble in the water by showing how you should float if you find yourself in danger. The member who highlighted this campaign spotted it on Snapchat and said their attention was so grabbed by it that “it made me scroll back and watch it” – no mean feat in today’s never-ending scroll culture.
Check it out on their YouTube page here.
Greenpeace’s Wasteminister video
A film with real impact Wasteminster helps viewers understand the reality of the UK’s plastic pollution problem by helping visualise the amount of plastic our country dumps on other countries every single day. To help the public understand the scale of the plastic problem the film sees 1.8 million kilograms of rubbish (the daily amount the UK dumps on other nations) dropped on Boris Johnson’s doorstep before calling for the viewer to take action and sign a petition telling the government to take action.
#StopFundingOverfishing
Described by one of our CharityComms members as a “really long lasting and well-coordinated” campaign #StopFundingOverfishing has been a vital tool in bringing people together to call on the WTO to ‘end subsidies that drive overfishing’. The campaign has gained support from across the charity sector with the likes of Aida, Blue Marine Foundation, IIED and WWF using the hashtag.
Refuge’s paid ads and virtual challenges
Flagged by a CharityComms member who said they have “loved Refuge’s use of paid ads and virtual challenges for fundraising which was hugely successful” this is more of a full-blown strategy than a standalone social campaign. Thoughtfully using paid ads to share and promote the work they are doing and the challenges that they set up for people to get involved with and learn about their cause Refuge’s approach is one that clearly put the charity on people’s radar.
Power of Youth #iwillcampaign
A campaign in name but a movement at its core the #iwill campaign is all about making sure young people’s voices are heard. With a clear message and vision, that “Young people deserve to have their voices heard and questions answered. We can no longer afford to make decisions about young people, without young people” it’s no surprise that this one struck a chord with the CC member who flagged it as one to watch.
Tearfund’s “The climb”
This community fundraising campaign that ran during the first lockdown not only gave people an opportunity to raise money for charity but also provided those that took part a chance to work towards an exciting personal goal. The idea was that participants climbed the equivalent height of Ben Nevis, the Four Peaks or Kilimanjaro using their stairs or by stepping on and off a box and got sponsored for doing it – queue lots of social sharing and community spirit raising along the way.
If you’re still looking for more social campaign inspiration our members have also suggested checking out, NSPCC did a campaign around looking outside the box, NDP’s joint refugee poem and of course the movement spearheaded by Marcus Rashford that focuses on feeding children in poverty.
If you have a recommendation for a social campaign that you’d like to share with others, then head on over to our Twitter thread to share it. You can find Beyond the algorithm: social media for charities on-demand.
If you enjoyed this you may also like Comms lessons we can learn from #CharitiesAgainstHate.
Banner Image: Michael Constantin P on Unsplash