The global market for NGOs and charitable institutions grew at a CAGR of 4.4% between 2015-19 to reach a value of $255,705.9 million. However, strict lockdown imposition and implementation of social distancing norms in various parts of the world led to a steep decline in the industry’s market size and it shrunk by -0.9% to hit $253,336.3 million in 2020.
However, as economies across the world move towards a resurgence, the charity market is also expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2021 to 2023 and reach $294,313.5 million. By 2030, the market would have crossed $400,000 million.
As encouraging as these latter figures might appear, charity organizations can’t breathe easy. It is because convincing people to support their mission, especially when there’s no monetary reward in return, can be particularly challenging. This is where the role of social media platforms becomes much more important.
Charity institutions can leverage the power of social media platforms to get their voices heard by people, many of whom may take a sympathetic approach towards their mission. This was amply demonstrated by these three charity organizations that leveraged Facebook to reach out to their target audience.
1. WWF UK
As a charity organization, WWF UK raises funds through various products and initiatives. The most popular amongst these are animal adoptions, where supporters can adopt and support under-threat species.
Their Objective
WWF UK wanted to encourage people to purchase an adoption gift for themselves for the 2019 gifting period.
Approach & Solution
WWF UK joined hands with performance marketing agency Merkle for its 2019 Christmas Facebook ad campaign. For the Facebook campaign, the team came up with a friendly Messenger experience that put up four simple questions about the gift experience before suggesting the ideal animal for adoption.
Also, WWF UK came up with mobile-friendly video and photo ads that opened up the Messenger experience. Since their animal adoption offering makes for an ideal children’s gift, WWF UK’s ads were directed towards parents and grandparents, people interested in children’s films featuring animals, and people who had demonstrated that intent to purchase children’s gifts.
When the campaign began, WWF UK tested a couple of ad creative options. The first one featured a demo of the experience and the second one showed an animated Messenger logo and animals. Once the organization identified the better-performing option, it shifted the remaining budget for the campaign to that creative. The organization also observed that the audiences based on parents and people who were interested in animal-themed children’s films performed particularly well. Therefore, it started focusing its ad expenditure on these audiences.
The Result
The Facebook campaign performed quite well for WWF UK. The charity organization found that its target audience embraced the opportunity to engage with gift-finding business experience on Messenger, resulting in more than 2,500 initiated conversations during the 15-day campaign, which led to 192 sales conversions. Also, 99% of interactions were first-time Messenger conversations with WWF.
2. Young Guru Academy (YGA)
Young Guru Academy (YGA) is a Turkey-based non-governmental organization founded in 2000 that encourages young individuals to enhance their abilities and social conscience by developing international projects aimed at providing social benefits.
Their Objective
YGA sought to create a mobile-first video campaign that used both long-form and short-form videos.
Approach & Solution
To kickstart its mobile-first video campaign, YGA teamed up with Facebook Creative Shop and creative agency 4129Grey. The video ads were delivered in three waves across Instagram and Facebook.
In the first wave, they gave a visual explanation of the idea behind the Bilim Seferberliği project, which featured an excited child taking a present from a box and then making something from it. The second video invited viewers to interact, tapping on a Science Kit to open for a child in the video and giving away Instagram stickers as rewards.
The third wave featured testimonials from grateful children who had benefitted from YGA’s initiative. Also, it consisted of video appeals from local influencers and celebrities urging their online followers to donate.
These influencers and celebrities then invited their followers to join them in a series of fast-moving videos. Some local celebrities also participated in live online interactive Q&A sessions where their audience would also be invited to join them.
The Result
The success of YGA’s Facebook campaign can be gauged from the fact that it was featured on three major Turkish channels. It also resulted in a 4.7X increase in donations, compared to the last three months. It led to donations worth $156,000, thereby, exceeding the target by a whopping 20%. Moreover, 20% of all website visits led to donations.
3. Time to Change
Time to Change is a joint initiative by UK mental-health charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness that focuses on improving male mental health in the UK.
Their Objective
Time to Change sought to focus on adult males in the age group of 25-45 as they are the most susceptible to suicide due to mental health problems. By focusing on men in this age group, they sought to raise awareness about mental health problems in men and encourage them to speak up as they are often reluctant to discuss their feelings.
Approach & Solution
Time to Change joined hands with creative strategy unit Facebook Creative Shop and creative agency Ogilvy & Mather to launch a campaign that encouraged men to share their feelings. The campaign soon got men’s attention with video ads on Facebook and Instagram.
An introductory video showed a man getting crushed by a tree and replying that he was “fine” when asked by a squirrel if he was okay. It conveyed a key message that British men often shy away from talking about their feelings until they’re nudged multiple times. Therefore, the campaign revolved around encouraging men to ask their friends twice.
The video ad prompted people to click through to Messenger, where they could interact with a Messenger experience that shared tips on how to help a male friend.
The Result
The Facebook campaign by Time to Change was quite successful. It led to 4,064 Messenger conversations. 26% of the people who became a part of these Messenger conversations resolved to help a friend whenever they’d need their help. Moreover, 4,357 reactions were recorded on ads that click to Messenger.
Wrapping Up
Facebook is one of the best platforms to usher social changes. With a plethora of features like video and link ads, automatic placements, ads in stories, and Messenger, it functions as a great medium to help brands get noticed. However, strong messaging is a prerequisite to capturing people’s attention.