Help Keep the Lights On - Christmas Campaign

Keeping the lights on by increasing total revenue for National Charity by 12.8%

We supported CRASH on their Christmas Card Appeal, a campaign that has been running for several years and is a major revenue-driver for the charity. We worked on a pro bono basis to enhance the campaign in 2022.

Client

Crash

Services

Strategy
Creative
Digital

Awards

Best Micro Budget Campaign
CMA Awards 2023

The Challenge

Whilst most charity donations are a personal decision, for CRASH the decision is a business one. So, whilst tapping into emotive messages was key to driving impressions and creating memorability, we also needed to communicate the practical benefits of the appeal to a rational audience that needed to secure budget for the donation as part of their overall communications and social responsibility strategy.

Our initial analysis of previous campaigns was that donations tended to be repeat from organisations already supporting CRASH in some way, and that donation values were (on average) decreasing year-on-year. This is perhaps understandable given wider economic trends, and in-line with what other charities are reporting, but something that needed to be addressed.

We worked with the charity to develop the following objectives:

1) Increase the quantity of high-value donors
2) Increase the average value per donation.

CRA 22 001 CRASH Christmas Campaign 22 Half Page 180 X 110.5 mm ADF

The Solution

We developed the creative concept of ‘Help keep the lights on.’ This alluded to topical issues surrounding the rising cost of utilities, whilst also emphasizing the ways in which CRASH supports communities and helps homeless and hospice charities to keep their lights on, continually providing support to those in need. This brand-new concept was launched through a combination of an expanded list of trade media and a highly targeted digital campaign. We also created a campaign film to bring the ‘Help keep the lights on’ story to life, which was used as a key asset of the digital campaign, and at events throughout the course of the campaign period.

Finally, we introduced a price bracketing strategy to influence higher donation values. Previously, CRASH had offered 2 donation options, we added a third intermediatory one to nudge donor behaviour and influence choice.

The Result

A clear strategy combined with revised, emotive messaging meant the campaign was able to be seen by more audiences, driving impressions and creating memorability. Greater visibility in turn led to increasing the number of donors, growing the average donor value and ultimately generating more revenue than the previous year.

By selecting LinkedIn as the platform for the digital campaign and leveraging our industry connections, we were able to define a significant audience size of 280,000 senior LinkedIn users from the construction sector, delivering targeted and effective messaging to those who mattered most. This resulted in us achieving both of our objectives, increasing revenue from the previous year.

While revenue generated through donations was the focus, the digital campaign was also successful in reaching 96,338 people, with 214,159 impressions – making it evident that the campaign generated a substantial amount of exposure with the right target audience. The campaign landing page also received 8,546 page views and an average time on page of 2:54, indicating strong engagement with the appeal.