3 Charitable Companies That Amplified Their Reach with Facebook

The global NGOs and charitable organizations market reached a value of nearly $255,705.9 million in 2019, having increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% since 2015. However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in negative growth of 0.9%.

But as the impact of COVID-19 continues to lessen, the industry is once again expected to recover and reach $294,313.5 million in 2023. and $411,195.4 million in 2030.

However, the presence of hundreds and thousands of charitable organizations makes it imperative for brands to come up with unique marketing ideas to make the most of the marketing avenues available to them, similar to what these three charitable companies did with their Facebook campaigns.

1. Mark Pollock Trust

Mark Pollock Trust is a charity that helps people with spinal cord injury live their lives to the full through its annual fundraising night-run initiative called Run in the Dark.

Their Objective

The Mark Pollock Trust wanted to inspire people to “Run in the Dark” during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, inviting them to run their own virtual 5K or 10K course and raise money to help people with spinal cord injury.

Solution & Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the organizers of the annual Run in the Dark charity event to switch to a virtual format. So, the Run in the Dark team worked with Facebook MobileWorks for Good and Facebook Marketing Partner 9-16 to create an appealing campaign that would give people a reason to watch and stay engaged as the date for the run approached.

Four prominent fitness personalities (Niall Breslin, Manal Rostom, Mark Pollock, and Kathryn Thomas) agreed to take part in a campaign of video ads that would help runners prepare for the big day. Each of the four team leaders posted a workout challenge every week to help people prepare for the big night.

As the Run in the Dark approached, team leaders appeared in ads encouraging people to join their team and sign up. In each ad, the team leader occupied most of the frame, with an animated Run in the Dark background and the event date in yellow. The call to action was “Swipe up” or “Sign up here”.

The Result

The Facebook campaign was a massive success for the Mark Pollock Trust as more than 17,000 runners registered from across all seven continents. Also, around €1 million were raised through signup fees and sponsorship. The campaign reached 1.57 million people in 13 countries and led to a 33-point lift in ad recall.

2. CoppaFeel!

CoppaFeel! is a breast cancer awareness charity, based in London that was founded in 2009 to educate young people about the disease, and to encourage them to check themselves regularly.

Their Objective

CoppaFeel! wanted to encourage more younger people in the UK (aged 18–29) to check their breasts and chests regularly, with a friendly educational campaign.

Solution & Approach

In the UK, where CoppaFeel! is based, all women over the age of 47 are offered free breast health screening by the National Health Service, but not all breast cancer sufferers are over 47—and not all are women. CoppaFeel! decided to reach out to younger people where they spend their time—on social media. The charity used a variety of channels, including Facebook and Instagram, to encourage people to use the Messenger experience—called the “Boob Bot”—which was developed in collaboration with Facebook Creative Shop and built with the Spectrm.io chatbot platform.

The “Boob Bot” experience itself, when opened, asked viewers a few questions about their breasts or pecs—including which terms they preferred to use in reference to their own body. Depending on the answers received, it then showed people the best method of examining themselves and invited them to sign up for monthly self-check reminders.

The Result

The Facebook campaign by CoppaFeel! Was exceptionally successful as 16,000 self-checks were completed via Messenger experience and 22% of people who engaged with the Messenger experience signed up for monthly reminders. 99% of people claimed to feel more confident checking themselves after using the experience. The campaign also led to a 24-point lift in ad recall and a 4.9-point lift in action intent.

3. Save the Children Germany

Save the Children was established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities, and to provide emergency aid during natural disasters, war, and other conflicts. It was established in Germany in 2004.

Their Objective

The charity sought to raise brand awareness in the country and to generate donations during the Christmas season.

Solution & Approach

Save the Children Germany worked with Facebook Creative Shop as well as Sinnema animation studio and Spectrm, a conversational marketing platform developer, to build campaigns that would engage people by sharing real-life stories of children living in difficult circumstances. The charity adopted a two-prong approach that would both drive donations and encourage meaningful conversations about the children and the work it does to help them.

In the first part of the campaign, Save the Children got people’s attention with a series of video ads. Working with Sinnema, the charity developed video documentaries of three children – Siwela, Erica, and Ruba – who shared their biggest wishes for Christmas. An animated call-to-action button encouraged people to donate and make the kids’ wishes come true.

In the second part of the campaign, Save the Children aimed to keep the conversation going with a video ad that clicked to Messenger, where people could engage in the children’s stories, while also learning what the charity does with the donations via an automated experience.

Save the Children ran these two campaigns in tandem, with the video ads driving people to the Messenger experience. However, the two campaigns targeted different audiences. For the video ads, the charity created a lookalike audience based on a Custom Audience of people who had made donations in the past. The Messenger campaign used broad audience targeting, reaching out to people with interests in other charities that help children and people in need.

The Result

The Facebook campaign by Save the Children Germany had a massive impact as 41,000 additional people were made aware of the campaign and 57,000 additional people said they were likely to donate to Save the Children. This resulted in a 29% lift in donations and a 3.6-point lift in action intent.

Wrapping Up

As the world’s biggest marketing platform, Facebook can help brands gain exposure to millions of people. Moreover, it owns multiple platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, thereby giving marketers more options to get their brand out in front of people through a range of marketing channels. However, benefiting from Facebook’s massive marketing potential requires a solid marketing strategy backed by awesome content.