Audience Research, Fundraising Proposition and Messaging, Channel Strategy
Approach and Concept Development
Film Production, Direction, Social Content
As a long-term partner of Age UK, we’ve helped to shape their approach to integrated fundraising campaigns across a variety of channels and formats.
Over 3 years, we’ve worked closely together to evolve their established fundraising programme, developing and testing effective fundraising propositions to drive awareness, consideration and donations. So far, we’ve delivered 9 campaigns across spring, autumn, winter and Christmas acquisition appeals.
Like many charities, Age UK’s fundraising team face many challenges, including; engaging and attracting younger audiences, helping audiences understand their case for support and, consequently, why their services are so vital in supporting older people.
In fact, many audiences underestimate how wide and complex the problem is, with the issue spanning themes like loneliness, the cost of living crisis and the winter fuel crisis. This can make it difficult for audiences to understand the support Age UK provide – and why they should support.
As a large, long-standing organisation, Age UK also aimed to achieve more consistency and collaboration across departments, hoping to create a more effective and integrated approach.
When developing each seasonal campaign, we always start with understanding the insight, including past campaign results, audience motivations and the wider market context.
This leads us to a strategic proposition which guides creative development and story gathering; from improving understanding of loneliness with ‘Nobody Dreams They’ll Be Lonely’, to re-contextualising the cost-of-living crisis with ‘The Price of Survival’, to highlighting the injustice with ‘The Hidden Cost of Aging”.
For example, in our first project together, we developed a new acquisition programme under Age UK’s ‘Loneliness’ theme.
First, we recommended an extensive piece of research with our research partner, Opinium. Together, we ran an online research community to explore audience interests, motivations and barriers to giving, as well as testing early messaging, creative and case studies in order to start shaping our strategic framework.
We found that, despite feeling sad for older people experiencing loneliness, many audiences held onto stigma that surrounds the issue. This is despite the fact that loneliness is often due to circumstances beyond older people’s control (such as ill health or the loss of a loved one).
With this insight, we developed the overarching campaign strategy and proposition, “Nobody dreams they’ll be lonely in later life”. The objective was to change perceptions of loneliness from something that ‘just happens as people age’, to something that older people ‘never dreamed would happen to them’
At the top of the content strategy was our multi-version DRTV creative. We worked closely with media agency, Medialab, to plan a phased test-and-learn approach. We supported the DRTV with digital activity across a range of channels including paid social, PPC, display and YouTube, as well as email, direct mail, PAM and inserts.
As well as uncovering audience attitudes and beliefs towards our key creative themes, with each new campaign we identify new opportunities to test propositions, case studies and creative examples. This has allowed us to tailor creative and content streams to individual audiences, and given us vital insight to help shape wider, long-term planning across acquisition activity.
In its first phase, the Loneliness campaign achieved 1741 donations, resulting in £109,139 in year 1 income. Following campaigns that have built on the overarching loneliness proposition continue to bring in an increasing number of leads and donations, and we’ve continued to build on the learnings and dynamically respond to campaign performance.
Overall, Age UK have been really pleased with the results and learnings across all campaigns, and we continue to work closely together with their agency partners to optimise their annual fundraising approach.
