Big Buddy partners fatherless boys with well-screened, volunteer male mentors that they see once a week. This provides an encouraging role model they’d otherwise miss out on. But, as is common with all registered charities, they find it harder and harder to secure funds – competition for the charity dollar increases every year.
However, this wasn’t a donation driving campaign. It was about getting more Kiwis to understand what Big Buddy does and emotionally connect them to its purpose. The more people who know about Big Buddy, the more volunteer men who will step up as Big Buddy mentors and the easier the ongoing money conversations will be.
Rather than resort to shock or pleas for practical support we fell back on the strongest tool in our arsenal – emotion. We posed the simple, but thought-provoking question – What is the most important thing your father taught you?
This immediately makes everyone think back to their own personal experience. Whether you have fond memories or not so good ones, the emotions will be powerful – thus giving you the proof of the value Big Buddy provides.
After creating the ‘call for mentors’ video we captured Grant Fox, Michael Jones, Tammy Davis, Moses McKay, Matt Watson and Sam Whitelock sharing the most important lessons they’ve learned from their fathers in a series of poignant videos. All of these men quickly saw the importance of the work Big Buddy does and were eager to get behind it, donating their time to the initiative.
With zero budget, the only channels available to us were owned sites and partner databases. Our content had to cut through. And boy did it! After only a few short months, the campaign achieved 22,523 video views and Big Buddy mentor enquiries jumped by 185%!
CampaignWhat's the most important thing your father taught you?ClientBig Buddy
