www.charitycomms.org.uk/events

1. Bridging the Gap: Integrating Communications
and Fundraising Workshop
25 May,2011
CharityComms is the professional membership body for charity communicators. We
believe charity communications are integral to each charity’s work for a better world.
W: www.charitycomms.org.uk T: 0207 426 8877

2. Spread The Warmth

3. Age UK
UK’s leading charity dedicated to improving later life
Age Concern and Help the Aged – merged in 2009. Brand launced April 2010
Partners
• Age Scotland, Age Northern Ireland, Age Cymru,
• 300 local partners of local Age UK’s, Age Concerns and Friends
• 470 Age UK Retail Shops
Income generation:
• Enterprise
• Retail
• Voluntary
Charitable activities
• Services
• Research
• Campaigning & Influencing

4. Audience
Donors / supporters:
Primary: 65+ ABC1 donors on higher incomes (with focus on AB audiences, South
East/South West bias, aged 65);
Secondary: ABC1 50-65 year olds who are becoming more aware of issues due to
own age/family members; AND Younger audiences who may be less engaged
with the issues but who will be attracted to our campaign activity
Beneficiaries:
75+ on very low incomes
Families and carers
Stakeholders:
Brand partners, other organisations working on age or issues relating to poverty,
Government

5. Campaign Aims & Objectives
To reduce suffering and preventable winter deaths during winter
• ‘Own’ Winter – a unifying theme around warmth
• Generate funds and collect data
• Raise awareness of the issues and Age UK
• Develop a platform for multi-channel, mass involvement
• Maximise our marketing spend across the board

6. Why Spread the Warmth?
• Gives Age UK the scope to be serious and
playful – uniting fundraising and communications
• PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL warmth
• Winter isn’t the real issue; ‘real warmth’ is
• For older people: It’s being connected, engaged
with life, avoiding the dangers winter brings and
not feeling cold, receiving warmth from others
• For supporters: It’s a kind thought, a helpful
action, a simple donation. Feel, share, wear the
warmth

7. Campaign Structure

8. Channel Strategy
Campaign ran from Oct 25 to Feb 11
• Digital www.spreadthewarmth.org.uk
• Face to Face
• Direct mail
• National press inserts
• Radio
• PR
• Shop windows/ till leaflets
• Virals/ online advertising

9. Phase 1 - Seeding
Leverage corporate partnerships marketing
investment to launch campaign
Big Knit – innocent
• Army of 250,000 knitters
• £177,000 raised
• ATL – Grazia, Metro, Heat, national dailies
• £60K AVE in local PR
Decca Records
• Race for Christmas number 1
• Media events in Manchester, Cardiff,
Glasgow – Isabel spreading the warmth by
singing to older people
Topshop
• Christmas Cards
• Spread the Warmth designer soups

10. Lionel’s Wheel of Warmth
Spin Lionel’s wheel to generate an ‘act of warmth’
Spin the wheel to generate your act of kindness…
Aim:
•Collect data and convert to supporters
•Create talk-abililty and STW conversations
•Generate media interviews and coverage using
Lionel as a spokesperson

11. Digital

12. Information & Advice
•Record print of Winter Wrapped
Up guide sponsored by British
Gas
• An insert in The Mirror during
February – the coldest month of
the year
• The Spread the Warmth online
hub

13. Phase 2: Call to Action
Pledge to Spread the Warmth
• Face to Face thermometer give away
• Pledge to take action against winter
fuel poverty
• Pledge to do something to spread the
warmth to an older person
• Key data collection mechanism –
future financial support
• Also through Age UK Retail

14. Retail – Stock Drive
• 2 million inserts in weekend Telegraph,
Times and Mail on Sunday
• Supported with a poster campaign in
Age UK Retail shop windows

15. Direct Marketing
•Christmas appeal focused on
loneliness of older people during
winter
•1 million older people will spend
Christmas day alone
•5 million say the TV is their main
form of company
• Help fund our befriending
schemes to spread the warmth

16. Phase 3: Bobble Day!

17. Income
£853,793.68 raised during the Spread the Warmth campaign period

18. Response Highlights
Traffic to Spread the Warmth Lionel’s Wheel of Warmth
•243,057 Page Views •11,119 Visits
•103,935 Visits + 23% on target
Data collected
•87,055 unique visitors •Approx 7,880 instances of data collection
Online Advertising Twitter & facebook
•69,643,832 ad impressions •86,473 people exposed to the Bobble Day
•63,203 clicks message
•918 Twobbles
•376 facebook “likes
Email
•88,013 emails sent and 4,527 clicks Downloads
•6,587 Winter Wrapped Up downloads
E-Cards
Press inserts and Daily Mirror
• 35,159 Visits in total, 3,946 e-cards •Average response rate 0.01%NB
sent

19. Media Coverage
•Total circulation reach of 78,014,884
•AVE of £365,337 including online
• 239 pieces of coverage generated
• 15 national – including broadcast, 2
consumer,
• 153 local/regional,
• 7 trade
• 50 online

20. Key Challenges
• Very short timescales led to missed opportunities
• Lack of assets at key points in campaign – hard news and case studies
• Orange was not a great colour for Northern Ireland!
• Lionel’s wheel didn’t quite work……
• Bobble Day has to compete with Red Nose Day and Valentines
• No central budget – so a battle over bills
• We were often driven by momentum rather than strategy
• Difficult to measure the direct impact of STW on income
But…..

21. What did we learn?
• People really love our campaign and want it to work
• We need clearer messages around the cost of warmth - lots of confusion
• We need robust, quality assets to respond to opportunities
• We need to do fewer things well and have really clear objectives
• Would highly recommend an agency for organisations of our size/scale
• We know planning is key – but sometimes it’s worth taking a chance

22. Thank you
Laurie Boult
Head of Corporate, Community, Events & Celebrity
laurie.boult@ageuk.org.uk

23. Bridging the Gap: Integrating Communications
and Fundraising Workshop
25 May,2011
CharityComms is the professional membership body for charity communicators. We
believe charity communications are integral to each charity’s work for a better world.
W: www.charitycomms.org.uk T: 0207 426 8877