Medic to Medic UCL came to me with an idea of getting cash strapped students to each donate one pound to their charity. With 20,000 students at University College London the results could be amazing. We began with me running a workshop with the client and 15 other students. We quickly realised the challenge would be getting the word out effectively in a place where there is no central source of information. Even the University and the Union struggle with to getting noticed. This campaign who need to be well coordinated with a long buildup and strong online and offline presence.
I quickly came up with line "give one" as it summed up the nature and intention of the campaign nicely. I also conceived of the idea to invade the campus with 'ones'. This gradual buildup would hopefully garner some curiosity that could be capitalised with some large informational posters.
A 'one' in the wild
We also planned on using peer pressure to get more donations. Stickers and badges given to donors so they would make their friends aware of the campaign. Photographing and encouraging donors to share their charitable giving online was also to be encouraged with a 'totaliser' made up with the portraits of donors. Scraped from social media and with volunteers photographers, this would visually show the campaigns progress. This would have been a central focal point to the campaign. However, logistics and complicated institutional rules prevented this happening.
Online we wanted to exploit peoples desire to appear caring and selfless in their social media habits. Thus, we created a youtube video. I was responsible for the mathematical, chalkboard concept, script, and the copy. The director and I had never attempted stop motion animation before, but we believed that it would lend a charming yet professional tone to the video. To root the video, it linked to the donation page created by the charity, and a website I quickly made that further explained the campaign and alternative ways to donate.
Online we wanted to exploit peoples desire to appear caring and selfless in their social media habits. Thus, we created a youtube video. I was responsible for the mathematical, chalkboard concept, script, and the copy. The director and I had never attempted stop motion animation before, but we believed that it would lend a charming yet professional tone to the video. To root the video, it linked to the donation page created by the charity, and a website I quickly made that further explained the campaign and alternative ways to donate.
The campaign video is what I am most proud of.
A variety of campaign graphics were then created that followed this aesthetic. Below one of mine:
The poster's copy continued to drive the numbers and the potential impacts into empowering students donations
UCL's provost joining volunteers at temporary donation point.
Results
This was Free Hype's campaign, and we certainly learned a lot. The charity was over the moon. They normally make £500 over the year. In two weeks, we raised four times that (enough to fund the education of two doctors in Malawi). The campaign was featured in student media and the UCL's own press. However I was personally disappointed. There had been assumptions on both our side and the charities as to who would do what. Mostly a side effect of strategically mothballing the campaign for 5 months over the summer, but also over stretching ourselves. This resulted in the online social media not engaging and gaining the momentum it needed to capture UCL students off campus. Free Hype itself was transitioning from volunteer project to society at the time. So it is understandable that some students were not comfortable with their duties yet. It was a learning curve we needed. We now work with charities directly rather than through volunteer student groups. We've found that there is less confusion about roles and expectations.
