Give Where You Live
How one campaign helped local nonprofits increase their donations by up to 181%
The Challenge:
Local nonprofits know their communities best. That’s why they’re best-suited to help them— but they don’t always get the visibility nor the resources they deserve. The majority of donations go to large nonprofits that already have enough funding to promote themselves. Adding to the challenge were the pandemic-driven financial disruptions of 2020, which affected small nonprofits disproportionately.
42% of organizations with budgets under $500,000 experienced decreased donations in 2020, compared to 29% of organizations with budgets over $500,000. In a post-pandemic world, it’s even more critical that local nonprofits gain support for their causes.
The Idea:
“Give Where You Live” puts these local heroes in the spotlight, galvanizing community pride and driving donations in the process.
Where this type of initiative is often presented through deficit framing, we instead chose to treat these nonprofits as cultural landmarks, generating curiosity and visibility for lesser-known local orgs. Inspired by travel recommendation publications like TimeOut, we set out to curate our own list of each city’s “best of,” driving recommendations, donations—and literally putting them on the map. By presenting the “places that do good” as the “good places to see and be seen,” we drummed up interest and visibility for these small businesses.
We focused on 6 key markets: large metropolitan areas with diverse populations driving innovation and culture—cities with active pools of local nonprofits, which could use a reprieve from financial hardship. We then partnered with Giving Tuesday to amplify our reach on a national scale.
We brought the integrated campaign to life using animation, an approach that stood out from the category and allowed us to create a modular structure, where we could bookend bespoke, city-specific content with delightful graphic campaign elements that translated across every touchpoint. Pen, pencil, charcoal, marker, tablet, shape animation, cel animation, a little bit of subtle 3D, and even some live action pieces—all intertwined seamlessly to create the Give Where You Live universe.
The Film:
The launch featured an animated film that presented these nonprofits as local attractions to discover. The film was crafted to feel more like pop culture than advertising: an internet-friendly invitation to give back to your local neighborhood. Each character was designed to physically represent the good work that they do, and to telegraph their unique skills at a glance.
Cont.
For example, when designing a basketball coach, we created a character who is not just tall and agile, but whose torso is a backboard and hoop. These fun, surrealist hybrids communicated our message while being stylistically memorable.
The music was composed specifically for the campaign, using Mailchimp’s audio signatures as key instrumental elements. The goal was to create an immersive, optimistic soundtrack for this neighborhood of do-gooders, and to inspire people to discover more of them in their own backyard.
The Website:
The anthem film was followed by an interactive website, expanding on the animated visual world of Give Where You Live. The site served as a local recommendation engine and a digital directory for local nonprofits, helping visitors discover (and support) the good in their neighborhood.
Social Media:
We amplified the campaign in social media, with city-specific assets that encouraged people to rep their hometown and support their favorite orgs.
NFL / Influencer
Partnership
We partnered with the NFL and enlisted current and former NFL players, including Atlanta’s Cordarrelle Patterson and Tyler Allgeier, Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs, Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson, Los Angeles’s Austin Ekeler, and Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook, to encourage fans to nominate their favorite local NGOs, driving visitors and donations to their websites.
Results:
“Give Where You Live” started a wave of local generosity. And despite just launching in November of 2022, the results are very positive:
Open Buffalo
181% increase in donations
87% increase in new donors
La Casa Norte
199% increase in campaign donations
Gateway Center
125 new donors
$24,000 increase in donations
Climate Resolve
44 new donors
149% increase in individual donations
Buffalo String Works
66% increase in donations
40 new donors
Primo Center
70% increase in donations
Grid110
Raised 20% more money
Average donation increased by 68%
Evoluer House
Donations improved from $2,100 to $70,000—more than ever before.
WEDI
Instagram reach up 94.3%
ATL Collective
34% increase in donations
Neighborhood Bike Works
26% increase in donations
