Good Impact Project: Overcoming loneliness with HelsinkiMissio

What if there was less lonely people? This was the question three Roadies asked when we teamed up with HelsinkiMissio to help reduce loneliness with a multichannel marketing campaign.

An increasing number of Finns are suffering from loneliness. It affects every tenth person, and on top of loneliness being an immense emotional strain, it can feel like physical pain.

The non-profit organisation HelsinkiMissio is on a mission to overcome loneliness. HelsinkiMissio is a non-religious and non-political organisation with over 140 years of experience.

Their work aims to reduce loneliness at every stage of life. Together with their committed volunteers and skilled professionals, HelsinkiMissio offers, for example, friends for the elderly, professional counselling for young people, and support for families with small kids. In total, HelsinkiMissio’s work encompasses 30 different services to combat loneliness.

As a part of Columbia Road’s Good Impact Project, we teamed up with HelsinkiMissio to build a marketing concept and materials for this spring’s fundraising campaign. Our team involved Design Consultants Anna Müller and Jenni Piispa, and Content Lead Helmi Korhonen.

Creative concept

One of the great challenges that hinders people from donating to charities, is the lack of understanding of the impact of their donation. If we were to get people to donate to HelsinkiMissio’s cause, we needed to assure them that their donation can truly have an impact.

What we learned was that HelsinkiMissio’s work includes 30 different services, ranging from free professional counselling for youth to helping the elderly with everyday tasks. Still, most are only aware of the charity’s high-level mission, but not their wide range of solutions. This became the overarching theme of the campaign – a theme previously unexplored in HelsinkiMissio’s communications.

Each campaign image features a changing copy that starts with “Lahjoita, jotta…” or “Donate, so that…” in English. What follows is a personal message with a moving image person giving a face to loneliness.

An old man asks: “Donate so that I’d have someone to talk to”. A teenager appeals to the donor with the message: “Donate, so that I don’t have to spend this summer alone”.

Each of these appeals is accompanied by a concrete promise from HelsinkiMissio, such as “Your donation enables a friend for the elderly – and 29 other services that reduce loneliness at each stage of life.” These various creatives together communicate the versatile impact of HelsinkiMissio's work and the wide range of solutions they offer.

Multichannel fundraising campaign

HelsinkiMissio’s spring campaign has a wide reach and is visible in multiple channels: you’ll be able to spot the ads both out of home and online, not to mention traditional mail.

Out-of-home advertising involves only the shorter “Donate, so that” ad copy. Each spot that is shown at shopping malls and bus stops includes at least two different images and copy variations to highlight the variety in HelsinkiMissio’s work. The ads on paid social on the other hand support the message by telling more about the concrete impact of a donation.

All campaign ads lead to a donation landing page that is optimised and adjusted to fit the campaign messaging. On the landing page, the donor can also see what different sums of money can enable, further highlighting the concrete impact of the donation.

About the Good Impact Program

The collaboration with HelsinkiMissio is part of Columbia Road’s Good Impact Program. This program allows Roadies to use their professional competence for a good cause. Columbia Road supports these projects by sponsoring the Roadies, who use their personal time for social good.