The best charity campaigns of 2022

It’s time to shine a light on some of the most successful and inspiring campaigns from the last 12 months. Here’s our run-down of five brilliant campaigns and what makes them noteworthy.

 

 

1. charity: water: Seeing a problem through a new lens

 

There are 771 million people lacking basic access to clean and safe drinking water across the world. That staggering reality formed the basis of charity: water’s simple but punchy Instagram campaign for World Water Day 2022.

 

‘The True Colours of Dirty Water’ set about to raise awareness of the dirty water crisis, supporting their mission of providing clean drinking water to people in developing countries.

 

An Instagram video showed different colours of water and asked users to choose one. Clicking through to their website, users read stories of people all over the world who have to drink that shade of water every day.

 

They were then asked to share an image of an everyday object that matched their chosen colour. Two thousand images were shared on Unsplash, raising $1 for each submission.

 

The campaign’s tagline was: “The world is full of stunning colours, but they’re only beautiful if you don’t have to drink them”. It neatly sums up the purpose of this effective and eye-opening campaign.

 

If you’re looking to use Instagram or TikTok to create campaigns for your charity take a look at our tips.

 

 

2. Girls Who Code: Coding to highlight the gender gap in tech

 

International non-profit, Girls Who Code, work to close the gender gap in the tech industry. So you’d expect them to be pretty innovative with their use of digital.

 

Their ‘Girls Who Code Girls’ campaign didn’t fall short. They created a desktop and mobile gaming experience empowering girls to create their own personalised game character with code.

 

Over three-quarters (77%) of video game developers are men, and although half of gamers are women, only 20% of all characters are women. This campaign gives girls and young women a fun way to try out code to create characters they want to see on the screen.

 

It highlights that if more women were creating video game characters, they’d look a lot more realistic. And it acts to encourage more girls and young women to pursue a career in tech.

 

 

3. Prostate Cancer UK: Celebrating dads to raise awareness

 

Prostate Cancer UK worked with agency BBH to celebrate dads, while raising awareness of prostate cancer, a disease which takes the lives of 11,500 men every year.

 

Father’s Day can be tough for people who have lost their dad. So they marked the day with a TV ad celebrating real fathers – from their hugs, to bad Dad dancing, to shoddy DIY. The home-video clips were set to a soundtrack of a dad-focused version of ‘She’s the One’.

 

The closing frame asked the audience to “Imagine a day without our Dads” and it clearly hit a nerve. Touching and funny clips were shared all over Twitter, TikTok and Facebook.

 

The Ode to Dads campaign raised awareness of the disease, helped to raise vital funds – and celebrated all those precious everyday moments that make Dads, Dads.

 

 

4. Suicide&Co: The power of sharing

 

Grief is a complicated and difficult journey. Losing someone to suicide can be an even harder experience. Bereavement charity Suicide&Co ran a heart-wrenching campaign to help families suffering better process their grief.

 

The ‘Words Unspoken’ campaign featured real letters written by bereaved people to loved ones. The letters were shared on billboards nationwide, as well as social media. The charity also invited people to share their own, and there’s now a hub on their website of over 100 deeply personal letters.

 

As well as being therapeutic for the person writing the letter, this collection aims to help others going through a similar experience to feel supported and know they’re not alone. 

 

The charity worked with agency, Harbour, on the campaign. Like the Prostate Cancer UK campaign, it shows that deeply personal campaigns and strong storytelling often hits the hardest. 

 

 

5. Carers First: Telling it how it is

 

Many carers struggle financially at the best of times. The cost-of-living crisis has pushed many to the edge.

 

Carers First’s Lighten the Load campaign set to make sure carers are accessing the financial support that’s available to them – and to know that they’re not alone.

 

The award-winning campaign, including new information resources, a financial support email series, and supporting social media, delivered some impressive results.

 

Online carer registrations increased by 92% compared to October 2021, and their social posts reached 175,000 people and had over 16,000 engagements. Broadcaster, Kate Garraway helped to promote the campaign, speaking openly about caring for her husband, and the story was picked up by Channel 4.

 

It goes to show that a straightforward, straight-talking campaign can pack a powerful punch.