Digital fundraising

Five of the best Christmas charity campaigns of 2013

It’s cold outside, the threat of snow is looming on the horizon and it seems like it’s constantly nighttime. But despite all this, there’s a feeling of joy in the air and everyone seems to be smiling just a little bit more, which can only mean one thing.

By Reason Digital · November 28, 2013

Yes, it’s that time of the year again when the streets are full of people frantically trying to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, the dark nights are illuminated by festive lights and charitable giving is at its highest. It’s Christmas.

Sharing joy and giving to those less fortunate is what defines this most wonderful time of year and here are some great ways that we’re seeing charities do the same. That’s right, it’s our third annual Christmas Charity campaigns cream of the crop.

Christmas Jumper Day 2013

Once only seen as a reluctantly accepted gift from a thoughtful but misguided relative, the Christmas jumper has grown from humble beginnings to become a celebrated and even fashionable part of the festive season. Haphazardly designed and knitted knitwear is now the vogue and Save the Children are capitalising on this trend by encouraging people to wear their jumpers to work one day and donating a pound to disadvantaged kids.

Building on the success of their 2012 event, which gained over 500 media articles and a strong following on Twitter, Save the Children are making 2013’s Christmas Jumper Day even bigger. Much like last year they have a solid line up of celebrities endorsing the campaign such as Myleene Klass and Gok Wan. They’ve also bolstered the event with a text auction offering especially kitsch jumpers provided by a variety of prestigious designers.

The Story of Giving Something Back

Once only seen as a reluctantly accepted gift from a thoughtful but misguided relative, the Christmas jumper has grown from humble beginnings to become a celebrated and even fashionable part of the festive season. Haphazardly designed and knitted knitwear is now the vogue and Save the Children are capitalising on this trend by encouraging people to wear their jumpers to work one day and donating a pound to disadvantaged kids.

Building on the success of their 2012 event, which gained over 500 media articles and a strong following on Twitter, Save the Children are making 2013’s Christmas Jumper Day even bigger. Much like last year they have a solid line up of celebrities endorsing the campaign such as Myleene Klass and Gok Wan. They’ve also bolstered the event with a text auction offering especially kitsch jumpers provided by a variety of prestigious designers.

Emergency Food Aid Appeal

Christmas is a strange time of year for television, standard show scheduling gets scrapped and supplanted by specials, festive feature films fill free time and adverts become almost as accepted as shows themselves. Just think about the classic Coca-Cola truck, the unforgettable Toys R Us jingle or that Quality Street advert that everyone goes on about, but I appear to be too young to know about. We’re in an age where adverts are more valuable than ever, there’s no longer just a captive audience who are trying to watch TV, there’s also an audience of advert lovers who will watch and share their favourites on Youtube.

This year, one of the biggest hits has been Waitrose’s story of giving back. Though Waitrose aren’t a charity, their approach to charitable giving this Christmas is good enough that they have earnt a place in this list. Their advert is a wonderfully minimalist production, abandoning the flashy production values and self-aggrandising that have come to define modern day television and instead focusing on how they are helping the community.

#GivingTuesday

Giving Tuesday Logo

Americans are a curious bunch. Around this time it seems they have days for everything – Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, now, Giving Tuesday. Following on from Thanksgiving, which is always the fourth Thursday of November, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the busiest shopping days of the year, and have both become a staple of many American’s holiday season.

#GivingTuesday, on the other hand, is a new initiative, which aims to become as well known as the other days, but without the focus on retail. Instead of being a day for buying it’s a day for giving. It’s a day for helping out those people who are less fortunate, those who might not have been able to enjoy the deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday because they can barely afford the necessities of life. #GivingTuesday is about inspiring people to give to charity.

Spearheaded by New York’s 92nd Street Y, the event is hoping to reach all of America, spreading goodwill, cheer and charity through its Twitter hashtag #GivingTuesday. Hopefully this year’s event, on Tuesday December 3rd 2013, will be a great success and #GivingTuesday will become a regular date in everyone’s calendar.

The Christmas Dinner

One of the most amazing things about Christmas is the sense of community it creates. Not only bringing those already close even closer together through gift-giving but also giving people who don’t know each other a shared sense of goodwill. The Christmas Dinner is a perfect example of this. Set up by famed poet Lemn Sissay, The Christmas Dinner is a crowdsourced event that aims to provide care leavers (adults who were once in foster or residential care) a good meal and even better company on Christmas day.

The crowdsourcing campaign aimed to make a modest £5,000 and quickly surpassed its target in, somewhat fittingly, 12 days. While many of these donations will have been purely to support the cause, it didn’t hurt that the campaign also offered some unique and amazing pledge rewards. These ranged from a simple thank you email to a specially commissioned and customised poem written by Lemn himself. It offers people a great opportunity to do something great for those who need it, get something truly unique in return and all for little to no cost for the organisation. Everyone wins, and it brings everyone that little bit closer at Christmas time.