Fundraising Case Study: Giving Tuesday

The Institute of International Education is working on raising funds and support for university aged Syrian students to continue their education while the Civil War in their home country rages. 

The Problem

When people think of the the Syrian crisis and how they can help, they think of donating basic necessities like food and blankets - not higher education. How could we make people understand the importance of giving young Syrians the chance to stay in school?

The Process

We thought through why people don't understand education as an issue. And we also brainstormed ways to reach the most people in the most dynamic way possible given a very limited marketing communications budget.

The Insight

People were only thinking about the current state - the war. They weren't thinking of the future, when a generation of young people with no education would be incapable of leading their country post-civil war. Donations were towards building a better future, which can't be done with bottled water, blankets and tents. 

#GivingTuesday

We chose to raise funds for this cause on Giving Tuesday, a national day of giving, so that we could leverage the attention being given to charitable causes. We also chose to create a low cost, tightly messaged video meant to work across Facebook and Instagram, with or without sound and drive donors towards our giving page.

The Result: We raised seven times as much money as past online fundraising initiatives, got our team members involved in promoting this great cause, and raised awareness of the issue of Syrian students in crisis across social media.