The “Give More” campaign - an impact evaluation
“This has never been about measurement, it is about inspiring people.”
Against a backdrop of a global recession and national austerity measures, Give More was conceived as a 12- month UK campaign to encourage as many people as possible to share their passion for the causes they care about by making a public commitment to give more money, time or energy, and to get people talking more about giving. This was a unique and ambitious undertaking to “raise the tide for all ships” and benefit all charities, causes and communities. It was entirely funded by the Pears Foundation, a family foundation chaired by Trevor Pears CMG.
Download the report below
Esther Rantzen; Trevor Pears CMG, Pears Foundation; June Ross-Wildman, Esther Community EnterpriseTBC; , Martyn Lewis CBE, Patricia Hewitt, on behalf of BTTBC
On Valentine’s Day 2011 I was rubbing shoulders for the first time with the Philentrepreneur Sir Trevor Pears, alongside Esther Rantzen, Martyn Lewis and others, in a posh building somewhere in North London. After the speeches, we all trooped out onto the rooftop terrace to look at the BT Tower whose Infoband that morning was displaying the “Give More” Campaign message.
18 months later, while I was working at the Directory of Social Change, I was asked by the Give More team to carry out an independent review and evaluation of the campaign. It was a brave move, particularly since the campaign had attracted its share of criticism (e.g. here and here).
Sir Trevor Pears (who bankrolled the campaign), and the team, felt that they had learned huge lessons which ought to be shared with others and were willing to let me have free rein in ransacking their data, talking to their supporters and detractors, and being honest with them about their own successes and failings.
Impact highlights include:
PR reach generated offline & online: 1,741,738 individuals
Campaign engaged with by 118,566 individuals
50,143 public pledges on Give More website
26,876 young people have seen the messages
12,694 young people made pledges
22 celebrity ambassadors
The campaign faced a number of large challenges, including:
The challenges of collaboration
Getting the message across
The impact of the leadership model adopted
Measurement of success
