Our work

In each of the countries where Senioragency is present, we have dedicated teams working on a diverse range of projects.

The task

Bequests or gifts in wills are the financial lifeblood for most charities, permitting them to continue their necessary work. But due to lack of awareness, only about 8% of Australians leave a bequest to charity in their will.

In 2006 the iconic organisations of the Australian Red Cross, Mission Australia, Cancer Council Australia and the Heart Foundation pooled resources and united under the name of the Bequest Awareness Group to increase awareness about charitable bequests.

On their behalf, Senioragency Australia developed an integrated social marketing and communications campaign.

Titled Include a Charity, the campaign's ultimate objective is to increase the number and value of bequests and therefore revenue to the Group. This included designing a three year strategic plan, striking the right note between action and awareness.

This is a difficult campaign to communicate to audiences, and it's also hard to measure success. The topic is sensitive, the choices highly personal. In addition, from a measurement perspective there is on average a time lag of eight to 10 years between including a bequest in a will and the time when the gift is realised.

The solution

Step 1. Researching key targets

Qualitative and quantitative research revealed the most appropriate target audience for the marketing campaign.

Our target is female, aged 60-68 and has a will which may or may not be current. She may or may not have children; appreciates being told information carefully, concisely, and without being "smart", and wants to be able to invest back into the community easily.

Step 2. Key messages

Our intention was to inform and inspire, and urge action.

After consulting focus groups, key messages for the integrated campaign were distilled. The tag line was simple, incorporating both 'call to action' and instruction - "Updating your will? Include a Charity."

Inspirational secondary support messages were used throughout advertising, media relations, web and other collateral.

Step 3. Integrated communications strategy

Advertising

The creative concept needed a strong brand identity that was sensitive and attractive. Imagery had to make the issue approachable, highlighting the positive generational impact of leaving a bequest, flexible across different media and appropriate for all charities.

The imagery represents connectivity across the generations, the 60+ woman and the young child.

The advertising collateral consisted of 30 second and 15 second TVCs, radio ads, inside bus, print ads, a DL brochure and website.

Event

The campaign launch took place at the State Theatre Lounge. Stakeholders of the four charities, other associated organisations, solicitors and the media were in attendance.

Media Relations

The media relations campaign for the launch focused on dispelling myths surrounding bequests and highlighting the impact to charity. Statistics, research and a strong spokesperson constituted the backbone of the strategy.

Research from Geospend was purchased and information from Pareto Fundraising was sourced, which allowed Senioragency to analyse by postcode the regions where people left a bequest to charity. This became the 'hook' of the media relations campaign creating a relevant metropolitan, suburban and regional media strategy.

Hotline and website

The Include a Charity hotline and website provides interested people with support and further, unbiased, information about bequest logistics. Information on writing a will, choosing a solicitor, facts and figures on bequests and information on leaving a bequest to charity is available for the public.

The website also includes information for solicitors such as sample clauses and related materials. Senioragency hotline staff received training on the sensitive nature of the issue. Staff offer the caller an information pack and follow up two weeks later to ensure the information was received.

The result

Martin Paul, Director, Marketing and Communications, the Cancer Council, said: "We can already see the impact of the Include a Charity Campaign on our results. At the same time as launching the campaign the Cancer Council undertook marketing campaigns aimed at its own current supporters using offers that are consistent with the Include and Charity campaign and based on the same research."

"Since launching these complementary campaigns we have more than doubled the number of confirmed bequests, that is people who have told us they have included the Cancer Council in their will and generated over 1,000 new leads."

Narelle Campbell, National Manager, Income Development, Mission Australia said: "One of the most interesting outcomes of the IaC campaign was the proof that four major charity organisations could collaborate and institute social change far more effectively than each charity could individually, whilst keeping the costs to a minimum. This was an Australian first and was initially met with some scepticism by the industry."

"The research and subsequent business case developed by Senioragency showed, in theory, that this was the best use of our resources, as a group we can share the costs and deliver better results."

"In practice each of the charities involved brought their own strengths to the campaign and with the guidance and campaign management skills of Senioragency we have an incredibly dynamic group of some of Australia's best in charity management."

Jennifer Doubell, Heart Foundation said: "Since the launch of the Include a Charity campaign we have seen a substantial increase in enquiries about bequests and people proactively engaging in conversation with us about their will."

"Although it is hard to tell exactly what the factors are which cause people to respond, (and at the Heart Foundation we do have a number of other bequest marketing activities), we have certainly seen broader public willingness to initiate and engage in conversation about leaving a bequest and a far higher incidence of people wanting to talk about leaving a bequest to our charity."

Jennifer Gibb, National Director, Marketing, Fundraising & Communications, Australian Red Cross said: "Our objective for this programme was simply to increase public awareness, acceptability and willingness to include a charity in wills and I have no doubt that the Include a Charity programme has already begun to achieve these things."

"Preliminary research and feedback suggests that in eight to ten years (this is the average length of time between writing a will and it being realised), there will be a 3% rise in the number of bequests left in Australia."