When Children in Need started out they raised £1m over one night. However, this figure has grown significantly with last year’s campaign raising in excess of £32m. The difference? The campaign is no longer run over one night, it’s an ongoing campaign that includes a significant amount of online promotion.
There is an important lesson to be learnt here for businesses and brands – the power of online and social media campaigns. The Children in Need website has become just as important as The Grand Appeal Show. It makes it easier for people to become involved by offering ideas and inspiration, fundraising tools and much more including educational resources for schools and advice on how to publicise your event. There is even an online shop to buy a range of branded items which add to the overall figure raised.
The Children in Need Twitter page has 207,000 followers and Pudsey Bear has his own Facebook page with over 970,000 likes! The levels of engagement are fantastic. The number of people following these pages are obviously linked to years of building a strong brand, but the way the pages are managed is top quality. Retweets are on point and Pudsey Bear replies to comments and posts on Facebook. Fundraisers all over the country are sharing their pictures encouraging further engagement as no company or individual wants to be the one left out of the dedicated hashtags for such a great cause.
Children in Need has grown into a fully integrated campaign which encourages people to become involved and provides them with all the required resources. A great campaign for a great cause.