A shared experience for donors and their sponsor child
I helped provide a joyful way for donors to connect with their sponsor child through the design of a Season’s Greeting card, gift and mail pack. This project was done in collaboration with a copy partner.
My Role
Creative Concept
Print Design
Illustration
Client
ChildFund
Agency
Marlin Communications
Project Background
ChildFund Australia is an independent international development organisation that works to reduce poverty for children in developing communities. Thousands of generous donors sponsor children living overseas through ChildFund.
ChildFund could see an opportunity to provide additional support to these children by offering Australians the opportunity to send a physical present to their sponsored child alongside a monetary gift for health, education and sanitation programs.
This campaign resulted in a 12% uplift in value, attributable to the creativity and inventiveness of the design and raised over $250,000.
The Brief
A joyful gift for both sponsor and child
I was tasked with creating a Season’s Greetings mail pack containing a card and gifts, for sponsor children in developing communities that would appeal to kids of all genders, ages and cultures.
Whilst the card and gift were for the child, the pack was initially sent to the sponsor to fund it, and so they could write a personal message for their sponsor child. It was critical that receiving the pack would be a positive experience for the sponsor – and that they saw value in donating and returning the card for their child, and also confident that it would create joy for their sponsor child and enhance their shared sponsorship experience.
For the child, the card and gift were an opportunity to connect with their sponsor, and receive joy – resulting in increased two-way correspondence, further strengthening the bond between the supporter and child. And in turn, leading to increased loyalty and greater donor retention.
Overcoming constraints
The huge number of constraints for this brief required creative thinking. A big idea needed to fit into a small, light-weight, cost-effective envelope.
Furthermore, the idea needed broad appeal and to be culturally relevant for children young and old across the world, and not rely on English.
In addition, the pack also needed to appeal to sponsors in Australia celebrating Christmas – without mentioning Christmas, so it was relevant to people of different religious backgrounds.
Constraints
For boys and girls (5-18 years)
Suitable for non-English speakers
Culturally suitable for a broad range of countries
Paper-based
Contains no additional parts elements
Can fit in an envelope
Weight and size restrictive for mailing
Cost-effective
Fun and joyful
Says ‘Christmas’ without mentioning Christmas
The Idea
Connecting through shared experiences
Across the world, the holiday season is a time where families and friends come together to have fun and celebrate. No matter where we are from, we all have a special clan who we call our own.
The idea was to reflect that shared experience for both the donor and sponsor child by creating a design that celebrated families of all shapes and sizes and enriching the connection to the special people in our lives through imaginative play.
We gave children the props to re-create their own finger-puppet family, or make one up, using simple, pop-out finger puppets and a colourful sticker sheet to personalise their characters. The idea was about celebrating families of all shapes and sizes and enriching the connection to the special people in our lives through imaginative play.
Donors were also able to decorate a puppet to send to their child.
Extra gift
A way to extend the idea through a universal game
An additional Finger Soccer game was also added to extend the idea and appeal to a larger range of kids. Soccer was a great fit as it’s a universal game that children of all ages all over the world know. The game came complete with a field, two pop-out goal posts and a ball made out of scrunched-up paper. By making an additional donation, sponsors could add this bonus gift to the pack.
