In 2022, the Good Work Foundation (GWF), a rural education non-profit, wanted to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its Hazyview Digital Learning Campus.
Flow responded with the #TenYearsOfGoodWork campaign in which we partnered with Good Things Guy (GTG). Flow wrote 10 good-news stories about GWF, which were published on GTG’s website and amplified via newsletters and social media.
The articles were read 100 000-plus times, with 500 000 impressions on social media. This complemented the almost five million people already reached through Flow’s ongoing media relations efforts, with brand awareness further bolstered through social media. Proof that good news does sell!
Opportunity statement
GWF, a non-profit that runs six digital learning campuses in Mpumalanga and the Free State, offers wonder-filled digital literacy (including coding and robotics), English, conservation and creative arts education to rural primary school children.
It also helps school leavers get workplace-ready, improve their chances of getting into university and find work in the conservation and hospitality sectors.
However, it’s not always easy to obtain coverage with so many other causes competing for media attention. Yet, the more awareness that is created, the easier it is to solicit donations to fund the inspiring work this NGO does with 8 000-plus young people every week.
Flow had been working with GWF since March 2022 and had already significantly built the non-profit’s brand awareness and profile during that time, while injecting new life into its social media presence – resulting in a marked uptick in donations to fund its important work.
To celebrate the birthday of its Hazyview campus in August and September 2022, Flow proposed a strong PR, social media and media partnership that would be guaranteed to publicise the “good news” about GWF’s remarkable achievements. In so doing, we would further build the foundation’s credibility and assist with its fundraising efforts.
Research conducted
For a non-profit funded purely by donations, it was testament to GWF’s resilience that it had survived Covid-19 where others had folded – reason enough to celebrate its Hazyview campus’s 10-year anniversary.
But we needed to get the message out about the excellent work it does through PR and social media efforts, and via a media partner that shared its tenacity and positive vision for the future.
Our research led us to a few potential outlets, but we settled on one that aligned perfectly with GWF’s ethos and values: Good Things Guy. This is a well-known, award-winning platform for inspirational good-news stories and an excellent brand fit.
Researching the type of content that the GTG website and social media channels published, we realised that there were more than enough similar stories coming out of GWF’s six digital learning campuses – bursting with enough feel-good fuzzies to fill 10 such websites.
With 150 000 newsletter subscribers, more than 300 000 social media followers and content read by a million South Africans every month, it was clear that the various GTG properties deliver excellent reach and good value for money. Furthermore, it’s a credible and well-liked platform – perfect for enhancing brand awareness.
We approached GTG founder Brent Lindeque and he enthusiastically endorsed our proposal. Then it was time to start researching and mining the treasure trove of inspirational stories from GWF to decide which would be best suited to being showcased on GTG’s many digital platforms, in consultation with the client.
Planning the campaign
The goal for #TenYearsOfGoodWork was simply to raise public awareness of the GWF and get the non-profit on the public’s (and potential donors’) radar by showcasing its amazing against-the-odds stories.
This would further build on and complement Flow’s existing always-on communications strategy pertaining to GWF’s work, which is anchored in writing informative and inspirational articles, media releases and opinion pieces, and crafting engaging social media content.
We set the wheels in motion to publish 10 good-news stories on the GTG website (further promoted via its social media channels and email newsletter) in August and September 2022, complemented by striking images, videos and original artwork.
Lindeque generously offered some value-adds, such as further amplifying the articles via GTG’s out-of-home digital advertising screens, the GTG app and the data-free Moya app, and to boost all the social media posts at no extra cost.
After deciding which inspiring stories about the GWF’s work and people to feature for maximum traction, the hard work of interviewing, designing, writing, editing, image sourcing, content collation and publication could begin.
Flow set about designing #TenYearsOfGoodWork campaign artwork, including banners for all platforms, as well as a timeline tracking GWF’s roots and evolution.
We also interviewed GWF staff (many of whom were graduates of its Bridging Year Academy), as well as parents, beneficiaries, partners and donors (some of them living overseas), to paint a composite picture of how this tenacious non-profit out in the sticks has pioneered a model of wonder-filled learning.
Simultaneously, we began compiling a GWF social media content plan to complement GTG’s posts. This included separate, tailored #TenYearsOfGoodWork content unique to GWF’s channels.
With several moving parts, it required a concerted team effort to bring everything together seamlessly into a well-orchestrated campaign.
Execution
The #TenYearsOfGoodWork paid campaign began rolling out in August 2022, parallel to Flow’s existing media relations and social media efforts. Original articles written by Flow were published by GTG and on GWF’s website every week – and the likes, loves, shares and supportive comments began streaming in.
The stories shared were uplifting, celebratory and often very moving. They painted a vivid picture of how GWF’s founders, armed with little more than an audacious vision to reimagine education to improve the lives of rural learners, ended up building six digital learning campuses that today transform tens of thousands of lives every year.
Flow’s staff, when researching, interviewing and writing the pieces, we were touched by the poignant accounts of how young people overcame incredible odds – from being orphaned to feeling the hopelessness of being turned away from job after job – to be afforded the dignity of being able to pursue their study or employment dreams.
GWF’s impact stories spread beyond Mpumalanga and the Free State: we spoke to people such as American author and life coach Dr Martha Beck about her annual Londolozi bush retreats, with proceeds going to GWF.
We interviewed courageous Florida, United States, resident Beth Knopik, whose late teenage daughter Leanna’s dream was to volunteer in Africa and in whose honour GWF’s All Heart Fund and awards are named.
We chatted with inspirational and indefatigable GWF founder Kate Groch about her unconventional education journey, and her enthusiasm for transforming rural learning was infectious. We interviewed Londolozi’s Varty family, whose names are as synonymous with wildlife conservation as they are with philanthropic deeds.
Good Things Guy’s featured posts linking to each article were amplified and shared by the social media team at Flow, who tailored unique captions, retweeted, used campaign-specific hashtags, got inventive with Facebook and Instagram stories, and tagged relevant accounts for extra reach and impact.
It was #TenYearsOfGoodWork crystallised into eight weeks’ worth of storytelling – and we loved every uplifting minute of it. It reminded us that content is king and that people enjoy reading well-written good-news stories.
Evaluation/measurement
The #TenYearsOfGoodWork articles (including a timeline and a 10-year birthday video) performed exceptionally well:
The campaign web banner was served 679 390 times
10 articles were collectively read 113 276 times
Six newsletter features were sent to 150 000 subscribers
Articles were shared with more than 300 000 social media followers
The articles attracted some 500 000 impressions on social media
Engagement and sentiment levels on social media were overwhelmingly positive
Flow’s always-on media relations efforts before, during and after the campaign reached a further five million people through traditional media over a six-month period
Good Work Foundation’s social media audiences grew by 131% during Flow’s first six months of association with the non-profit
And most significantly, GWF reached its fundraising target for the following year in record time in 2022 – which it partly attributes to the Flow-GWF “dream team” partnership!