This campaign did not have a traditional media approach. The 'media' idea was, in essence, to turn the Jane/Finch community centre into a verified streamer on the social platform Twitch. This was the platform where viewers could interact, learn more about the centre, donate and spread the world about the mechanic, and tell others how to 'Bill It to Bezos'.

In fact, there was $0 spent in paid media. We had organic posts on Instagram and TikTok, relying on the significant word-of-mouth social interactions that happen natively on those platforms, as well as earned media through traditional news outlets.

With so many worthy causes to support, it can be hard to get the attention (and dollars) of potential donors - especially without strong name recognition. Our client (the Jane/Finch Community Centre) is one of 86,000 registered charities in Canada, and one that most had never heard of. In addition, rising income inequality increases the need for donations, while diminishing the public’s ability to give.

We wanted to create a fundraising campaign that not only engaged the public with a conversation about income inequality, but had a built-in donation mechanism that made it easy for people to donate.

The goal was to raise $20,000 for this struggling community centre, without exploiting the residents (no sad pics of poverty, which would only play into the stereotypes of the Jane/Finch neighbourhood, known as Toronto’s poorest and most dangerous).

It's the 'modern-day Robin Hood story' of taking from the mega-rich to benefit the poor.

We took advantage of a loophole in the streaming service Twitch (owned by Amazon and Jeff Bezos) where Amazon Prime Members get a free $3.50 to subscribe and support a streamer. If the $3.50 is not used it goes right back to Amazon. So we turned JFC into a verified Twitch streamer, allowing people to subscribe to us and donate money in a way that's 100% funded by Amazon (in a perfectly legal way :).

This allowed us to not only garner much-needed donations, but enter the conversation about income inequality in a surprising manner, and tap into the groundswell of anger against corporations that do little to benefit the communities their workers live in.

People were able to not only help a community centre, but also got a chance to 'Bill it to Bezos'.

We looked at current trends in the donation landscape, and identified declining contributions in the context of rising economic concerns. We interviewed community members to understand the Jane/Finch area was not defined by ‘struggle’, but by their capacity to adapt and work together to fight inequality.

Since the people who are most passionate about income inequality are often those without the means to give, we wanted to create a campaign that not only engaged this target, but had a built-in donation mechanism. This young target is sick of the rich getting richer while the average Canadian struggles.

Our team scoured the internet, past donation campaigns, and social platforms, and discovered a donation mechanism that fit so perfectly with the topic that we knew immediately we had something special. The platform Twitch.tv was not only a place these conversations were happening, but also a native place to donate with one click.

First, we had to turn the Jane/Finch Centre (JFC) into a verified Twitch streamer (a months-long set of protocols and milestones that included a certain number of hours streamed, number of followers, time on platform, and application to be verified).

Once we had the accreditation, we were eligible to receive Prime subscriptions, so we released our campaign video (YouTube), and social media assets (TikTok & Instagram), all of which drove organically to our Twitch hub or campaign website. The hub and site also had tutorial videos explaining how to subscribe/donate for those who weren't sure how to link their Amazon Prime account to Twitch.

PR helped get the word out (with the local, national, and international press carrying the story), and the campaign donation push went from September to November 2022.

In total, people spent 46,000 hours viewing our content on Twitch.

Almost 3,000 people donated through the Twitch platform.

In terms of earned media, it was covered in 31 national and international news publications, from CTV (Canada's most watched news network) to UK's Contagious.

Brand perception benefitted significantly from the campaign. The Jane/Finch area of Toronto is notoriously known as a neighbourhood that's full of gangs, shootings, and poverty. News coverage tends to reinforce these stereotypes. As a result, it's created a belief that this region is beyond hope - and for some, that the residents are to blame for the struggles they face.

This campaign not only raised donations and awareness of the cause, it also brought to light the incredible efforts of the community centre, and the residents' daily work to fight inequality.

Twitch was the essential to this idea - This fundraising campaign was only possible by using the 'subscription' mechanic through Twitch that Amazon was funding. By turning the Jane/Finch centre into a verified streamer, the idea came to life as viewers could subscribe, and in turn, donate to the community centre by using Amazon's money, not their own.

Twitch also became a broadcast hub to educate viewers on the work the community centre does, provide a place for community members to interact, and give instructions on how to donate if someone wasn't sure how to subscribe with Amazon's Prime membership.

The Jane/Finch area of Toronto is notoriously known as a neighbourhood that's full of gangs, shootings, and poverty. News coverage tends to reinforce these stereotypes. As a result, it's created a belief that this region is beyond hope - and for some, that the residents are to blame for the struggles they face.

This campaign not only created a wonderful way to raise donations, it also brought to light the incredible efforts of the community centre, and the residents' daily work to fight inequality.