For parents who come with their children for treatment a chair is the only accommodation hospitals can provide for them. So, these parents cry, eat, sleep live on this chair while hoping for their child to get better.

The chair was a symbol of resistance and suffering but we wanted to turn the same chair into a symbol of hope:

A 24/7 SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATION

To raise awareness we wanted to transport the hospitals' reality to somewhere it can't be ignored. So we placed an empty hospital chair behind the window of an down-town gallery and invited Romania to a solidarity gesture, while live-streaming everything: OCCUPY THE CHAIR 24/7 UNTIL THE MONEY IS RAISED.

To encourage people to donate, we created an online video with the help of influencers, telling the story of these parents' struggle and the chair that nobody wants to sit on.

We used an art gallery to symbolically recreate a room from a Romanian oncology hospital. The central element was a chair. Placed right next to an empty hospital bed, the chair became an icon of the struggle of a poor family that needs treatment for their child but has no place to stay.

An invitation to take a seat in our gallery was launched in an online movie starring celebrities that joined the campaign for free.

Hundreds of people sat 24/7 on the gallery chair. They took the commitment to keep the chair occupied until money for shelter would be raised. People could get scheduled on the NGO’s website, where a live stream from the gallery was permanently available. On the gallery walls we projected the parents' thoughts.

The gallery became a living outdoor showcasing a hurtful reality through its windows, facing one of the most crowded boulevards in Bucharest.

Over 200 different news on TV, online, blogs and radio, 10% TV prime time news with a minimum length of 3 minutes. The longest TV story, a 15 minutes report, within the social show with the highest audience in Ro: “Romania, I love you” generated more than 20,000 direct SMSs. The biggest organic spread of a humanitarian campaign in Romania, with a total reach of 35 million.

66% of the overall Romanian Facebook population was reached at least once by the campaign messages only by organic targeting. The campaign video had been viewed 2 million on Facebook.

Over 60 celebrities joined the campaign for free

636 people sat on the chair day and night, for 23 days; 1185 scheduled to sit, covering the time until April 2018

While target amount was 200.000 euros, the actual raised amount was over 500.000 euros in 3 weeks; already 1.000.000 euros by now and still counting.

Take a Seat was the campaign that brought to Romanian public attention the desperate need for shelter that the parents of children with cancer have during treatment periods.

Through a 24/7 live demonstration of solidarity the managed to engage almost 2,000 people willing to donate their time, making a public statement. The cause received support from tens of influencers and celebrities from different areas, their active involvement helping to raise awareness and gather the money needed for such a shelter.

The campaign was also the top social media topic for almost a month, with a significant organic coverage.

To raise the 200.000 Euros needed, the campaign's main fundraising tool was the SMS donation. It was a high-stakes attempt considering that only 1 in 10.000 SMS represents a donation in Romania. Given the ambitious target and people's low engagement towards donations, we had to go for a totally different approach: MAKING THEM FEEL THEY ARE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER.

Most of the times, donation campaigns aim for people's compassion. But we wanted to make people feel empowered, turning the SMS into a tool they could use to build the alternative system that Romania needed.

We also gave people access to the campaign itself, engaging them in the making. Aside from donating, sitting on that chair in public display meant a powerful personal statement.

Core target: reactive civil society, people who militate for what they believe in, 25-45 y.o, urban.

In Romania, over 70% of children diagnosed with cancer come from families with limited financial resources who cannot afford the costs of transportation and accommodation. This is the main cause for children being diagnosed late, treatments being postponed or interrupted. Therefore, in Romania, only 30% to 60% of these children survive, compared to European 75% recovery chances.

MagiCamp is an NGO whose mission is to build houses near the biggest oncology centres in Romania so that parents of children suffering from cancer wouldn't have to live anymore on hospital chairs, next to their sick children.

MagiCamp asked us to create a campaign that would raise 200.000 Euros for a house near the biggest oncology hospital that would shelter parents and children who travel for treatment.

The campaign budget: 0.

The challenge: A very low rate in SMS donations (1 in 10.000 SMS is a donation in Romania).