We created the Homeless Webshop, that just like the homeless it supported, had no address. And it was looking for shelter on other websites. We asked people and organisations behind big and small websites, to give (temporary) shelter to our webshop. All they had to do was add a single line of code to their site. In the webshop you could buy virtual products, like sleeping bags or a room for the night, to support the homeless. An innovative way to support a charity, not donating money, but website traffic. By counting on the public, media and even businesses for visibility, we created a positive movement around the problem of homelessness again, which increased donations.

We launched The Homeless Webshop the 21st of December on Facebook, with that line of code and a call for help. And it worked. The Webshop immediately found shelter on dozens of blogs and websites. On Twitter we reached out to the media, asking them to give shelter too. And they did.

Belgium’s biggest news sites, the most popular magazines, and several national brands all gave shelter, and website traffic.

To name just a few:

- News sites like hln.be, lalibre.be, mm.be, sudpresse.be, ladh.be, sanoma.be

- The most popular magazines like dagallemaal.be, flaire.be, marieclaire.be, parismatch.be

- Brands like touring.be, kyalin.be, flanders.bio and several national brands

The campaign was also featured on many other media like MSN, Belga, Bruzz, Paris Match, Het Nieuwsblad, Marie Claire, Metro, Nina, BX1, Digimedia, etc...

During the Holiday period the webshop received more than 225.000 unique visitors and it was called one of the 7 the ‘most important webshops in Belgium’.

Apart from developing of the website, there was no other budget involved in the campaign. Zero media budget, not a single Facebook post or tweet was sponsored. All media attention and web-traffic was a direct result of the idea of the Homeless Webshop.

The homeless organisations in Brussels have had a difficult time since the Samusocial-scandal. People were not willing to donate money anymore… On top of that the story of the homeless people in Brussels is in the news every winter, so the public hardly notices it anymore. Our strategy was to create a positive movement around the problem of homelessness again. So we had to generate donations, break through the PR clutter and create a positive movement again.

Every winter, when the cold hits the city of brussels, more than 7000 homeless people roam the streets, desperately looking for shelter. The government provides a number of places for shelter, but far from enough. Local organisation Solidarité Grands Froids tries to help, but providing shelter costs a lot of money, because shelter, warmth and food for the homeless simply costs a lot of money, especially in a harsh winter. On the other hand we needed to create positive awareness around the problem again. This topic has been in the news every winter for the last 10 years, so the public doesn’t really notice it anymore. And there was the financial scandal around Samusocial...