Brits urged to swap Xmas gifts for online donations

Launching on 19 November, the digital element of the campaign -  centred on an email that drives traffic through to a campaign microsite supported by banner ads, a Facebook fan page and a widget; was created by digital direct agency, Cheeze (www.cheeze.com), a member of Digital Marketing Group plc.

CAF is a charity set up to help other charities by working with donors, companies and charities to encourage and facilitate a culture of giving. They do this by offering products and services that make giving easier, tax efficient and help charities to make the most of donations through their banking and fundraising support services.

Ashley Spooner, Group Account Director Web 2.0 at Cheeze summarises the agency's approach, "CAF came to us with a fairly broad campaign concept of getting people to donate to charity this Christmas, rather than buying presents that people simply don't want. Their objective was to help charities through the difficult economic circumstances, whilst raising brand awareness for CAF more broadly with members of the public. We developed some really strong creative that works well both on and offline, with an integrated online campaign that uses multiple touch points to engage both existing CAF customers and the wider public alike."

An e-mail sent to the 60,000 strong CAF database of account holders and email opt-ins urging them to ask their friends to make a charitable donation on their behalf instead of giving them 'pants' presents, will drive recipients through to the campaign microsite, www.pantspresents.org, created by sister Digital Marketing Group agency, Hyperlaunch.

The microsite will feature information on the campaign and allow users to create a personalised email to send to up to ten friends. The site will also allow users to create a widget which is embeddable on their personal webpage or Facebook page. At the same time a Facebook fan page with information on CAF will link to the microsite.

Banner ads on entertainment sites such as News of the World, UKTV, Love Film, and specific programmes on ITV, including The X Factor; will drive through to the campaign microsite. Facebook will also carry ads directing traffic to the microsite and fan pages.

Offline, the campaign will be supported with a national PR push.

After Christmas, a post-campaign email will be sent to those who used the microsite asking them what their worst gift was and suggesting ways they can use them to support a charity, such as selling them on an eBay charity auction or donating to a charity shop.

Commenting on the campaign Julie Gayler, head of marketing at CAF said, "We were very impressed by Cheeze's ability to get up-to-speed quickly on the project.  They immediately understood what we were trying to achieve with the campaign and came up with an exciting and inventive concept."