Catholic Charities of Buffalo has been serving the most vulnerable and needy in Western New York for more than 95 years. Abbey Mecca is privileged to work with Catholic Charities on the development of the public awareness campaign for Appeal 2020. The campaign is designed to support the multi-level fundraising efforts with a primary objective of raising awareness for the Appeal and the need to support the work of Catholic Charities of Buffalo.
The campaign strategy was unique as public sentiment in the Buffalo Niagara market is skewed due to an abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. Although Catholic Charities is separately incorporated with separate management, the Catholic Charities brand is associated with the Diocese in the minds of the general public.
In addition to differentiating the Catholic Charities brand from the Diocese of Buffalo brand, we established clear objectives for our campaign communications.
- Raise awareness of the work Catholic Charities does for all people by providing for basic needs – food, shelter, counseling, etc.
- Encourage all people to donate to the Appeal as a way to help the entire community
- Engage Catholic parishioners who chose not to give to the Appeal in the past year to make a donation to Appeal 2020
- Reach younger donors (21-29) of all faiths and appeal to their sense of social justice as motivation to give to the Appeal
For the Appeal 2020 campaign, we developed a creative strategy that maintains an authentic and human tone. Focus on the impact of the good work of Catholic Charities and the people helped by Catholic Charities is the approach. Catholic Charities’ ability to help people in WNY with basic needs – food, shelter, counseling, – is motivating to all target audiences.
It was important to be direct in design and messaging to demonstrate that when you give to the Appeal, you are helping people in our community that really need it. You are not giving to an organization. When you give to Catholic Charities, you are giving to people who need the help.
With our creative strategy in place, we executed creative across multiple media including outdoor, television/video, radio, print, digital and direct mail. The Appeal 2020 and campaign run through June 2020.
