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World Vision Australia launches ‘Chosen’ campaign, where children pick the sponsor

Children now have the opportunity to choose their sponsor, as World Vision launches its new program, Chosen.

Chosen starts with people signing up to sponsor a child, and uploading a photo of themselves to World Vision Australia’s website. The pictures of potential sponsors are then displayed in a community where World Vision operates for a child to pick their sponsor.

The initiative is the work of World Vision’s in-house creative team. World Vision put its creative account out to pitch earlier in the year with incumbent, The Royals, deciding not to take part and the successful agency yet to be announced to market.

The program was set to launch in April this year after a pilot in international markets, however it was delayed due to the pandemic.

 

World Vision Australia CMO, Maryanne Tsiatsias, said World Vision’s global team had managed to host a handful of Chosen events before the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the start of lockdowns ostensibly cancelled the very mechanism that drove the original Chosen model.

“Before the pandemic, ‘choosing parties’ were huge events where children danced, played, ate and chose their supporters – and I had the joy and privilege of being on the ground in Uganda in February to see this first-hand,” she said. “There was almost a carnival atmosphere.”

The parties quickly had to be altered to accomodate social distancing guidelines, inviting groups of 10 to 15 people instead of 500.

The campaign has now launched in Australia, with marketing activity taking place across digital, outdoor, social and PR channels.

Tsiatsias added that she was also concerned about the impact COVID-19 would have sponsorship.

“We wondered at the onset of COVID-19 what the impact would be on Australians: whether charitable giving would be one of the things people were more prepared to compromise on, or whether it would make people more aware of, and more empathetic for other people in more vulnerable communities around the world,” she said.

“Rather than tightening the purse strings, Australians have acknowledged the reality is that COVID-19 is far harder to combat in vulnerable countries that have limited healthcare, and that lockdowns had a devastating impact in places with little or no social safety net.

“Australians have also embraced Chosen because they see how it places the child first and so sends a powerful message of empowerment that has far-reaching effects. If Chosen is any indication, we’re greatly encouraged at how generous Australians have been and how willing they are to embark on a new way of initiating a sponsorship relationship with their child.”

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