The Campaign

Little Spark of Force to Change the World. The idea is that one doesn’t need to be a famous humanitarian to be able to change the world. Everybody is capable of small deeds, with a little help from our platform. As one of China’s biggest Internet companies, we fully leveraged the power of our mobile platform, encouraging thousands of small NGOs sign up. We opened up the platform to allow individual users to raise money for their favorite charities through their social networks. The donations were made directly through WeChat, one of China’s foremost mobile social media apps. With one click, a user can make big difference to those in need. The idea not only brought awareness to the NGOs but also mobilized users to both donate their own money and to use their personal influence to garner further support from their social networks.

Execution

We listed over 2,000 NGO projects on the platform and encouraged WeChat users to choose those they were most interested in. We provided a “donate together” button to allow them to share the project with their friends and raise money for micro-funds via WeChat friendship accounts. To achieve their own pre-set fundraising goals, users posted information about projects and invited their friends to make donations. The nature of social networks greatly increased the degree of trust in sponsored charity projects. Also, because most users share common interests with their social network friends, conversation on WeChat was more readily converted into action on the part of friends.

The 9/9 Charity Day delivered impactful results. In only 3 days, 2,178 charity projects reached their fundraising goals. In only 3 days, 2.05 million users donated. In only 3 days, we raised 127.9 million RMB, nearly 30% of all online charitable fundraising in China in 2014. We successfully mobilized the post-90 generation to become the event’s largest group of donors. Within 30 hours after the Nepal earthquake, 23.3 million RMB was raised online in China, making China first in the world in donations to that cause. Legislation has been proposed to establish 9/9 as China’s official Internet charity day. Furthermore, our leveraging of online and mobile platforms also changed the way individuals participate in charitable activities. One can explore and support the NGOs and their projects on our platform anywhere, any time. All it takes is one click to donate.

The Situation

This project aims to motivate ordinary people to participate in charitable causes. We believe the ordinary majority is the greatest power for making an impact. The power to make a difference lies not only with celebrities or KOLs, but with ordinary SNS app users as well. Our program encouraged users not only to support sponsored NGOs by making donations, but also to raise funds for NGOs from their friends via our SNS apps. Social networking apps became the tool for garnering donations, as well as for spreading the word about these NGOs, making users into ambassadors for their favorite charities.

The Strategy

Tencent’s 9/9 Charity Day brought huge exposure to the NGOs and their projects in China’s online society, promoted by WeChat, the foremost mobile social network app in China. By encouraging anyone who wants to make the world a better place to set up a micro-fund, through which they can raise funds for the charity of their choice via their social network, the event encouraged individuals to generate their own content to promote the charity of their choice shared on their social networks. The endorsement and personal influence power from the apps’ users greatly increased the level of trust of the NGOs and their projects, resulting in a much higher rate of conversion from conversation to action. Donations received, no matter how small, can avalanche into a movement when replicated by our millions of users.