AUSTRALIA FOR UNHCR
Turning the brutal reality of winter into a tangible reason to give – helping Australia for UNHCR’s Christmas Appeal grow 19% year-on-year.
THE CHALLENGE
For millions of displaced people, winter isn’t simply uncomfortable. It can be life-threatening.
Australia for UNHCR needed its Christmas Appeal to cut through a crowded end-of-year fundraising period and make the scale and urgency of winter in Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan feel immediate to Australian donors — without overwhelming them. The challenge was to turn an enormous humanitarian crisis into something people could understand, connect with and act on. And to create a strong campaign idea that could work consistently across direct mail, email, digital advertising and the wider donor journey.
THE SOLUTION
We centred the campaign around one confronting truth: Winter Kills. But for Australians experiencing Christmas in the middle of summer, the danger of a freezing winter can feel very far away. So we created a simple visual device to close that distance: a thermometer contrasting the temperatures we were enjoying in Australia with the sub-zero conditions refugees were enduring in Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. The thermometer became the throughline of the campaign, turning an abstract idea of ‘extreme cold’ into an immediate, visceral comparison. While we were celebrating Christmas in 30-degree heat, displaced families could be facing temperatures well below zero, without the protection of a secure home.
From there, we made the donor’s role equally tangible. Blankets. Emergency fuel. Warm clothing. Shelter. Recognisable items that showed exactly what help could look like, shifting the story from an overwhelming humanitarian crisis to something people could act on. We paired this with powerful human stories from across Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, creating a campaign that moved between: this is the difference in our realities; this is what that means for a family; this is what your donation can do about it.
That idea created a consistent campaign story and as the campaign rolled out, the more product-led survival-item creative proved particularly effective in digital channels, giving the team another clear, practical way to communicate donor impact.
THE RESULTS
$1.78 million raised. 19% year-on-year growth. 6,390 donations.
It became one of Australia for UNHCR’s strongest Christmas Appeals to date, with the integrated campaign generating significant growth across warm and acquisition audiences. Digital performance strengthened year-on-year, with increases in digital response rates, online giving and the number of gifts received. Importantly, the locally developed creative by Australia for UNHCR and Three Blocks Left consistently outperformed the global UNHCR assets across digital advertising.
The results demonstrate what can happen when fundraising science and creative storytelling work together: sophisticated targeting gets the appeal in front of the right people, while clear, emotionally compelling creative gives them a reason to act.
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