2014 winner: Depaul Box Co., Leading-edge thinking/On A Shoestring

2014 winner: Shoestring, Depaul

Depaul UK is a charity that helps young homeless people get off the street, before it’s too late. Youth homelessness is a growing issue in the UK and demand for Depaul UK’s services outstrips supply. It’s easy to think that all charities operate on a shoestring budget. But it’s not the case. The top ten charities in the UK spent an average of £11m each on advertising alone last year. That figure dwarfs Depaul UK’s yearly income, let alone advertising budget.

But what Depaul lacks in financial capabilities, it more than makes up for in ambition. At the start of 2012, a challenging objective was set to double the number of bed nights that Depaul offers before 2016. Inventive research confirmed to the entire team that a traditional advertising campaign wouldn’t yield the results necessary to fund the expansion plan, and exploration began to find an alternative method for fundraising. House movers were found to be an interesting segment – they hold the potential to be empathetic with our cause as they’re experiencing (in a microcosmic way) a similar sort of upheaval to those without a home. The British public have always associated cardboard boxes with those sleeping rough, and they also ordinarily use cardboard boxes to move house with.


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