Creative Fundraisers, Hotels and Emotional Marketing

The text was published in MMR.

Evgeniia Mykhailenko, CMO, Ribas Hotels Group

“I donate to fundraisers organized by my friends and foundations I trust. I contribute to fundraisers for the military, mostly brigade fundraisers for thermal imagers, drones and cars. I am also deeply moved by fundraisers for rebuilding and supporting children affected by the war.

At the beginning of the war, well-marketed fundraisers triggered me, but now I realize that the involvement of Ukrainians in charitable fundraisers has decreased, and fundraisers have started to slow down, so we need to encourage attention and keep people engaged through additional tools. That's why there are creatively fueled fundraisers, when people and foundations develop different fundraising mechanics. Businesses are also aid-centric, it can't be any other way. Everyone is trying to find an additional value component, some kind of silver lining to get a potential donor involved. Creative approaches, like those taken by the Badstreet Boys and Vasyl Baidak, are proven to be a success. Because of their ingenious mechanics, they hit different target audiences at once. And it's not a matter of self-promotion, but a solution to help and increase engagement.”

The Ribas Hotels Group management company and the Come Back Alive charity foundation have launched a “ Do You Love? Donate!” creative campaign. “Do you love? Donate!” is the main message of the campaign. The aim is to draw attention to the values of love and respect for Ukraine and your home town.

There are people who donate daily and routinely. There are those who open their “jar” as part of a large fundraising campaign to close it faster. The “Do you love? Donate!” campaign, which aims to raise 15,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, also offers the opportunity to open your own “jars”. Ribas is creating a “Love Battalion” out of these fundraising ambassadors. This image-based approach enables people who have their own niche audience to involve them in individual fundraising by backing it up with their image and influence.

Actor Taras Tsymbalyuk, bands KARTA SVITU and Tember Blanche, singer Misha Krupin, influencers Tsvitana Kozyr, Yana Rohozha, Veronika Synytsia, Tetyana Nikolenko, Vira Pasko, Valeria Mykulska and others have already been involved in individual fundraising for air defense.

Tetiana Nikolenko, influencer, owner of a creative agency, Ribas Hotels ambassador

I will first pay attention to tried and trusted fundraisers organized by friends, relatives, acquaintances and media people I can trust. And since I am very passionate about feminism and supporting women who are defending you and me, I’ll pay a lot of attention to this kind of fundraisers and do my best to join and contribute, and come up with some interesting collaborations.

Of course, I also pay attention to creativity, because my profession is closely related to creativity. Our infosphere is now very busy with events, so to stand out, you need to have a non-standard approach and maximize attention. A simple screenshot of a jar does not raise funding as quickly as a creative collaboration or special project can do.

To make these campaigns a success in terms of wide media coverage and, as a result, to raise funds, companies engage bloggers and ambassadors. These fundraising campaigns target different audiences, identify conscious citizens and unite people for a great cause.

The Ribas Hotels Group hotels are widely spread all over Ukraine, and the company’s head office is located in Odesa. Part of the marketing team are based in the company's Kyiv office, the creative agency is also located in Odesa, and partners operate in Lviv, Lutsk and in the Carpathian region. And there was no way to “get past” the regular shelling of Odessa itself.

Fundraising is still ongoing with over 3 million Ukrainian hryvnias raised so far. You can join the fundraising initiative here.

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