Regular giving is crucial for charities as it provides a stable, predictable income stream whilst building a loyal donor base. But achieving a strong regular give has never been more challenging with the cost-of-living crisis and most people already committed to a charity of their choice.
The mission starts with building a narrative that is powerful enough to turn heads that are reluctant to be moved.
When the Veterans’ Foundation wanted an alternative regular give to its Veterans’ Lottery we offered to help. As a commitment to our partner, we conducted the work pro bono. We frequently give our time for free to support new projects through ‘trial and test’ to reduce charity risk.
Our teams had already established the VL as the country’s biggest single cause lottery raising £1.6m per draw and were confident the key principles of that record growth were fully transferable.
The journey began with understanding where the need was greatest. Where could we add most value? Authenticity is crucial to strong storytelling.
Reports around an increase in mental health referrals for veterans suggested that combat trauma post Afghanistan and Iraq was a rising problem.
An ONS report published in 2024 and using data from 2021, concluded 253 armed forces veterans had taken their own lives.
This statistic had received very little national attention and hadn’t connected with the British public.
We revisited these disturbing figures and reframed the data as: Five veterans are losing their lives to suicide every week.
That reframe, together with researching and telling the stories of friends and family impacted by suicide, led to the launch of Operation Lifeline.
Op Lifeline aims to raise £6m a year for projects that save lives and change lives.
A soft launch trial to achieve ‘proof of concept’ has already seen regular give sign-ups top 900 with monthly donations ranging from £10 to £100. It is already on target to raise in excess of £100,000 and it’s now time to scale.
Strong stories, told well and broadcast to large, engaged audiences, will deliver even in the toughest of times.
You can support Operation Lifeline when you Sponsor A Veteran… please wear your badge with pride.