The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) appointed Fenton Communications to support planning and implementation of the first phase of a public awareness campaign to encourage more Victorians to volunteer in their community and show how they can get involved in a way that suits their interests, needs and schedule.
Changed work-life balances and a heightened risk awareness means that traditional barriers to volunteering such as limited time, work commitment and family commitments are often secondary to health concerns. With many people cautiously reconnecting with community, the campaign sought to reinvigorate volunteering and position it as part of Victoria’s broader post-pandemic recovery, showcasing the diversity of volunteering roles and highlighting volunteering activities that have a lower health risk.
We worked with DFFH to develop the campaign strategy and creative approach, which was informed by a review of research on the major barriers to volunteering and internal engagement with the department's Diversity and Community Participation Branch of the Health and Wellbeing Division.
We created the campaign concept and narrative Ready to volunteer, which implies a readiness to try volunteering. The readiness to try embodies an openness – of the person willing to take the step into the unknown and of the sector willing to provide opportunities that accommodate a range of interests, skills, experiences and levels of commitment.
It is also intended to imply that many people are ready to volunteer – the time and circumstances may not seem ideal but starting small and seeing what it’s like is the way to overcome ‘volunteering inertia’ and make good on a person’s promise to themselves that ‘I’ll do it, someday’.
Campaign messages conveyed the positive spirit of volunteering as a caring act with individual and community benefits and that volunteering is for everyone regardless of background, skills or experience.
The components of the campaign included volunteer stories in video and written formats exploring the diversity of volunteers and positive impact of volunteering, content development for the campaign website, a stakeholder kit with communication resources, and advertising for print, online and social media.
