Until recently, UNICEF donation boxes used to be as much a fixture of Halloween trick-or-treating as the candy itself. But with those now gone, Cadbury is seeking to re-ignite the giving spirit with a new website driving donations to the children’s charity.
Targeted to moms and their families, the ‘Schoolhouse Project’ site solicits donations by asking visitors to purchase a virtual ‘brick’ for $1, the proceeds of which will go to building real schoolhouses in Rwanda and Malawi. The site is organized by community, and the community that raises the most money gets a free Cadbury Halloween party on Oct. 31.
The fundraising campaign is being promoted primarily with an online media buy, handled by Cossette, focused on Canadian mom-friendly sites such as Savvymom.com. Cadbury wanted to focus on reaching moms in an online environment where they already like to go, offering an easy way to drive them to the Schoolhouse website, Stephanie Cass, manager, corporate communications Canada, Cadbury, tells MiC. Promotion for the campaign also includes artwork on the Cadbury candy packages made for Halloween and an advertorial article placement in Toronto’s Metro newspaper.
‘We wanted to find a fun, creative way to bring communities together and give back during the Halloween season,’ Cass explains. ‘Part of that was inspired by the traditional orange boxes that people used to see during Halloween up until several years ago. We wanted to find a way to revive that concept and inspire communities to give.’
The site is accepting donations until Oct. 26, when the donations will be tallied and the winning community announced.
