Running a communications project for NGO in Brazil

Background

Charity communications campaign including research, paid media, social media and print collateral for a recycling-focused NGO in Brazil. Created in cooperation with a local Brazilian communication agency and aimed at local businesses.

How to solve some of the world’s biggest problems? By linking future leaders from the commercial world with social initiatives across the globe and provide a platform for the creation of endeavours that impact organisations, their beneficiaries and local communities. TIE

Proximity London is a data driven CRM agency, member of the Omnicom group. As a part of their talent development and CSR programme, in collaboration with The International Exchange, they selected communication professionals to deliver charity projects for NGOs in developing countries.

Having won an internal competition at Proximity, I was asked to work with an ecological NGO Edificio Ecologico based in Recife, in the north of Brazil. Their key objective was to encourage locals to recycle their waste while also helping poor garbage-pickers. Furthermore, they wanted to communicate with businesses in Brazil and convince them to participate in their programme, too.

Approach

Before departing to Brazil, I needed to learn basic Portuguese to work with a local marketing agency and to communicate with a Brazilian family living in one of the favelas who would become my host family.

I also needed to raise funds to use them as my marketing budget. To reach my goal I organised and hosted several initiatives.

Internal fundraising campaign

I was informing and fund raising via frequent email newsletters.
I wrote a personal blog to outline all my initiatives and to keep a fund-raising thermometer.
I ran an internal ‘energy saving’ campaign encouraging my colleagues to cycle to work, avoid the lift and switch off the office lights. The money I managed to save for the agency were donated to my cause.
I produced and sold cotton shopping bags with a G (Green) symbol designed by young creatives working with me.
I organised a party with very generous gifts offered by colleagues, family and friends which were auctioned for my marketing budget.

In Brazil

‘I spent the best month of my life creating a comms campaign to encourage businesses in Recife to recycle with Edifício Ecológico’

While working in Brazil, during 4 week stay, I worked with a local agency and we created a comms campaigns for Edificio Ecologico consisting of:

Facebook page
Printed leaflets
Media campaign with interactive banners and static adverts run across local media
Branded collateral for Edificio Ecologico

Experience of my life

While the entire campaign and preparation period were tough and demanding, the prep and time spent in Brazil were thrilling experiences. I made friends for life with the Edificio Ecologico owner, the TIE founder and the host family. And I also saw the tough side of life for garbage pickers in a developing and very unequal country.