Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) summer campaign

Fundraising and campaigns

Cutting through the noise: bold, human-centred design for CALM’s suicide prevention campaigns that speak directly to those who need it most.

Set of four social media tiles from CALM’s campaign, featuring messages like "This summer CALM will receive 25% more calls", "£8 will help CALM answer a potentially life-saving call", "Donate £8 now", and "Your donation saves lives"

Objective

The cost-of-living crisis has increased demand for CALM’s helpline, impacting their ability to raise funds and answer calls. Run an urgent appeal, on CALM-owned channels, targeting existing supporters to raise £150,000 by the end of summer.

Bold typographic graphic with the words "Help Save A Life" on a bright orange and yellow circular background, part of CALM’s summer donation campaign.

Animated social media graphic with black and white bold text on a yellow-green gradient background, reading: “25% more calls. More people need us this summer. Help us answer them. Donate today.”

Animated social media graphic with bold black and white text on a yellow background reading: “People need us more than ever. Our helpline will get 25% more calls this summer. Help us answer them. Donate today.”

Concepts

We developed four concepts with differing tones and focuses:

Education Piece: Highlighting the little-known fact that suicides are more common in summer
Toxic Positivity: The idea that people think ‘cheering up’ should be possible at such a bright time of year
Saving Lives This Summer: Identifying different types of people who may be suffering unnoticed, showing anyone can be affected.
Real-Life Consequences: Focusing on the tragic outcomes of not being able to answer calls for help.

Solution

We used CALM’s toolkit flexibly to create impactful visual options for the messaging. The chosen route was implemented across OOH, social adverts, and emails throughout the summer.

Outdoor posters from CALM’s summer campaign featuring the message "25% more calls" alongside a personal testimonial reading "I was secretly using helplines to get me through." Highlighted message encourages £8 donations to fund life-saving conversations.

Would you like to see results like these for your organisation?

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