The National Trust sought to purchase a stretch of welsh coastline, with the promise of a substantial grant from Visit Wales. The Trust committed £300,000 out of their reserves to make this happen. Our brief was to ask members to try to replace these funds. The challenge was that the piece of coast was fairly obscure and, as the money had been committed, where was the urgency?
The National Trust is both a charity and also a means of gaining free entry to remarkable and beautiful places. So to make this piece of coastline appear worth saving we needed to 'sell it' to members as a place they might one day want to visit. National Trust members are also 'curious minds' – they like to know the detail and the stories behind our heritage and wild places – so we had to tell them a rich and interesting story.
To overcome the site's obscurity, we positioned it as the 'Land's End of North Wales' and an 'unspoilt treasure'. We created urgency by emphasising it was part of the 'Neptune Coastline Campaign', which had an appeal deadline. And we turned the fact that half the money had been promised by Visit Wales into a compelling proposition – as donations made would be matched by Visit Wales. We included an incentive, the chance to win a painting by acclaimed artist Maggi Hambling, and drove people online to an interactive experience showing Maggi and others talking about the area, its unique charm, habitats and wildlife.
The appeal raised over £360,000, beating target by 20%. Over 1,000 unique visitors came to the website in the first week, with average time per visit at three minutes. At the end of the campaign over 3,000 supporters had visited the site. One donor alone gave £20,000.