# British Gas raises £10k for Shelter in Twitter hashtag campaign

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/11/28/british-gas-raises-10k-for-shelter-in-twitter-hashtag-campaign/
- Published: 2015-11-28T10:39:58+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**British Gas plc last night used a Twitter hashtag campaign to raise £10,000 for
housing charity Shelter.**

The campaign followed the news that British Gas staff had helped raise £1 million
for Shelter. On 25 November the company announced that, to mark this achievement,
it would donate £1 for each person who tweeted a particular hashtag.

It went a little further than other company Twitter campaigns, however, in that 
you had to watch a short video showcasing just some of the staff who had helped 
raise funds. Hidden amongst the rapid series of faces was Wilbur the British Gas
penguin holding a sign on which the mystery hashtag was displayed. The answer was#
TweetForShelter.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

Of course, once the hashtag started appearing it meant other people didn’t have 
to watch the video.

 

> Our employees raised £1m for [@Shelter](https://twitter.com/Shelter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> Tweet the hidden # & we'll donate another £1/mention [https://t.co/vtZYVXpp09](https://t.co/vtZYVXpp09)
> [https://t.co/UQvxZJVtKH](https://t.co/UQvxZJVtKH)
> — British Gas (@BritishGas) [November 25, 2015](https://twitter.com/BritishGas/status/669491292359913472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

The campaign began at 11am on 24 November, but clearly took some time to become 
established. By 3.30pm on 27 November it had raised £1,500. As a result, British
Gas extended its duration into next month, although that was the conclusion of the
campaign stated in the terms and conditions:

 

> Our [@Shelter](https://twitter.com/Shelter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) campaign has been
> extended till Weds 2nd Dec. £1500 raised so far, help us reach our target of £
> 10k! See pinned post on profile
> — British Gas (@BritishGas) [November 27, 2015](https://twitter.com/BritishGas/status/670261384773509121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

However, they didn’t need to. The campaign gained momentum yesterday evening and
the total was reached at 10pm on 27 November.

> Well done for those who spotted [#TweetForShelter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/TweetForShelter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> With your help, we’ve hit our target of £10k for [@Shelter](https://twitter.com/Shelter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/G3DUrCZ2lZ](https://t.co/G3DUrCZ2lZ)
> — British Gas (@BritishGas) [November 27, 2015](https://twitter.com/BritishGas/status/670362656172343296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## Twitter hashtag fundraising campaigns

Plenty of corporate hashtag campaigns (or ‘like’ campaigns on Facebook) have raised
funds for charities. In this case, the initiative was that of British Gas, but other
times they have evolved from a charity’s suggestion.

Some work remarkably well. The [Aviva UK campaign for Railway Children](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2013/02/25/aviva039s-twitter-campaign-raises-97774-24-hours-railway-children/)
went far beyond its original £10,000 target, raising £97,774 in just 24 hours in
February 2013.

British Gas was careful to publish and link to the [terms and conditions of its campaign](http://www.britishgas.co.uk/the-source/other/shelter-and-british-gas-1-pound-campaign)
in its main campaign tweet.

 

**Update 30 November 2015**

British Gas has now doubled the value of its donation to **£20,000**. Some people
criticised the company for donating what they argued was a small sum when compared
to its annual profits.

> Thanks to the 16,564 people who got involved in [#TweetForShelter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/TweetForShelter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> To celebrate, we're doubling our donation to [@Shelter](https://twitter.com/Shelter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> to £20k
> — British Gas (@BritishGas) [November 30, 2015](https://twitter.com/BritishGas/status/671332136440479744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

By referencing the number of people who tweeted the hashtag, the company is no doubt
implying that it has even gone beyond the amount it could have donated, based on
the number of hashtag tweets.