How watching a virtual log fire raises funds for Shelter
Howard Lake | 11 November 2021 | News
As winter days approach sit back and relax by watching a roaring log fire on YouTube and help raise funds for Shelter at no cost to yourself.
Working with Google, agency Above+Beyond has posted a 10-hour video of a roaring log fire on YouTube and pledged to donate all the advertising revenue that it makes to the homelessness charity.
The agency is encouraging the public to tune into The Good Fire often, daily even, if only for a few minutes to help boost income for the charity in the run-up to Christmas. They describe it as “the YouTube fire that helps fund real heat for those who need it most”.
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YouTube already features many videos of log fires, as it does of fish swimming in aquaria. Above+Beyond have simply taken the idea, which was particularly popular during lockdown, timed it for Christmas and added a charity beneficiary.
WATCH: The Good Fire promo
The Good Fire
The Good Fire was launched yesterday with a 60-second promotion, to warm up the audience so to speak. This promotion will be aired on Sky during Christmas.
Of course, it will rely on large numbers of viewers to make it a roaring success for Shelter. But the idea of daily views might just spark a reaction on that scale.
Andy Harris, Director of fundraising at Shelter, said: “This will be an especially tough winter for many, for thousands of families it will mean Christmas spent in cold, cramped temporary accommodation, and for some people it will even mean freezing nights spent sleeping on the streets.”
The virtual fire is designed to remind us that not everyone gets to stay warm in their own home over Winter and at Christmas.
In addition to raising funds through ad revenue, the video invites viewers to donate to Shelter on the charity’s website.
WATCH: The Good Fire
And here is the full 10-hour video to watch in all its blazing glory.
- Fundraising and video – we can’t rewind we’ve gone too far (12 April 2021)
- Fundraising just by watching videos (12 January 2011)
- Knorr video adverts to generate free donations to three charities (9 April 2018)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.