Mean Bean Challenge | Fundraising Campaign Optimisation
Background
Tearfund is an international Christian charity working with communities around the world to tackle poverty, respond to disasters and help people build lasting futures.
Its Mean Bean Challenge invited supporters to live on nothing but rice and beans for five days, offering a powerful insight into the daily reality faced by millions of people living in poverty. Combining fundraising with first-hand experience, the campaign encouraged participants to turn empathy into action while raising vital funds.
Following a successful pilot, Tearfund wanted to strengthen the campaign for a wider national rollout.
The Challenge
The objective wasn't to create a new fundraising campaign. It was to make an existing one perform better.
Tearfund asked me to review the fundraising proposition, campaign strategy and creative approach, identifying opportunities to improve audience engagement, simplify the participant journey and increase registrations. A key focus was ensuring the campaign resonated more strongly with Evangelical Christian audiences while maintaining broader appeal.
The Creative Strategy
The first priority was to sharpen the fundraising proposition.
We simplified the messaging, clarified the campaign hierarchy and strengthened the calls to action so supporters immediately understood both the challenge and the impact of taking part.
Rather than reinventing the creative, we evolved it. Building on Tearfund's established illustrated style, we introduced new characters, refreshed campaign assets and a more engaging tone of voice that brought greater warmth, personality and energy to the experience.
Beyond the visual identity, I reviewed the entire supporter journey, recommending improvements across the microsite, email communications and participant experience before, during and after the challenge. Every touchpoint was designed to strengthen emotional engagement, increase fundraising potential and encourage more people to complete the challenge.
As Creative Director, I led the campaign strategy with a small experienced team, fundraising proposition and creative direction, working with a specialist team to deliver a complete suite of campaign assets across digital marketing, social media, fundraising materials and supporter communications.
Impact
The refreshed Mean Bean Challenge gave Tearfund a stronger, clearer and more engaging fundraising campaign, improving the participant experience while strengthening the connection between the challenge and the charity's mission.
By refining the proposition rather than replacing it, the campaign became easier to understand, more emotionally engaging and better equipped to recruit supporters, grow fundraising income and support future campaign development.