Volunteering Is Sexy

Leaders from every industry have joined San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in launching a city-wide campaign to grow the already successful SF Connect program.  Advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will roll out an advertising campaign across San Francisco as a call-to-action for the city’s residents and area volunteers to Give a Day to SF.  With the tagline “Volunteering is Sexy,” SF Connect’s Give a Day campaign has been created to motivate the community to create a stronger San Francisco, and to encourage every San Francisco resident to volunteer just one day to charitable work.
Through print ads, bus shelters across the city, a three-story outdoor wall, three television spots, a micro site and several thousand iconic bumper stickers and T-shirts, the appealing tagline, “Volunteering is Sexy,” draws attention to the exceedingly simple human truth that when you give of yourself, you feel good; and when you feel good, you look good.

When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his team approached us to create a campaign for their volunteering program, SF Connect, the first thing we realized was what the communication should NOT be: yet another typical, invisible public service campaign where people are made to feel guilty or empathetic about the issue at hand.”
“What was needed was an idea that would make people feel good about volunteering. Something that would create personality and generate buzz for the program, and communication that would suggest that you’d meet interesting people you liked.”


The mission of SF Connect is to mobilize residents and sectors for a stronger San Francisco. SF Connect is about engaged residents volunteering their talent and time for the City as well as innovative partnerships between the private, public and social (nonprofit) sectors.  The four pillars of SF Connect include:
Homeless: rally the city to support and create lasting solutions to homelessness.
Tech: increase digital inclusion by providing access to technology for underserved San Franciscans.
Green: create a healthier environment and beautify public spaces.
Youth: provide resources every young San Franciscan needs to be successful.

More campaign material here (video and print ads).

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