Volunteer. It’s Heart Work.
The Challenge
Singapore is one of the hardest-working nations in the world with people clocking an average of 45 hours a week, leaving little room for much else. Despite being officially the most fatigued country, Singaporeans genuinely want to give back. But good intentions alone weren't enough. Volunteerism rates had already been declining, and COVID restrictions made things worse.
SG Cares, the Singapore Government's movement for a more caring and inclusive society, needed a way to close the gap between wanting to volunteer and actually doing it.
The Idea
Instead of asking them to do more, we reframed what they were already doing: by swapping hard work for heart work. Because giving yourself to others can be invigorating. Sharing your abilities can make someone else more capable. And the simple joy of helping can become a balm for daily stress. By positioning volunteering not as an addition to life, but as a meaningful replacement for burnout, the campaign aimed to overcome the emotional barriers keeping people on the sidelines.
Assisting the elderly and people with special needs through equine therapy.
We inspired casual curiosity in potential volunteers by generating interest in the mission of SG Cares and establishing an emotional appeal to residents towards building a caring nation and positioning active volunteerism to complement and reward their resilience and strength. This was primarily accomplished through a brand video and key visuals.
The Films
Helping empower single mums with their daily responsibilities.
Lending a shoulder and providing a helping hand to tissue paper sellers in our community.
Then, we cultivated an atmosphere of empathy by rallying residents to begin their volunteering journey through discovery of causes aligned to their own interests and abilities, thereby matching people who want to volunteer with their specific passions.
Empathy on Social Media
…by turning hard work into heart work, the campaign leveraged on people’s passions to convert them into active volunteers.
