Craziest Thing I Did to Save Money - H&R Block and DoSomething.org
H&R Block’s Dollars & Sense was created in 2009 to help give young people the understanding they need to manage their personal finances. To make financial education easier to digest, they turned to youth-focused DoSomething.org. When DoSomething.org surveyed its own members (young people between 13-25 years old), they discovered that paying for college is the biggest concern for teens – beating even death!
DoSomething.org and H&R Block Dollars & Sense worked together to create a cause marketing partnership through three hilarious, yet informative initiatives using an interactive Facebook experience, SMS-text message game, and a series of three workshops. These three channels strategically ensured that all young people had access to financial education wherever they were.
Social Media: Craziest Thing I Did to Save Money asked teens to share stories about the crazy things they’ve done to save money through a Facebook Live-In gallery where young people could upload to and share memes with their friends about the crazy things they’ve done to save money. DoSomething.org responded to submissions with advice on smart ways to save money. Teens could upload their own meme and/or browse through other memes to vote either “believe it” or “BS”.
Text Message: Would You Rather was an SMS text message game that put teens in different situations to gauge what they’d be willing to do to save a few bucks while getting tips to save smarter. Using DoSomething.org’s database of over 850,000 mobile numbers of young people, the campaign walked teens through different situations that penny pinchers often find themselves in. Teens were urged to challenge their friends to the experience as well, seeing really who is willing to do the craziest thing to save money. After receiving a few Would You Rather scenarios, participants would get tangible tips on how to start being smart about their financial future.
In-School: Mind on my Money activated teens to run 3 fun and informative workshops on budgeting, credit cards and student loans. The workshops were written in a fun, easy to understand tone and H&R Block provided over $30,000 in scholarship money for young people who used the workshops.
In order to drive young people to the campaigns and raise awareness for H&R Block’s commitment to financial literacy, DoSomething.org created a robust marketing and PR strategy that included a celebrity PSA, a video series with top sketch comedians with tips to save money, social media, and donated marketing support on top teen websites.
DoSomething.org and H&R Block Dollars & Sense worked with American hip-hop band Far East Movement to record a PSA for Craziest Thing I Did to Save Money which was played on Channel One, VH1, National Cinemedia, and Oxygen. The campaign was covered by outlets including MSN Money, MTV Act, and Fox Business showcasing the crazy things teens did to save money.
Through DoSomething.org and H&R Block Dollars & Sense’s personal finance campaigns, over 96,000 teens took action to become more financially fit. 40,668 teens participated in Craziest Thing I Did to Save Money with over 11,000 submissions. 7,901 teens participated in Mind on My Money workshops held in 2,089 cities. 44,238 teens participated in the Would You Rather SMS text message experience and 62,435 tips were delivered to help teens make smarter decisions about saving money.