Comic Relief is evoking childhood nostalgia to persuade people to donate to its mission to end child poverty.
On Tuesday, the nonprofit debuted its latest campaign, Childhood Dreamstakes, promoting its upcoming annual Red Nose Day fundraising event, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in the U.S. this year.
The campaign reveals the nonprofit’s new strategic brand platform for Red Nose Day, encapsulated by its tagline “Less child poverty. More childhood.”
Childhood Dreamstakes incentivizes people to donate for Red Nose Day by offering up the chance to win one of six prizes that indulge childlike fantasies, such as owning a house made of cotton candy, befriending a penguin or driving a monster truck.
The platform, by independent creative agency Gus, reinforces Comic Relief’s mission by giving donors the ability to participate in experiences they may have loved as kids, said Gus cofounder and creative director Spencer LaVallee.
The prizes were “designed to make people feel the joy and energy of being a child and remind them of the thing they’re helping to protect by donating to this worthy cause.”
To meet that challenge, Gus and Comic Relief employees consulted their own children to come up with the prize experiences.
The work is lighthearted despite driving awareness of a serious issue — child poverty — but Comic Relief CEO Alison Moore noted humor is central to the organization’s strategy.
“The Comic Relief heritage is leveraging creativity, humor and levity to tackle tough issues; levity breaks down barriers, it increases feelings of togetherness and empathy,” she said.
Graham Douglas, Gus’ second cofounder and creative director, noted that beyond encouraging donations and offer compelling campaign visuals, the sweepstakes is an opportunity to reach Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
“Younger audiences need to feel like they have a hand in the mission, whether that’s nonprofit or for-profit,” he said, adding that these experiences offer “that younger audience a chance to feel like they are a part of something and have the ability to tap into that childlike wonder themselves.”
To mark the nonprofit’s 10-year anniversary in the U.S., Comic Relief is releasing a Red Nose Day filter across all social media platforms for the first time. It also partnered with NBC to release a program spotlighting the best moments of Red Nose Day from the last decade, and is hosting a sing-along on Instagram in partnership with musicians who will be singing their favorite songs from their own childhoods.
Red Nose Day is on May 23.
This article originally appeared on Campaign US.