The challenge:Countless humanitarian organisations are fighting for each and every euro donated. Including SOS Children’s Villages worldwide. To reach new target groups and donors, new ways – as simple as they are unusual – must be found.The solution:We came to the conclusion that people who engage in good deeds would also like to show it. This is why, during the last few weeks of the year, we invited smartphone users to participate in Germany’s longest virtual light chain. We developed the ‘Licht an!’ mobile phone app for this purpose. It costs 79 cents and with each download a donation automatically goes to SOS Children’s Villages. The donation is rewarded with a digital candle on the smartphone used and the donor becomes part of the light chain. The SOS app can also be given as a gift, with the donation and candle included. Various sharing functionalities via Facebook, Twitter, etc. enable sharing on social networks.‘Licht an!’ is the first app that automatically makes a donation when downloaded.The result:Since the launch in October 2011, the SOS light chain has grown to more than 26,000 participants. And new lights are added every day. At times ‘Licht an!’ even reached number three on the list of bestselling iPhone apps and first place in the lifestyle category of best iPhone apps. The app was rated with five stars in almost 500 user comments.

The real success, however, is to be found elsewhere: it is in all the 500 SOS children’s villages, where even more can now be done for those children thanks to people ‘donating a little light’.

Until now, the app has more than 27,000 downloads and every month 1,000 additional downloads.Currently, the mobile advertising material has more than 11m advertising impressions, reaching 20% of all mobile users in Germany.The app reached the No.3 ranking on the list of bestselling iPhone apps, even hitting first place in the lifestyle category of Best iPhone Apps. Additionally, around 95% gave the app five stars (average rating: 5 stars).There’s been a high viral effect because several hundred websites released articles about the app, most of them blogs, resulting in up to 50 comments.