Since 2001, the Polish Red Cross has been organising one-off fundraising campaigns to buy hot meals for more than 700,000 malnourished children in Poland. These traditional methods (paid text messages, bank transfers, money tins) result in one-off donations and do not promote regular support. Our goal was to encourage people to support the Red Cross regularly and to create an alternative to one-off fundraisers.

The Red Cross initially decided to do a trial version of Very Good Manners in 4 restaurants in 2 cities in September 2013. During the first month the idea was already covered by national media and restaurants started contacting the Red Cross. So it was quickly decided to go national and allow more restaurants to join. No additional budget (other than the 1000 EUR for table mats) was available, so the idea relied on PR and earned media to build awareness. As the campaign grew, the Red Cross managed to secure strategic partners, which offered to print more table mats free of charge in exchange for placing their logo on the mats. Through attracting more people, business partners and restaurants, Very Good Manners are becoming a fundraising system for years to come.

We introduced a new way of leaving cutlery on the plate after the meal - in participating restaurants when customers cross their cutlery (similar to the Red Cross symbol) they signal to the staff that they would like to donate money to the Polish Red Cross. The staff collects the plate and adds 5 PLN (approx. 1.5 EUR) to the bill. The money is transferred by the restaurants to the Red Cross. This is enough to buy one hot meal for a child. The idea is communicated in restaurants using paper table mats.

With only 1000 EUR of media budget (table mats), Very Good Manners started in 4 restaurants in 2 cities. Within just a few months the idea resulted in:

- 65% increase in donations for the Red Cross,

- 250+ publications in traditional, digital and social media,

- 15 000 000+ audience,

- EUR 800 000+ in earned media

- more than 30 restaurants in 16 cities joining Very Good Manners.

As more restaurants in Poland are volunteering, the Red Cross is planning to introduce this idea in France, Germany, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Potential donors are reached at the right place and at the right time - when they are thinking about food. The table mats are placed on the table by the waiting staff when customers order their meals. So each customer has enough time to make a decision to donate. By crossing charity with table manners, we made donating effortless. As more restaurants are volunteering to join through our website, the idea is reaching more potential donors.