In Belgium we have a unique situation: in 2016 Child Focus created the Coins of Hope. An iconic awareness campaign to spread hope for missing children. We decided to turn this into a fundraising campaign for 2024 by literally recalling the Coins of Hope with a simple yet emotional message: Bring them Back.

We made a strategic shift from awareness to fundraising. The leverage to make this shift? Changing the targets without changing the mission: spreading hope.

Childfocus is known for their missing children posters and awareness campaigns. But funding to conquer increasing challenges put a pressure on their power to act.

For the first time in history, Child Focus was at the brink of running out of resources to fulfill their mission to its best. That’s why we had to make a strategic shift from awareness to fundraising. The leverage to make this shift? Changing their targets without changing their mission: spreading hope.

We came up with the idea to recall the iconic Coins of Hope, launched by Child Focus in 2016. But even more, we also came up with the original idea of the Coins of Hope, back in 2016.

Child Focus is the Belgian center for missing and sexually exploited children.

In 2016 they launched a very successful project: Coins of Hope. One million official two euro-coins with the face of Liam Vandenbrande, a boy who has been missing for 25 years. The Coins were a symbol of hope for all missing children. The project got support from all European countries, the Belgian Royal Mint, and the Belgian King in person. It was an enormous success, shared by politicians, influencers and the public and with press coverage all over Europe.

But since 2016, the number of cases for Child Focus just keeps increasing. With 2023 setting a heartbreaking record of nearly 5000 new cases being opened. A 32% increase. But the funding of Child Focus… stayed the same.

More funding was needed to ensure continuity. Adressing the general public and companies for donations is one way to reach this goal. But getting politicians to act upon their words is even more powerful. It has never been in Child Focus’ DNA to point fingers. Being solutions-oriented is at the core of everything they say and do. So instead of going for the blame, we needed to open up new solutions. By making people aware of the fragile funding of Child Focus and inciting them to become part of Child Focus’ mission through a donation.

When grabbing the public’s attention, it can be used as a leverage to create a space to reopen political debate. Placing Child Focus at the center of the political agenda to solve the mismatch between the need for prevention and support and the structural support needed to provide answers to the societal challenges.

Our biggest challenge? A lack of campaign budget in a crowded NGO market. Without buying reach, we needed to get people investment in our cause.

To do so, hope has been our central theme over the years. Because when hope is shared, it can set things in motion. A message that had been spread massively in 2016, when we launched ‘coins of hope’. 1 million €2 coins with the face of a missing Child. A daily reminder to make sure missing children are never forgotten. The coins were not only physically shared by citizens, but also on the social feeds of politicians. Who approved to swap the King’s face with the face of Liam. And happily showed off their support. As our target had shifted, we now aimed to shift the message of this campaign. From awareness for missing children to financial support to bring them back.

8 years after spreading the Coins of Hope, we now asked people to bring them back. Because we need the coins who once served for their attention value more than ever. But for their monetary value.

Showing how the combined small acts of ‘bringing back’ the coins, can help ‘bring back’ children who have been missing. We started the campaign by recalling the coins via print ads, outdoor, in stores and via influencers who spread the coins initially. We even targeted coin collectors on second hand platforms.

Once we grabbed the public attention, we retweeted politicians’ posts of 2016 in which they shared support for the coins of hope. The act was supported by a PR-approach explaining in depth why Child Focus needs structural funding, while bringing the alarming numbers to the forefront. Making it clear that today, 2 Euro will no longer do to keep hope alive.

With a limited budget, the message was spread on different channels. But its reach went far beyond that through major press coverings amplifying the cry for help of Child Focus. Bringing attention to the urgent need for additional funding. The message resonated with people on every level. Creating a boost in donations and taking a promising step towards structural, governmental support. Hitting the campaign objective in multiple ways. The campaign led to:

+ €110.000 Euro in donations from the public.

+ €500.00 Euro in funding from corporations

Equaling 305.000 coins of hope.

But more importantly: structural funding for Child Focus found its way to the political agenda via Vice prime minister Crevits and state secretary Leroy. Opening new paths of hope for Child Focus and its mission.