In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine, Global Citizen was contacted by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to support the humanitarian needs facing millions of people affected.

Global Citizen is best known for the yearly Global Citizen Festival in Central Park and hosting large events that bring together leaders in entertainment, government, corporations to end extreme poverty & protect the planet.

This was different. We had to reinvent the format.

We partnered with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime

Minister Justin Trudeau, to host the “Stand Up for Ukraine” digital campaign that featured a global social media rally on April 8 and a Pledging Summit on April 9, 2022.

In just 3 weeks, over 100 artists, 10000s of activists, and 100s of organizations from around the world joined the rally. The pledging summit the next day raised 10.1 billion dollars from over 17 governments.

The “Stand Up for Ukraine” pledging event sought to raise billions of dollars to assist the more than 4.4M refugees who had fled Ukraine and the 6.5M people displaced within the country.

"Stand Up For Ukraine" was created to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis, and highlight the need of millions of refugees. It did not feel appropriate to mount a massive concert or concerts, spending money that could be used on the ground, so we designed a digital event to include as many artists as possible, who all sent personal messages of support for the displaced people of Ukraine.

We carefully crafted this digital campaign over the course of three weeks, and worked with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, additional heads of government, our artist partners, corporate partners, and NGO partners to mobilize critical financing for humanitarian relief.

“Stand Up for Ukraine” centered on driving a massive global social media rally that was held the day before the government pledging summit. The creative was simple: take action and upload and share a video of yourself asking world leaders to pledge funds at the Stand Up for Ukraine pledging event.

Two important notes: while this campaign had tremendous artist support, we did not want this to come across as a performative, celebrity-driven stunt. This was a purpose-first campaign led with authentic voices to generate massive impact.

The strategy centered on leveraging platforms of 100s of artists, athletes, entertainers, advocates and citizens (general consumers) to drive the calls to action for governments and companies to step-up and make financial commitments at the pledging summit.

Thanks to the support from the artist and entertainment community, millions of people were reached with this campaign and its calls to action.

Some of the artists that participated included: Bono and U2, Barbra Streisand, Billie Eilish, Black Eyed Peas, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Green Day, Hugh Jackman, Isha Sesay, Jamala, Jenna Dewan, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Bon Jovi, Juanes, Julian Lennon, Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry, Kerry Washington, Lilly Singh, Luis Fonsi, Madonna, MÅNESKIN, Miley Cyrus, Nicky Jam, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Oprah Winfrey, Padma Lakshmi, Pharrell Williams, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Usher, Weezer, Zucchero, 5 Seconds of Summer.

The Stand Up for Ukraine campaign launched on March 28, 2022 and concluded on April 9, 2022. In a matter of three weeks, our team worked to drive a social media campaign, produce a live-streamed pledging event, package videos from heads of government, secure earned global media coverage, but most importantly, drove $10 billion in new funding toward the humanitarian needs facing people affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The “Stand Up for Ukraine” campaign mobilized 10 billion USD for humanitarian relief efforts.

In regards to earned media, coverage was generated globally, from 28th March - 11 April, across 118 countries. The 3 week campaign generated 8,000 pieces of coverage with a potential reach of over 13.5 Billion.

On social and email, the campaign drove over 15M views on YouTube, had an organic reach of 21M across all platforms, drove a 12% click-to-open rate on email, with an overall 170M impressions across all social platforms.

Finally, the campaign mobilized $883,000 in direct fundraising from individuals. These were donations made by citizens who also wanted to contribute financially to the effort.

The people of Ukraine and Poland (where the pledging summit was held) were incredibly moved by this effort. Not only did we drive 10 billion USD in new funding toward humanitarian relief efforts, we forged new relationships and partnerships with NGOs on the ground that we continue to support today. We will be returning to Poland in late May 2023 to visit sites and programs that have benefitted from the funding raised by this campaign.

For example, over the past year this funding has helped support 1 million refugees including: 170 thousand in Italy, 130 thousand in Canada, and Over 400 thousand in the Czech Republic by providing housing, schooling, and other essential needs.