After looking into audio and sound and ways of displaying it with suitable functionality, I came across this website. The website does everything that I think a charity should do, it engages the user with a striking yet appropriate tone of voice; and gives a real reason to donate. Apologies for the large number of screen grabs in this post but I think that it is important for me to show them to illustrate the points I am going to make.
Here's the website though check it out:
www.letsfcancer.com
The opening home page:
The homepage opens with a typed message. the messages that appear are those wrote in the website by other users that are affected by cancer. Some very striking messages that automatically engage the user.
Here's some of the opening quotes that appear:
'I am not going to take chemotherapy, I decided that I don't like it any more. AND i will never have radtation either. I feel free and happy to be the best that I can be until my time comes.What a relief ... But YEH ... FUCK CANCER :) .... wishing you all well ....'
'Fuck you cancer for invading my Granpa, for making him suffer through his last moments of life. Fuck you cancer for making our family watch someone we love die. Fuck you cancer for burdening us with this pain. For making us bare this cross. Fuck you cancer for destroying the foundation of our family. For making my kids cry because they are loosing their Pops. Just FUCK YOU CANCER!
CANCER - I HATE!!!! FUCK CANCER. MY MOTHER DIED FROM THIS TERROR!
Ok I think we get the idea, but some of the messages are extremely powerful adding a personal context as soon as you enter the site. The messages appear as if being typed adding another personal level.
As you enter the site you are shown a simple speech bubble with the website aims etc. Surrounded by moving speech bubbles, that you can grab and click on, filling with personal videos, images and messages from sufferers and those affected by cancer. The speech bubbles are then aligned when they are clicked. This is so in key with what I have been trying to express, adding a personal level to the website.
Videos and comments are then enlarged for a closer view and you can read the story and comment. Each comment and video then gives you the opportunity to love the content, donate to the content or post it on your social networking page.
Choose to donate to the FUCK YOU CANCER cause or information about holding your own event to raise awareness of cancer in your local area. The videos and comments specifically encouraging you to donate.
AGAIN I WOULD ASK THE QUESTION THOUGH IS DONATE A WORD WITH A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION?
Use of strong copy on the navigational tabs, simple and easy to understand. Making for extremely easy navigation.
The website also has an 'online shop' continuing the causes branding and identity. It continues to the phrase FUCK cancer in a profound way, really making you take notice. However I'm not 100% convinced that the shop is totally appropriate??? But it is a relatively decent way of 'spreading the word.'
Expressing ways of using the stickers with some quite nice copy used to relate to the image:
SO HOW ARE THEY GETTING PEOPLE TO DONATE?
The idea of their site is identical to that of mine! ANNOYING! Basically the idea is that you watch and read the 'bios' and then donate because you are influenced or moved by what has been said. With the donate form. they then have a recognition wall thanking those who have donated. But I'm still not sure about the word and the idea of 'DONATE' I'm still unsure. Maybe this is something that I could experiment with - Experiment from copy.
The site also plays on the idea of celebrity endorsement, something I need to investigate further, is it actually beneficial?
RESERVATIONS
I love the website and the way it plays on personal thoughts and feelings with quite striking and forceful copy. But the site shows how much people have donated from each of the personal inputs, and it is very little, so it is making me question does it work??? ....
