In the time of COVID-19, #StandingDonation turned standing ovations into donations for medical workers.

During the COVID19 pandemic, a wonderful initiative emerged: all around the world people were going to their windows to give a standing ovation to healthcare heroes. 

While medical professionals truly appreciated the applause, what they desperately needed was funding towards Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential medical supplies, to ensure they could stay safe, while working tirelessly to keep us safe. Our call to action was simple: follow up your standing ovation with a #StandingDonation.

The campaign kicked-off as a worldwide digital event on Friday April 3rd, an evening when various clapping events were scheduled. A social-outreach initiative, we drove people to the microsite, StandingDonation.com, which allowed them to donate directly to the healthcare institutions featured that week, or to a local healthcare facility in their region.

We targeted individuals who had joined the clapping movements. On Twitter, we responded to individuals who used the hashtags #ClapBecauseWeCareNYC, #ClapForCarers, #ClapBecauseWeCare, #ClapForNHS, #SolidarityAt8, #AplausoSanitario, and so forth. On Facebook, we worked with organizers of clapping events to spread the message, asking people to give a #StandingDonation after the standing ovation event finished. 

As the burst of applause shifted from a one-time event to an ongoing occurrence, our outreach efforts continued, with our website directory growing to feature hospitals in cities in most dire need of COVID-19 supplies, and driving people to give instant and direct donations.

The entire campaign, from the website, social channels, and outreach, was conceptualized and launched in four days. Within the first 48 hours, leading up to the April 3rd event, over 1.5 people joined the digital event on Facebook, pledging to give a #StandingDonation, with an additional 1.3k followers on Twitter.

In the first day of the social launch, we had site visitors from 35 different countries, with 173 clicks to donate directly from our website, with donation going primarily towards the NYC Emergency Fund in the United States, Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo, Italy, the two regions in most dire need that week.