About this infographic
This infographic was used to rally support for the “Give It Back, George” campaign in the UK in spring 2012. The campaign, which ended in victory, sought to reverse the Government decision to implement a so called charity tax. National broadcast and print media used the illustrations in their coverage and the infographic itself was tweeted hundreds of times. The campaign won a Public Affairs News award in the campaign of the year category (voluntary sector).
There are two versions of this infographic. The first one explained what the problem was and what needed to be done. The second version (above) tells the campaign story. The main purpose of the second graphic was to thank the supporters as well as raise the profile of the organisations behind the campaign.
Why I think it worked
- The issue (charity tax) was quite complex. The infographic explains the core issue quickly (important for a time poor audience).
- It spread quickly on social media. This was important because the visual was used to recruit supporters (the original infographic directed people to a signup form) and keep up the pressure on the Government. Note: Twitter was the second most effective recruitment channel after newsletters.
- Few expected to see an infographic on such a dry topic (positive surprise)
- It has a famous main character in it (Chancellor George Osborne). Notice how the Osborne character runs through the whole infographic – he is the villain (turn hero?) of the story. The campaign name (Give it Back, George) of course gave me the license to use him as a character but I would use a similar approach with other campaigns as well, if at all possible. People love stories and stories always have heroes and villains.
How I made it
The original infographic took about a day and a half to produce. One day for coming up with the idea, doing the research, creating the drawings and writing the copy (mainly repurposing existing copy). Half a day went into fine-tuning copy and illustrations after receiving feedback from various stakeholders.
The style I used is realistic (note that I can also do infographics in a more cartoony style).
Read more about the campaign:
- Daily Mail: Give it back, George! 800 furious charities say Osborne’s budget will lose them millions
- Civil Society: ‘Give it back George’ gift aid campaign gains momentum
- Huffington Post: Charity Tax: ‘Give It Back’ Campaign Welcomes PM’s Hint Of A U-Turn
- The Telegraph: George Osborne retreats on charity tax plans following outcry
- BBC: Tax relief limit on charity to be axed in fresh U-turn
The campaign website: www.giveitbackgeorge.org
-Virpi
PS. I’ve got many years’ experience in online campaigning for nonprofits. I love working as a digital campaigner. It allows me to draw from all aspects of my varied background (journalism, cartooning, studies in Political sociology etc) as well as make a difference. Ah, happy times.
Visual content marketing specialist with a background in digital communications, digital campaigning (mainly Greenpeace), journalism and cartooning.
