Leo Burnett Melbourne launches national campaign for Seek’s volunteer website – over $1.3m worth of ad space volunteered so far

Over a decade ago Seek, Australia’s biggest online job site, volunteered to build a website to help Australian charities find volunteers. Each year, charities, not-for-profit organisations and community projects rely heavily on the support of thousands of volunteers for their success.

There are many ways the industry can volunteer space for the campaign message. Access your volunteer media kit at here.

This month, Leo Burnett Melbourne and Seek have launched a national campaign to raise awareness for the seekvolunteer.com.au site while simultaneously encouraging more Australians to put their hands up for volunteer roles.

Says Helen Souness, marketing director, Seek: “Volunteers make a massive difference in the lives of others. That’s the power of people. We want the whole country to participate in spreading the volunteer message as proof of just how powerful volunteering can be.”

Instead of paying for advertising, the campaign takes an unorthodox media approach by asking corporations, broadcasters, advertisers and the general public to volunteer a space – from station air-time through to a profile picture, to promote volunteering.

In just over a week, an estimated $1.3 million worth of media space has been volunteered so far, as well as all associated production, talent and post costs.

Says Jason Williams, ECD, Leo Burnett Melbourne: “The amount of support for the campaign even in its infancy stage has astounded us. Our volunteer message will reach millions of Australians, from appearing in large-scale outdoor all the way through to featuring on a postage stamp. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

A page on the Seek volunteer site provides public access to the various campaign artwork designed for use in a diverse range of media channels. Individuals can also become involved by volunteering space in their social media channels of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Tumblr.

Says Williams: “We love the purity of this idea. It’s completely in the spirit of volunteering and sees people themselves become the media. But its real strength lies in the fact that it has no end date. The volunteer media kits will continue to be available to advertisers, corporates and the public, enabling anyone, at any time, to promote the importance of volunteering in the future.”