I work with the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on an ad hoc freelance basis to support marketing and fundraising campaigns. I was recently engaged to develop and implement a marketing campaign to raise funds for the charity. The campaign aimed to raise £200,000 to kick-start the restoration of The Green Knight locomotive.
My role involved: developing the marketing campaign plan, key messages and brand assets. I led the briefs and story boarding for creative assets, including video and the appointment of agencies to support the campaign. I wrote copy for the campaign website and social media. I also developed all the sponsorship packages.
Times are tough for charities and fundraisers. Although the total amount given to charity continues to grow, the proportion of people giving to charity is at its lowest level since 2019. There are many other wonderful causes competing for each pound, including many charities that save lives. It is absolutely vital to build a strong story around the reasons to give and trust in the organisation.
The railway has many loyal supporters and the campaign focused on targeting these and other railway enthusiasts with a personal passion for this engine. The campaign needed to encourage regular supporters and people who had supported other appeals to give again. This is particularly challenging when the restoration may take many years to complete, meaning people may not see the impact of their donation for some time.
The following elements were essential to help drive engagement and support:
- Developing a strong story for the locomotive and the reasons why support it essential and why this needs to happen NOW – to encourage immediate support. This included being clear about what the funds would be spent on and the implications if the funds aren’t raised.
- Developing strong video and photography assets showing the real people that will be working on the locomotive and demonstrating the epic scale of the work required. These needed to have visual impact to stand out on social media. A number of versions of the core campaign video were developed to highlight different messages and keep the content fresh. This included versions focused on the heritage skills that will be kept alive through the restoration and others focusing on reasons why the locomotive is so important.
- Trying to avoid being too ‘marketing’ in the copy and just repeating messages to donate. Instead, the ask was secondary to the story content. Archive footage and images were sourced with the aim of generating engagement and giving potential supporters content that they were interested in to first pique their interest. Fact files about the locomotive were created to appeal to railway enthusiasts and to show why the engine is so significant.
- Making the donation process easy with as few clicks as possible and appreciating that people may only have limited funds available to donate. Sponsorship packages were created to suit a range of budgets, including the option to just make a donation of any amount.
- Making the fundraising campaign ‘giftable’ – giving people the feeling that they have been personally involved and have received something unique in return for their donation. Sponsorship packages included sponsoring a real individual numbered part being replaced during the restoration, with a personalised certificate.
- Using campaign ‘hooks’ that tap into key moments happening in 2025 to help it feel part of history. For example, aiming to raise £200,000 during the Railway 200 anniversary year and focusing on key moments like Father’s Day for gifting opportunities.
- Releasing sponsorship packages at key moments throughout the year to keep the offers fresh and to give people a reason to donate again.
- Including sponsorship packages that would appeal to businesses, including logo opportunities, to expand the potential audience.
- Developing personal reasons to support the campaign. This included videos of members of the engineering team and their own connections to the locomotive and personal reasons why they would like to see it back in steam. The campaign also asked supporters to share the reasons why they love the locomotive, including why they had made their donation and what it meant to them.
- Building trust in the organisation. This included developing an article being very open about the restoration and answering questions about what has happened to monies already raised and how the funds will be spent, as well as being realistic about the timescales for the restoration.
- Launching a ’round table club’ for all sponsors. Club members receive a thank you for their support and exclusive updates about the work their donation has supported. This gives them something extra in return for their support and helps them to feel part of a special community. This helps to build a longer term relationship and may inspire future giving.
You can view the campaign website and assets here.
Has it worked? The campaign has raised almost a quarter of its target to date with a significant uplift every time there is a key communication – a social media update, newsletter or press release. It is slow but strong compared with equivalent campaigns to support heritage locomotive restorations, many of which have taken many years to eventually reach their target.
It is important to keep campaigns like this alive, continually developing new elements to encourage people to give. It is also important to build a long term relationship with supporters and give them something in return – like archive videos or photographs that they haven’t previously seen. Continue to nurture them by keeping them regularly updated – openly and honestly – about progress and how their donation is making a difference.
If you are looking for marketing support for a fundraising campaign, I’d love to chat to you and give you some ideas for what could work best for your aspirations.
Emma Kate Farley Communications 