OVERVIEW
- There are 750 million people over age 60 worldwide.
- More than 180 million of them live in poverty.
- 75% of the older population live in areas devastated by conflicts and natural disasters
- Over 50% of older people continue to work past the age of 60 in middle-to-low income countries.
In today's world, once someone crosses the threshold from adult to elder, they become almost invisible. This is especially the case for those who are impoverished and in poor health, which amounts to a large percentage of older people. For many, they spend their entire lives working hard and raising future generations, only to end up losing their basic human rights in their old age. Older people are being disrespected, discarded, and discriminated against far too often. The #BetterWithAge campaign wants to bring awareness to these issues, end the stigma around the natural aging process, and to increase the quality of life of the elderly.
OBJECTIVES
- Get 200,000 users to engage with the #BetterWithAge hashtag on Facebook and Twitter
- Raise $500,000 in contributions for HelpAge International that will go toward sponsoring elders recovering from disaster relief.
- Reach 1 million total online votes for the winner of the #BetterWithAge Pageant
Our target audience are people ages 18-45 because they are easily accessible on social media, old enough to understand the issue and still young enough to be called to action, and will recognize a personal connection to the issue.
World Health Organization: #YearsAhead
The theme of this years International Day of Older Persons is "Take A Stand Against Ageism". The World Health Organization created the #YearsAhead hashtags to engage social media users to raise awareness about the campaign to challenge ageism.
Rivera and Reel Youth: Age is More Film Project
Rivera, a Canadian senior living company, partnered with not-for-profit film program, Reel Youth, to create the Age is More Film Project.
"This project has published 120 films to-date and has created life-long relationships between the older adults and the youth participants. With partnerships like Reel Youth, Revera aims to shed light on ageism, challenge the assumptions of aging and recognize the valuable contributions of older adults to society."
- Increased awareness among general adult population about the affects of ageism, natural disasters, poverty, and poor healthcare that plague older people around the world.
- Increase in social media engagement between HelpAge International and audiences.
- Increase in monetary contributions to the organization through contributions
- Internationally televised pageant featuring people older than 60 from all over the world demonstrating their talents and beauty. Our hope with this pageant is to de-stigmatize aging and raise money towards disaster relief and crisis care through donations.
Social Media Outreach Plan
Facebook:
Videos:
- Mini-Documentaries: Post two short films about the living conditions of older people around the world. One about how ageism leads to poverty, and the other about how ageism affects women specifically. The caption should provide a brief description of each video with a link to the donation site.
- #ThrowbackThursday: A short film of three different elders from around the world recounting their life stories, starting with the influence and treatment of there grandparents and the similarities between their existences. The call to action for this post is to encourage people to donate so that they can have a better final chapter than their own elders.
#BetterWithAge Profile Picture Filter: Partnership with Oldify™ app
Testimonials: Photos of older people from around the world providing a testimony that despite the struggles, life has gotten #BetterWithAge
Facebook Live: Live stream behind-the-scenes moments of the #BetterWithAge Pageant during the program. Provide a link to the voting/donation site
- Call to action tweets: Post link to donation site and update followers on progress made towards goal
- #BetterWithAge: Ask followers to tweet picture/videos/stories of how the lives of their elders gpt #BetterWithAge. Retweet responses.
- Post photos of pageant contestants with their backstories and the link to the voting/donation website during program.
Sample Tweets
"@age: 2/3of the world's older people who have chronic illnesses live in low income countries. Help them get #BetterWithAge- helpage.org/donate"
"@age: Who do you know that's #BetterWithAge? Tweet us your answer, don't forget to use #BetterWithAge."
"@age: Meet 72 y/o Anh Doan from Vietnam. She sells dresses to send her grandchildren to school. Vote for her in the #BetterWithAge Pageant- bit.ly/fh73"
Snapchat
- Geo-filters: #BetterWithAge Pageant Ad, Live updates of fundraising goal progress, and Country Pride filter
- Live story: An older person gives viewers a behind the scenes look of the Pageant, interacts with contestants, and provides information about the cause in between.
- Snap Lens: Partner with Oldify™ to make an old person lens on the day of the program and can submit them to the #BetterWithAge Live story
The #BetterWithAge campaign has the ability to change the lives of millions of elderly people. By using social media platforms, #BetterWithAge will reach the hearts of thousands of people who were unaware of the problems seniors face today. This campaign is poised to improve the quality of life for seniors everywhere.
