Everything seems important and urgent, time is measured in deadlines, and procrastination is a survival mechanism among emails, projects and to-dos. It’s just that, while we complain about our acute lack of time, there are children who really can’t afford procrastination of any kind. For them, survival is not a metaphor. This is the idea they started from Mihai Gongu and Claudio Mitcu in the campaign 3.5% referral for Give Life.
“Romanians have understood that they can become an even more important actor than the state in order to solve some of the country’s structural problems. And that volunteering, recurring donations, involvement in social campaigns are a normality for each of us, not just for “ongists” , says Mihai Gongu.
Why is it important to take the time, at least a few minutes and two clicks, to give time to the vulnerable, I tell Mihai Gongu, Claudio Mitcu and Dionisia Sandumarketing manager of Give Life, in the lines below:
brief
Michael: The brief is a simple one, let’s move the Romanians to stop donating that money that anyway goes into the big and generic pocket of the statute and could be used much more usefully by a hospital that saves lives. Whether we are talking about Romanians who are employees, entrepreneurs, have other types of income or financial or HR directors who can convince their colleagues where to redirect the 3.5%. The object is a very ambitious one. We aim for 30,000 donation forms to Dăruieste Viață to be completed by May 27.
The creative process
Michael: I worked with the project team from Cheil Centrade coordinated by Miruna Potop several options and in the end I chose the most “striking” route through simplicity. A child recounting his full day in the new hospital, enduring all kinds of not easy medical interventions and treatment procedures, to show the viewer that he empathizes with the latter’s declared lack of time.
I think it’s a very powerful way, through its candor, to trigger immediate action, to inspire the audience to stop putting off filling out the form. And if the postponement persists, we have a series of episodes and we are almost certain that, in the end, Mia will convince the Romanians to stop finding excuses for not finding time.
Claudio: For more than 10 years, right from the beginning, I have been involved in the Donate Life campaigns and have been involved in various social projects. In the case of this campaign, I found the scripts very suitable for the expected results and impact. My idea was for these clips not to be cut, to be from a frame to be as realistic as possible. They were conceived as excerpts from this child’s diary, inspired by a real case which, unfortunately, is part of the unfortunate routine of all children who go through this suffering.
sensitivity
Michael: The biggest risk for social campaigns is not triggering any reaction. Either because the public is sometimes desensitized to more dramatic subjects, or because the story is more about awareness than an interaction with the viewer. So we set out for this campaign to avoid the ultra-dramatic tone but at the same time to provoke an immediate response. It was overwhelming to learn how much treatment procedures take away from a sick child’s time. It’s practically a job in itself. The hardest job.
Claudio: The most important part that stuck with me was choosing this child, a girl around 9-10 years old, and then the communication that I had to establish with this child so that she would understand very well the message that she was going to- interpret it. I am glad that I thought of Iana Marinescu, that she could interpret this difficult role. I tried for Iana not to memorize mechanically, but to understand exactly what each of the messages contains, she becoming a kind of spokesperson for some children who are going through this serious situation.
Discoveries
Michael: The hospital built by the personal effort of over 350,000 Romanians looks simply extraordinary. I had the opportunity to see a few hospitals during my trips to other countries and continents and I think nothing comes close. It is an honor to have such a place here in the country, but especially as fellow citizens the people who made it possible. I was happy to work with Mitcu again after more than 15 years.
Claudio: There weren’t necessarily any surprises, but considering the current socio-economic context, I notice that in the future, for such cases, the state behaves deplorably, and civil society mobilizes to help and fulfills as much as it can what the empowered institutions should do .
target
Dionysia: The campaign is aimed at everyone who has earned an income in 2023 and who cares – who want to see that their money is effectively invested to give more opportunities to children who need it most. The potential of this tax facility is enormous for Dăruiește Viață, but also for other NGOs. According to a study, carried out for Dăruiește Viață by Daedalus Online, more than 88% of urban Romanians declare that they have heard of the possibility of redirecting the 3.5% of the tax, but less than half use it year after year. In our case, in 2022 we collected approx. 800,000 euros through this tax facility, an amount equivalent to the investment made for the complete renovation of a floor of the adult oncology department of the Elias Hospital in Bucharest. Think what we could do if each of us filled out the form.
Subsidiarily, I would say that this campaign is for all of us – those who are so overwhelmed by our daily chores, the tumult of our days, the traffic, the office tasks, the tiresome conversations with strangers. For us, those who inevitably find reasons to complain that we don’t have enough time to do everything we want. We never think about how children spent months in the hospital spend their time.
How Romanians can be sensitized to help
Dionysia: Through authenticity and simplicity. Authenticity of your message and cause, and simplicity in the action you expect them to take. In the case of the 3.5% redirection form, it takes a maximum of 3 minutes to complete, and the entire operation is done exclusively online, on daruiesteviata.ro.
We often get feedback from our donors – how great it would be if I could also pay taxes / fines as easily as I can make a donation. In terms of authenticity, the Dăruiește Viață projects are an exponent of the “can’t-do” sepoate in Romania. The hospital built by over 350,000 people and over 8,000 companies is ready and already treating patients and dozens of other projects have been implemented in Bucharest and in the country. Walk the talk is really put into practice, and this shows and earns trust.
How the attitude of Romanians towards social causes has changed
Michael: Romanians understood that they can become an even more important actor than the state to solve some of the country’s structural problems. And that volunteering, recurring donations, involvement in social campaigns is a normality for each of us, not just for “ongists”.
The Give Life team together with hundreds of thousands of people achieved something that seemed completely utopian a decade ago, and they deserve all the support to continue developing the medical campus they started. But the most important thing is not to forget to ask those we vote for to do more for social causes. And for this, we must first of all go to the vote, because democracy is a privilege that must be defended. And let’s vote for those who have a clear plan and demonstrate competence, not just sowing hatred.
Claudio: I cannot speak about all Romanians, about how they are or how they should be. I do not have a very extensive experience in this area, but the world I am surrounded by is sensitized and has a constant coherence towards social causes.
