Like so many holiday campaigns, the nonprofit organization Airbnb.org’s new “Gift a Night” campaign is meant to remind audiences of the joys of gift-giving and time spent with loved ones.
But it’s not just a seasonal trope for Airbnb.org; those values are at the crux of the nonprofit’s messaging year-round.
Airbnb.org, founded by rental company Airbnb, works with local nonprofits to provide emergency housing in times of crisis, like in the wake of natural disasters. It was founded in 2020, but the idea goes back to 2012, when Airbnb hosts offered free rooms on their own initiative to people who had been displaced after Hurricane Sandy.
Make no mistake — Airbnb.org is technically an entirely separate organization from its corporate host, with an independent board. But it does have access to Airbnb’s technology, receives about 50% of its donations from Airbnb and enjoys Airbnb’s comms channels.
Got it?
The Gift of Giving
In November, Airbnb.org launched its “Gift a Night” campaign to encourage viewers to donate $110 to the organization to provide a night of housing to a displaced person or family.
The $110 value was determined based on the average international cost of one night in an Airbnb, though recipients receive different sums based on the size of their family and the cost of Airbnb rentals in their area. The funds are converted to Airbnb credits and deposited into the person’s account, and Airbnb waives booking commissions and fees.
The campaign is simple — its only creative asset is a short video that follows two families, who, at the outset of the video, are gazing at the remains of their homes after a natural disaster. Then they settle into cozy, homey-looking Airbnb locations. There’s also a landing page that features some of Airbnb.org’s past stats, as well as firsthand stories from hosts and guests.
In addition to the simplicity of the campaign itself, Airbnb.org’s marketing strategy is pretty old school, too. It sent out the video to millions of Airbnb hosts and past donors, and shared it on both its own and Airbnb’s social media channels. The campaign has also been picked up by several news outlets and included in gift guides, Airbnb.org Executive Director Christoph Gorder said.
But when asked about more specific audience targeting, specifically audience segmentation, Gorder said the nonprofit is “not quite there yet.”
Spreading the word
The nonprofit hasn’t needed Airbnb’s targeting and data capabilities to prove successful, though.
The new campaign, which is slated to run from November 19 to December 31, raised $93,000 in slightly over two weeks — about 40% of its total goal.
Anchoring the campaign with a specific price point has driven a lot of the campaign’s success, said Gorder. The benchmark gives donors a “concrete image” of the problem that Airbnb.org is trying to solve, he said, and paints a clear picture of where every dollar goes.
The average donation has been $138, which is $28 higher than the figure in the call to action — which, relatedly, is the other factor that Gorder believes resonates with Airbnb.org’s audience.
Having a specific request for help, rather than just “informing” people of the nonprofit’s goals, encourages the next step. “We’re finally finding our voice here,” said Gorder.
In addition to funds, Airbnb.org is hoping to raise brand awareness. Since Airbnb hosts must agree to participate, and can also offer rooms for free at discounted rates to the org, the nonprofit aims to reach hosts as well as direct donors.
It’s also targeting local organizations that help people in times of need.
When people are displaced from their homes, they’re usually directed to a local shelter or an application for a FEMA voucher, said Gorder.
Nonprofits “don’t know to call us,” he said. It’s hard to provide help at scale, he added, when “nobody knows about us.”