Reborn were looking for volunteer opportunities in early 2011 - something we could do as a team and a cause that's close to our hearts. We called Habitat for Humanity to ask whether there was room on their next build team for a digital agency. It turned out that Habitat for Humanity were making their own phone calls, looking for a digital agency to be part of a very different kind of build team.

As the third-largest charity in the United States, Habitat for Humanity is well known in other markets but have relatively low brand awareness in Australia, especially among young people. They wanted to rally around their 1000 Homes for Hope campaign, build loyalty for their brand and generate passion for their cause among a younger demographic in Australia.

The microeconomics of social gaming

We knew that in reaching out to a new and younger audience with a fundraising ask, we needed to take a careful, unintimidating approach.

"Social gaming is a proven method of activating young audiences, particularly those who are inclined to spend small amounts of money," says Sabrina, Reborn’s Head of Production regarding our response to the brief. "Facebook’s Cityville and Farmville are commercial examples of this, but our research suggested that as young people are motivated by causes, we could uniquely turn the concept of social gaming into a platform for micro-donations."

Reborn proposed a social game to Habitat for Humanity that would connect with Facebook but reside on a branded microsite, allowing the charity to educate users about their organisation and the 1000 Homes for Hope campaign. This approach also would ensure that 100% of charitable dollars raised would go straight to the charity, with no overhead costs or fees.

Knowing that we’d be building this game with charitable dollars, Reborn took every step to maximise efficiencies and streamline development processes without sacrificing the user experience and game dynamics.

We developed audience personas based on age, likelihood to donate and social gaming literacy, and we mapped various game experiences for each. The result was unlike anything Reborn or Habitat for Humanity had created to date—a playful, SimCity-like fictional world based on the reality of the charity’s mission.

Welcome to Habitatland

Upon entry to Habitatland users receive 1000 credits in their “Hope Fund” to secure a virtual plot of land, and build and customise a virtual home. Users complete tasks to maintain their houses and participate in regular community tasks and mini-games all while they interact with HFHA videos, fun facts and the beautifully illustrated communities.

"It’s all hand-illustrated," says Reborn Senior Designer and Illustrator Fitz. "Five house styles, three house configurations within each of those styles, various roof options, build materials such as paint—all are isometric drawings to help us achieve a three-dimensional effect, right down to the drop shadows on patches of grass."

"And it all aligns with the Habitat brand," Sabrina adds. "We couldn’t just design a world of mansions and luxury homes. There was a delicate balance to be struck between communicating the organisation’s mission—really doing it justice—and developing a storyline of interest to a time-poor and youthful audience."

Engaging younger donors with smaller dollars

The aim of Habitat for Humanity’s 1000 Homes for Hope campaign is to raise awareness of HFHA among a younger audience. Backed by the media placements and 30-outlet promotional strategy we also designed in-house, and the corporate sponsorships we helped recruit, Reborn expect that returns to Habitat for Humanity in terms of brand awareness and breaking into the younger category will be significant.

"From personal and professional perspectives, we were thrilled to partner with Habitat for Humanity," says Reborn Co-founder and Managing Director Sabir. "While we’re realistic about the lifespan of any one social game, the potential for micro-donations among younger audiences is inarguable, particularly given their use of mobile devices. We hope we’ve helped Habitat unlock the door to a more robust and lucrative small-dollar fundraising platform—one that might cultivate lifelong donors for the charity from an early age."