Santaland: Rewriting the Rules of Christmas Fundraising

Action for Children’s 2025 Secret Santa campaign became the charity’s most successful Christmas appeal to date, raising £2.75m including Gift Aid and delivering +25% year-on-year income growth in one of the toughest fundraising environments in recent years.

Against a backdrop of rising living costs, donor fatigue and intense seasonal competition, the campaign set out to do more than drive donations alone. Its ambition was to create a culturally resonant fundraising platform capable of generating awareness, conversation and long-term supporter growth without significantly increasing investment.

Developed alongside The Kite Factory, the campaign centred on Santaland - a disruptive short film created with Studio Yes and fronted by Anna Maxwell Martin. Rather than following traditional charity advertising conventions, the campaign deliberately adopted an earned-first creative approach designed to behave more like culturally shareable entertainment than fundraising advertising.

Delivered through an integrated Owned, Earned, Shared and Paid (OESP) strategy spanning TV, CTV, social, PR, OOH and digital media, the campaign generated 398 million opportunities to see and 305 pieces of coverage, significantly increasing national visibility and cut-through.

The results set a new benchmark for Secret Santa. The campaign exceeded its fundraising target by +4%, reached 51,310 donors (+38% YoY) and secured 38,402 new supporters (+39% YoY). TV ad awareness increased from 12% to 20%, while Santaland achieved 19% awareness despite not running on linear TV - demonstrating how bold creativity and integrated communications can deliver disproportionate fundraising and brand impact under constrained conditions.