For their 2024 GivingTuesday campaign, Search for Common Ground invited supporters to reflect on the physical, emotional, and mental burdens we all carry. They explored how we can share those burdens with one another to build a more peaceful, connected world.
Their campaign, The Things We Carry, tied together powerful storytelling, community gatherings, and digital activations to bring their concept to life. With impressive fundraising results and deep community engagement, the campaign stood out for its thoughtful messaging, creative execution, and alignment with their peacebuilding mission.
We spoke with Kara Schectman, Director of Marketing at Search for Common Ground, to learn how their team brought the campaign to life — and how other organizations can adapt these ideas to run their own meaningful GivingTuesday campaigns.
Q&A with Kara Schectman, Director of Marketing at Search for Common Ground
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your organization.
A: I’m a strategic marketing and communications expert dedicated to using storytelling and digital engagement to drive meaningful change. I joined Search for Common Ground in April 2023 after the merger with Preemptive Love. As Marketing Director, I lead efforts to build awareness, engagement, and support for our mission.
Search for Common Ground is the world’s largest dedicated peacebuilding organization, working in 35 countries to end violent conflict. Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and toward collaborative solutions.
Q: When did you first hear about GivingTuesday, and what made you want to participate in the world’s most generous day of the year?
A: I first heard about GivingTuesday years ago as it grew into a global movement. At Search for Common Ground, we see GivingTuesday as an opportunity not just to raise funds but to deepen engagement with our community by bringing people into the heart of our mission in a meaningful way.
What drew us in was the idea that GivingTuesday isn’t about donations; it’s about collective action. It aligns perfectly with our work, as building peace isn’t something that one person or one organization can do alone. It requires people coming together to share the load and join a movement, just like our campaign, The Things We Carry. We wanted to create a campaign that inspired people to see themselves as part of the solution/agency, whether through giving, amplifying stories, or simply reflecting on the burdens we carry as a global community.
Q: How did you approach GivingTuesday 2024? What was your campaign?
A: In 2024, our campaign The Things We Carry invited supporters to reflect on their own experiences, community burdens around the world, and the role we all play in carrying them together. Through powerful storytelling, donor engagement, and a multimedia digital experience, we connected our audiences to the real impact of our work, whether it was responding to crises, supporting women and youth-led peace initiatives, or fostering dialogue in divided communities.
Q: Tell us more about #TheThingsWeCarry campaign and where the idea came from.
A: Our The Things We Carry campaign was born out of a few creative sessions the Search Marketing Team held. We walked away from the sessions knowing we wanted to highlight the “community care” aspect of the peacebuilding work we do. After a session, right about this time of year last year, our Social Media Strategist, Kalindi Cordero, pitched me on an idea inspired by a deeply moving experience in Tapachula, Mexico. In 2022, Kalindi went on a program trip to join our Latin American team and interviewed migrants at a safe house we partnered with at the time.
One story, in particular, stood out—that of Adolfo, a Venezuelan man who had crossed the treacherous Darién Gap to escape violence. When he fled his home, he carried only a boom box and a microphone, symbols of his love for singing and a reminder of the identity he refused to leave behind. This sparked a powerful question: What do we carry when we leave behind everything familiar? Many of us think of essentials—phones, pets, family photos—but the people Search serves worldwide carry more than just physical items. They bear mental and emotional burdens—trauma, hope, resilience, and the weight of their pasts.
At first we came up with The Things I Carry or The Things They Carry, but we wanted the campaign to be inclusive of those who have stayed in places of conflict and our supporters. In a world increasingly divided by conflict and polarization, The Things We Carry aimed to highlight community care and shared responsibility. It reminded us that peacebuilding is about showing up for each other, sharing the weight of our struggles, and ensuring no one carries their burdens alone.
Q: How did you measure your campaign’s impact?
A: We measured our impact through key performance indicators such as:
- Fundraising Success: Tracking donations and new donors acquired during the campaign.
- Results: We raised $904,885.52 of unrestricted funds and acquired 158 new donors from November 18 through December 31.
- Engagement Metrics: Analyzing social media reach, video views, and website traffic.
- Results: 1,054,456 impressions, 8,177 engagements, and 8,957 video views across all social media platforms, 59,571 website visits to sfcg.org.
- Community Participation: Monitoring the number of people who engaged with our interactive elements, such as Love Anyway Feasts and The Things We Carry storytelling series campaign.
- Results: Together the Love Anyway Feasts and The Things We Carry we had about 2,070 participants. Our Love Anyways Feasts were implemented through our Common Ground USA team.
- Email Performance: Evaluating open rates, and click-through rates.
- Results: Average email open rate 28.57%, average click-through rate 1.03%, average
By the end of the campaign, The Things We Carry not only exceeded our fundraising goals but also deepened our community’s connection to Search for Common Ground’s mission, reinforcing that peace is something we build together.
Q: What has most surprised you about the reception of the campaign?
A: What surprised us most about the reception of The Things We Carry campaign was how deeply personal and universally resonant it became. People around the world immediately connected with the idea, sharing their own experiences and burdens, whether physical, emotional, or symbolic.
We were especially moved by how open and supportive people were in embracing the campaign. The response showed that despite the challenges of the past year, there was a shared sense of resilience. Across different countries, cultures, and backgrounds, people carried similar burdens such as loss, uncertainty, and struggle, but also hope, joy, and determination.
One of the most unexpected but powerful takeaways was the way people used the campaign as a way to reflect, not just what they carried, but how they carried the burdens of others. That sense of collective responsibility and care is at the heart of peacebuilding and seeing it come through this campaign was incredibly inspiring.
Q: How did you engage with donors and volunteers ahead of GivingTuesday?
A: We took a strategic community-driven approach to engage with volunteers and donors ahead of GivingTuesday, ensuring they felt connected and empowered to take action.
- Early activation and storytelling: We launched our GivingTuesday campaign two weeks in advance, using social media, email marketing, and storytelling to build momentum. Check out one of their videos: here.
- Love Anyway Feasts: A key activation was our Love Anyway Feasts, held in different communities (like Charleroi, PA), bringing people together around a shared meal and conversation. These continued throughout the campaign.
- Personalized outreach: We engaged our existing donor base through tailored emails, impact driven messaging, SMS, and one-on-one outreach, emphasizing how their support made a real difference.
- Social media and peer fundraising: We encouraged supporters to share their own Things We Carry stories, creating a wave of user-generated content (UGC) that expanded the campaign’s reach.
By the time GivingTuesday arrived, we had already built a strong sense of engagement, urgency, and community, leading to a powerful day of giving and action.
Q: What worked well, and what would you do differently next GivingTuesday?
A: The Things We Carry campaign was successful because of thoughtful planning, a strong thematic foundation, and full integration across our programs and platforms. Key factors that contributed to its success:
- Year-Round Planning: We dedicated a large portion of the year to strategizing, ensuring every element—from messaging to activations—was aligned and impactful.
- Clear Goals & Strong Theme: Having a well-defined theme gave us a guiding principle for decision-making, ensuring consistency across all campaign touchpoints.
- Holistic Integration: We successfully wove together fundraising, storytelling, community events, and the Love Anyway Shop, creating a cohesive campaign that resonated across different audience segments.
While the campaign was effective, there are areas we’d refine for even greater impact:
- Enhanced Social Media Storytelling: We would love to have experimented more with carousel posts during the campaign to create more immersive, sequential storytelling, allowing our audience to better engage with impact stories.
- Deeper Love Anyway Shop Integration: While our Shop played a role, we see an opportunity to better collaborate with Common Ground USA (the arm of our organization solely focused on depolarization in the U.S.) for Love Anyway Feast gatherings. For example, we could develop exclusive product collaborations like:
- Conversation Cards (to spark meaningful discussions at feasts)
- Candles, Vases, & Table Runners (to create a warm, inviting atmosphere)
- Limited-edition items tied directly to GivingTuesday
These refinements would strengthen engagement, deepen audience connection, and create a more immersive GivingTuesday experience in the future.
Q: Any unexpected challenges? How did you overcome them?
A: While not entirely unexpected, two major challenges shaped our 2024 GivingTuesday campaign:
The first challenge was regarding the U.S. election and increased noise. With the election dominating public discourse, online conversations, and ad space, it was harder to capture attention and drive engagement and we faced higher costs on Meta and more competition for attention.
We acknowledged this challenge early and strategically framed The Things We Carry as a human-centered campaign, focusing on shared burdens and collective care–ideas that resonate across political divides and globally. With the higher ad costs on Meta we pivoted by experimenting with Pinterest as an alternative ad platform to avoid the high costs and noise of Meta. Pinterest turned out to be a huge win for the Love Anyway Shop, driving strong engagement and conversions. Given its success, we’ve continued to invest in Pinterest and have seen sustained positive results.
The second challenge was with GivingTuesday being in December, falling later than usual, we had to contend with year-end fatigue and holiday distractions.
We overcame the challenge by emphasizing community and participation beyond financial giving, encouraging people to engage through sharing stories, attending Love Anyway Feasts, and supporting the Love Anyway Shop. This broadened our impact beyond just donations and kept people engaged even if they weren’t ready to give financially.
By naming these challenges upfront and preparing for them, we were able to stay flexible, maintain strong engagement, and ensure a successful GivingTuesday despite external factors.
Q: How have you continued the momentum after GivingTuesday?
A: We didn’t stop on GivingTuesday. The Things We Carry continued through December 31, allowing us to deepen engagement and sustain the conversation. As a culmination of the campaign, we shared a powerful collection of stories we received, showcasing the resilience, burdens, hopes people carry around the world.
Q: Any hints about what we can expect for your GivingTuesday 2025 on Dec. 2?
A: We know it is months away, but let’s just say…if The Things We Carry nourished the soul, next year’s campaign might leave you hungry for more. Stay tuned. 😉
How this campaign matters for your GivingTuesday plans
Search for Common Ground’s campaign is a powerful reminder that GivingTuesday is not just a moment for fundraising—it’s a catalyst for community building, storytelling, and collective generosity. The Things We Carry invited supporters into a deeper relationship with the mission by tying personal reflection to global experience.
While you’re preparing your own GivingTuesday campaign, use this story as a valuable blueprint, from using narrative as a strategic throughline to blending digital engagement with real-world connection points. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader or community builder, campaigns like this highlight how generosity becomes transformational when we choose to carry it together.
