9/11 Day at Home

Challenge

The 9/11 Day organization is on a mission to take the day back: To shift 9/11 from a day of tragedy into a day of doing good. But doing good comes with strings attached when millions of Americans are stuck at home during a global pandemic. In response to COVID-19, this would need to become a day of service you could do safely from home. Enter, virtual volunteering.

Inspiration

We channeled the spirit of first responders and everyday essential workers who act in service of those in need—both on 9/11 and during COVID-19.

Idea

In partnership with 9/11 Day, we created 9/11 Day at Home. Built around easy-to-complete good deeds, it's an end-to-end social and web platform that provides the simplest path to virtually volunteer from the comforts of home. This platform connects volunteers with more than 60 non-profit organizations focused on the critical issues facing our nation today. Deeds ranged from feeding first responders, fighting for equality and registering to vote.

Anyone could complete a deed within minutes. On our web platform, we connected visitors with nonprofit partner’s API so they could complete their deeds without leaving the site – or the couch. On social, specific #911day deeds were promoted and celebrated with shareable badges from top celebrities and prominent public figures.

Growth

9/11 Day at Home shifted the conversation, raised mass awareness of 9/11 Day’s mission, and most importantly engaged millions to complete good deeds on 9/11.

9/11 Day had a 51 point positive shift in net sentiment. From a -35pt negative sentiment in 2019, it rose to +17 hopeful sentiments in 2020. The campaign garnered over 1.1 billion earned impressions. 911day.org saw a 1000% increase in site traffic from the previous year. Over 29 million participated in 9/11 Day At Home in the United States. Volunteers completed all kinds of good deeds, including delivering over 42,000 meals to first responders as thanks for their service, while supporting local restaurants across the nation. Over a million students across 25,000 classrooms engaged in service-learning activities.

The campaign and platform are just the beginning of a larger national service movement which will grow in 2021 for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The 9/11 Day website will become a permanent online resource to help people of all ages engage in charitable service digitally and to continue inspiring the spirit of compassion that lives in the hearts of millions of Americans.