OXfam GB ChrisTMAS APPEAL 2025
BASIC. HUMAN.
RIGHT.
Oxfam’s 2025 Christmas appeal, tells the story of the deepening global water crisis through the eyes of Somali water engineer Hodan Mohamad Warsame and three women she has met in recent months.
During our early conversations with the Oxfam Somalia team, the creative platform of “the most essential thing” began to emerge, grounding the scale of the growing global water crisis in the everyday impossible choices people face.
The letter from Hodan started by asking supporters to imagine the season without something as essential as safe water, and related this back to her own experience both of growing up in Somalia and also, now, as an expert water engineer.
The windowless outer featured a stamp-style PPI, for a more personalised feel and carried the line “The most essential letter you’ll receive this Christmas” in understated red type on the reverse near the flap. A double-sided A4 insert repeated, visualised and further contextualised a clear shopping list. And a keepable bookmark uplift piece featuring Hodan’s pipe wrench deepened connection with supporters.
Prominent QR code response devices provided a clear, rapid response option in addition to the more traditional form, contributing to the largest use of a vanity URL for any mail pack in 4 years.
The email campaign included a pre-campaign thank you message and short reminder-style emails which reframed and re-blasted previous messages.
The campaign was the Oxfam’s most successful in three years, delivering +33.92% YOY increase in donations, with the email campaign alone delivering a huge +130.9% YOY increase in email income.