#ThanksToYou is a campaign which has been running for the past two years and this year, will take place UK-wide from 23 November to 1 December 2019. The idea is simple: anyone who visits a National Lottery supported project with a National Lottery ticket during all or part of the period is able to take up a special offer.
The aim is to thank National Lottery players for their support, and raise awareness of all the extraordinary things that have been funded as a result.
This is a great opportunity for any FAN member or exhibitor who has ever received National Lottery funding to be part of a direct and authentic campaign to say to National Lottery players ‘without you, we couldn’t have done this – thank you’. Hundreds of organisations across the UK are already planning their special offers.
For cinema venues, this is an opportunity to get creative, so what your special offer looks like it up to you. It could just be a case of repackaging activity you had already planned this autumn.
There are so many ways for everyone to get involved, and we’d encourage you to think about what will be of most benefit to your organisation. For example, you could offer:
- free entry or tickets to venues or films for all or part of the #ThanksToYou period
- an expert talk or panel of special guest speakers ‘in conversation’
- a special one-off screening of a film with particular relevance to your community or Lottery-funded films such as Billy Elliot, The Last King of Scotland and many more
- behind the scenes tours of projection facilities or back of house areas
- workshops or lessons on script writing, animation, film scoring, foley etc.
- a special view of a collection or archive not usually open to the public
- a discount on merchandise, film posters or publications
- a public showcase of a lottery funded initiative involving project alumni
- the chance to sit in on a film preview night
- something totally different to your usual programme of activity – maybe a filming-location walking tour or a day of different events
- your offer might be for the whole week, one day, or at a set time.
Free entry is an easy, attractive and direct way of thanking National Lottery players, however we understand that this may not be relevant for all projects.
If planning a public facing activity at that time is not possible, you could maybe set aside tickets to an event or festival coming up in the future or share the story of a project recently funded through the National Lottery. If you have a great case study to share, why not submit it to FAN Bigger Picture in time for the #ThanksToYou campaign? Get in touch your regional Film Hub for more info.
#ThanksToYou is a great opportunity to showcase the amazing work of projects up and down the country and to highlight the impact they’re making in their communities.
As this year is a very special 25th Birthday, #ThanksToYou will be integrated into the high energy PR and marketing campaign behind the Birthday programme. The celebration will be highly visible, authentic and wide-reaching. It’s a fantastic opportunity for all projects to be able to connect to.
We’ve started early this year, giving participants as much time to plan and promote their offer as possible. With the dedicated resource of a #ThanksToYou project manager, and with all distributors on board, this year’s campaign is going to be even bigger and better than ever. You only turn 25 once, after all!
#ThanksToYou participants will benefit from a high-profile campaign of promotion – supported by a user-friendly public events page from early October, the high-profile national Birthday PR campaign which includes #ThanksToYou specific activity, support in promoting your individual offers, What’s On guide features, some fun and highly shareable #ThanksToYou social media content and focused local promotion. This is an amazing opportunity for FAN members to think creatively on ways that they can be a part of this direct and wonderfully authentic campaign.