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When disaster strikes, UNICEF Ireland has days, not weeks, to reach people while the world is watching. Since 2020, Vroom has been the paid search and social partner that gets every emergency appeal in front of people in Ireland, fast.
48
hrs
From brief to live campaigns when an emergency appeal launches
69
%
Of the Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal’s single donations came in the first two weeks
60
M+
Impressions on Facebook and Instagram for the Gaza emergency appeal
The first 48 hours
In February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria before dawn, with no warning. Within hours, UNICEF Ireland had an emergency appeal, and we had it live.
Search campaigns went up for people looking for ways to help. Paid social launched with the first images from the ground, then switched to an appeal from UNICEF ambassador Liam Neeson the moment it was ready. Budgets went in hardest in the first days, while the news was still leading with the rescue.
It mattered. 69% of the appeal’s single donations came in the first two weeks of an eight-week campaign. Speed isn’t a nice-to-have in emergency fundraising. It’s most of the result.
We’ve done it more than fifteen times since, for Gaza, Lebanon, the Myanmar earthquake, Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, the Venezuela earthquake, Sudan, the Nepal floods and more.
Vroom helped us effectively and rapidly establish our social media campaigns. This has since become one of our top two acquisition channels for new donors.
UNICEF Ireland
Built for scale
When the war in Gaza escalated in October 2023, our campaigns put UNICEF’s appeal in front of people in Ireland more than 60 million times across Facebook and Instagram, with spend scaled day by day to match the news. That work won Gold at the 2024 Digital Media Awards.
It builds year on year. In 2021, UNICEF’s video campaigns reached twice as many people in Ireland as the year before, building the audiences that every new appeal now draws on.
And it keeps growing. In 2026, our campaign for UNICEF’s work with children with disabilities has delivered almost 7 million impressions on Facebook and Instagram and more than 1.6 million engaged video views.
Alongside the emergencies, we run UNICEF’s always-on monthly giving, including Paddington’s Postcards, and its Christmas Inspired Gifts shop.
The ads people actually see
Every appeal starts with UNICEF Ireland’s people and pictures from the field. We turn them into ads for every placement, put them up against each other and move budget to whatever is working that day. Here are a few from the past year.
Instagram and TikTok
Instagram and TikTok are part of every appeal too, along with the advocacy moments in between that keep supporters close to the cause.
Why UNICEF works with Vroom
We move at the speed of the news
When an emergency hits, there is no time for a brief, a proposal and a kick-off call. Search goes live first for the people already looking to help, social follows with the first images from the ground, and budgets are weighted to the first days, when people in Ireland are paying most attention.
We never stop testing
There is always a test running: open audiences against retargeting, new formats against proven ones, different asks and landing pages for single and monthly gifts. What wins gets the budget, what loses gets switched off, and the lessons carry into the next appeal.
We run the whole funnel, all year
Appeals are the peaks, but most of the work happens in between. Video campaigns build awareness of stories like children with disabilities, traffic campaigns bring people to those stories on unicef.ie, and conversion campaigns ask for single and monthly gifts. Around that sit Christmas Inspired Gifts, winter appeals, Paddington’s Postcards and monthly giving all year round.
We work as one team
UNICEF Ireland brings the stories, the people and the creative. We bring the campaigns, the data and the speed. Six years in, we know their supporters, their tone and their calls to action well enough to move the moment they do.
What we run
- Google Search: brand, generic and dynamic search campaigns that put UNICEF first when people look for ways to help
- YouTube: appeals from UNICEF ambassadors Liam Neeson and James Elder, lined up with UNICEF’s TV campaigns
- Demand Gen and Performance Max: reaching people across Google before they search
- Paid social: Meta and TikTok campaigns that lead with the story, then follow up with a clear ask
- Shopping: the Inspired Gifts shop, set up for Google Shopping and a Meta product catalogue
Recognition
- Gold, Best in Government & Not for Profit, Digital Media Awards 2024, for Driving Donations to Empower Gaza
- Bronze, Best in Government & Not for Profit, Digital Media Awards 2025
- Placed, Best Use of Search: Third Sector / Not for Profit, Spider Awards 2024
- Finalist, European Search Awards 2024, and Digital Media Awards 2021 and 2023
Read more in Irish Travel Trade News.
FAQs: emergency appeal campaigns for charities
How quickly can you launch an emergency appeal?
Within 48 hours of the brief. Campaign structures, audiences and tracking are kept ready, so we can go live while the story is still in the news.
Which channels do you run for UNICEF Ireland?
Google Search, YouTube, Demand Gen, Performance Max, Shopping and Display, plus paid social on Meta and TikTok.
Do you create the ad creative?
No. UNICEF and its creative partners supply the images and video. We turn them into ads for every format, and advise on what to run and when to refresh it.
Do you work with other charities?
Yes. We also manage Google Ad Grants for Turn2me, Ireland’s free online mental health service, and have done since 2015.
Need a partner who can move as fast as the news? Talk to our team.
Speed is everything in these campaigns, and our partnership with Vroom Digital will enable us to be quick off the mark and respond in real-time.
UNICEF Ireland
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