Creative agency Sid Lee and BGC Canada collaborate on unique NFT donation drive
Toronto, October 18, 2021 – BGC Canada (formerly Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada) partnered with creative agency Sid Lee to release Non-Fungible Donations – an auction that converts children’s artwork into non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) to raise funds that will benefit kids and teens at BGC Clubs across the country. All BGC kids’ artwork will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will be used to run local community programs and launch new initiatives for younger generations. The idea transforms the splashy concept of NFTs into a charitable and altruistic effort.
According to Canada Without Poverty (CWP), 1 in 5 children in Canada live in poverty (with Indigenous children at 1 in 2). With programs and services tailored to the needs of local communities, BGC Clubs create opportunities that help young people overcome barriers that stand in their way, including tackling poverty through youth employment, education and training, shelter and housing, nutrition and food security, and more.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been very difficult for young people and their families and our Clubs have seen a huge increase in demand for our services,” said Owen Charters, President & CEO of BGC Canada. “Combining the creativity of our Club youth with a cutting edge donation campaign that will reach new audiences is the type of thinking we need to help us recover from the pandemic and strive to meet more community needs. As we always say, opportunity changes everything.”
By using one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market, the creative team at Sid Lee initiated a fundraiser that merges their knowledge of the digital realm and BGC Canada’s resources. In Q1 of 2021 alone, NFT sales accounted for nearly two billion dollars. With that information, the idea to use NFTs as a means of collecting donations was born. “For kids, the sky is the limit and with this campaign we really wanted to capture that,” said Matt Fraracci, Creative Director at Sid Lee. “It was important that we highlighted the talent of the kids who are directly impacted and allow their visions to come to life in a brand-new way. By repurposing NFTs and taking advantage of the attention that they receive, we are able to direct that awareness to a cause that counts.”
The art will be digitally scanned and added to the Opensea marketplace which allows the donations to be collected through the NFTs. The auction will begin on October 18th, and the lowest bid will start at 0.1ETH ($400CAD). To place a bid on the site or find out more about this innovation, please visit opensea.io/bgc.
Credits:
Client: BGC
Agency: Sid Lee
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Da Silva
Creative Director: Matthew Fraracci
Associate Creative Director: Tim Zimmerman
Art Director: Runda Dong
Copywriter: Jake Hulsebosch
Account Director: Shannon Griscti
Producer: Michael Oshell
Editor: Runda Dong, Emma O’Neill
Motion Graphics: Emma O’Neill
Designer: Sam Dal Monte
PR: Katia Aubin, Kristel Dupont, Maya Marcus
About BGC Canada
For 120+ years, BGC Canada has been creating opportunities for millions of Canadian kids and teens. As Canada’s largest child and youth serving charitable and community services organization, our Clubs open their doors to young people of all ages and their families at 736 locations nationwide. During out-of-school hours in small and large cities, and rural and Indigenous communities, our trained staff and volunteers provide programs and services that help young people realize positive outcomes in self-expression, academics, healthy living, physical activity, job readiness, mental wellness, social development, leadership, and more. Opportunity changes everything. Learn more at bgccan.com and follow us on social media @BGCCAN.
About Sid Lee
Sid Lee is a borderless creative agency applying storytelling, design and technology to build customer experiences that matter. Their multi-disciplinary team of 900 professionals works as one out of offices in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Paris, London, LA and Seattle. Working side by side with progressive clients, they deploy their creative capabilities in several disciplines, ranging from design to interactive and experiential communication to advertising and architecture. Practicing agile creative and production development, as well as radical collaboration both internally and with their clients, they create work that matters, allowing their clients to outperform their competitors and earn the trust and loyalty of their customers.
Offering fully integrated solutions across the globe, Sid Lee is a member of kyu, a collective of top-tier global creative companies — including IDEO and SYPartners — established by Hakuhodo DY Holdings, the second-largest agency network in Asia. Together, we propel our belief that creativity has the power to move the economy and society forward. Sid Lee also imagined C2 Montréal, one of the largest innovation conferences in the world.
For all press inquiries, please contact: Maya Marcus mmarcus@sidlee.com
