Havas Paris and Kyiv offices together with UNITED24, the official fundraising platform of Ukraine, have created #TheDonationMap in Fortnite. The game’s mechanics allow players to monetise the map by simply staying online, thus raising funds to help Ukraine. The charitable goal of #TheDonationMap is to raise funds to rebuild the Prybuzka outpatient clinic in Mykolaiv region, which was destroyed by the Russians.
Fortnite is one of the most popular online games in the world. As of 2024, more than 500 million players have registered, and the monthly audience is over 221 million players. Not only developers but also independent creators can generate new locations, or maps. Each map is monetised when a player spends a lot of time on it, completing tasks or buying skins.
The map by Havas and UNITED24 accurately recreates Independence Square in Kyiv. The #TheDonationMap initiative allows anyone to donate their time by exploring the map. The player does not need to do anything but stay online as long as possible. Fortnite will transfer the funds raised through UNITED24 to help the medical sector in Ukraine.
“After two years of full-scale war, we are increasingly turning to creative ideas and unconventional communications to remind the world that Ukraine needs support. We believe that integration into one of the world’s most popular games will help draw attention to Ukraine and help rebuild the medical outpatient clinic in Mykolaiv region. Just think about it: during the invasion, Russia damaged more than 1,500 hospitals, 195 of which were almost completely destroyed. This is a colossal damage to the medical sector of our country. With the rebuilt outpatient clinic, people will be able to return to the village, and thus life itself will return there. You must admit, this is a good motive to leave your avatar to spend a night in Fortnite,”
– said Yaroslava Gres, coordinator of the UNITED24 platform.
The idea for #TheDonationMap came from the Paris office of Havas Play, and Havas Dgtl Kyiv brought the idea to life by creating a detailed map of Maidan Nezalezhnosti. It is very easy to join the charity initiative:
▪ Connect to the map #1992-2531-2170 in the Fortnite game.
▪ Play or just leave your avatar on the map for as long as possible. Every second spent in the game increases the amount of donations that will help save lives. The more players there are and the longer they stay on the map, the faster the funds will be raised to rebuild the outpatient clinic.
▪ Encourage your friends and fellow gamers to join in and contribute to a vital cause with #TheDonationMap.
“The gaming community is an engine for positive change, and #TheDonationMap was born out of the belief that this community, with its inherent passion, can extend its impact beyond virtual reality. By connecting to the Fortnite map, gamers will transform their digital engagement into meaningful change, contributing to saving lives and rebuilding a country in need,”
– comments Fabrice Plazolles, Creative Director, Havas Play.
“Creativity and unconventional communication can change charity and engage more people in it. #TheDonationMar proves how important it is to unite not only to implement complex projects, but also to save lives and rebuild Ukraine,”
– said Dan Logvinenko, Managing Partner of Havas Dgtl Kyiv.
UNITED24
A fundraising platform and the main window for collecting donations to support Ukraine initiated by the President of Ukraine. Over 21 months of UNITED24 fundraising platform’s operation, donations from more than 110 countries have raised more than $623,000,000. UNITED24’s ambassadors include singer and actress Barbra Streisand, actors Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, Liev Schreiber and Misha Collins, actresses Katherine Winnick and Ivanna Sakhno, Imagine Dragons, Balenciaga art director Demna, director Michel Azanavicius, astronaut Scott Kelly, historian Timothy Snyder, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, country singer Brad Paisley, British traveller Bear Grylls, philosopher and economist Francis Fukuyama, chef Jose Andres, Nobel laureates Paul Nurse, Edward Moser and May-Britt Moser, prominent Ukrainian athletes Andriy Shevchenko, Elina Svitolina, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Havas Play
Havas Play connects brands with fans by tapping into areas of passion (music, sports, gaming, etc.), interests and issues that unite them to create a lasting impact on business, society or the environment. Thanks to Vivendi’s resources, Havas Play has a unique advantage in shaping public planning: analysing fan behaviour, access to passion areas, publishers’ intellectual property and collaboration with the best cultural and media talent of today. In this way, the agency applies a creative and media approach unique in the market, designed to deploy campaigns with a strong and measurable impact among the communities involved.
Havas Dgtl
Havas Dgtl Kyiv is a full-service creative digital agency that becomes a partner of your brand and solves marketing tasks with the help of creativity, media, innovation and non-standard communications. The agency is part of the Havas Village Ukraine group of agencies, which gives you access to the latest analytics, research, knowledge and best practices from around the world.
Havas Village Ukraine is a group of agencies that seamlessly combines marketing and communications. For 30 years, Havas Village has been finding the best way to the consumer, relying on global experience, innovation and creativity. The group includes: Havas Ukraine, Havas Dgtl Kyiv, Havas Engage, Havas PR and Forward Media.