There are now 100 million homeless and displaced people in the world, and the issue is becoming a major problems for most countries and cities around the world. The World's Big Sleep Out is a charitable initiative that aims to change that by encouraging 50,000 people to sleep outside in 50 cities around the world to raise $50 million for homeless charities.


In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Josh Littlejohn MBE, the founder of The World's Big Sleep Out. Josh contacted me during the summer to help devise a social media strategy for the campaign, and in this show we discuss just how prevalent the issue of homelessness has become, what the campaign involves and aims to achieve, and what role social media plays in tackling such a huge global issue.

Here's what is discussed in this episode:







What happens when you're awarded an MBE!
Where Josh's ideas for tackling homelessness originated
How funds from sleep outs help homeless people off the streets
What fundraising and issue-based campaigns can and can't achieve
How the issue of homelessness and displacement has grown in the last few years
How important strategic political intervention is in tackling the issue
What The World's Big Sleep Out is and how donations will be used
Why the likes of Will Smith and Helen Mirren have become involved in the campaign
How critical corporate involvement is to the success of the event
Why social media is a primary driver of both participation and fundraising
Whether social media plays an important role in charity and not-for-profit communications
Whether trolling applies to charitable campaigns
What you can do to help the homelessness issue



What to do Next



Subscribe to the podcast to receive new episodes automatically to your mobile or email. And if you enjoyed today’s show, please email it to a friend and/or share it on your favourite social media channels. I'd love to hear from you with any comments or thoughts. I read and reply to every single email, tweet or message. And finally, it would also be very awesome and hugely appreciated if you'd be able to take a moment to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, as this helps others discover Digital Download.



Thanks for listening!