Faktum Hotels

Background

Faktum is like the UK’s Big Issue, a street newspaper sold by homeless people in Gothenburg to raise money so they can help themselves get off the streets. The city has about 3,400 homeless people. Most of them find a roof over their heads at a refuge or staying with a friend but many have to sleep out.

To show what it’s like, sleeping rough, the idea was to create the Faktum Hotel.

Idea

Ten places where homeless people might choose to look for shelter were selected and a website created, where you could go online and book one of these places.

Since the idea was based on the way some of the finest boutique hotels in the world market themselves, the well-known travel photographer Håkan Ludwigson, regularly used by Conde Nast Traveller, was asked to take the pictures.

The ‘rooms’ were available at $10 per night. You could reserve one for yourself or as a gift to someone else. For example, a friend on Facebook.

Either way the money went to help Gothenburg’s most vulnerable people.

Results

The launch of Faktum Hotels had a huge impact. Suddenly, the issue of homelessness was on the political as well as social agenda.

As well as selling many $10 a night rooms, sales of the street paper increased too, which led to increased contributions to Faktum and their work.

Our Thoughts

What many charities forget, when they ask for your money, is that you are being bombarded with sales messages every day. You learn to blank them all out, especially the ones with pictures of desperate or starving people in them. You have to surprise your potential donors. Don’t whack ‘em over the head with how horrible life is for less fortunate folk. Let them work it out for themselves as they do with this campaign. Does irony get people to open their wallets? I hope so.