Association Insight International & European Association Insights Spring 2015

Association Insights | Association Success Story Background The purpose of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is to unite the cancer community to reduce the global cancer burden, to promote greater equity, and to integrate cancer control into the world health and development agenda. As part of its ongoing global activities which help it deliver its purpose, UICC organises World Cancer Day on February 4th each year to highlight a specific cancer issue which is then amplified around the world by the general public and all media outlets through the use of traditional and social media, coordinated by UICC. messages and provide updates on the campaign’s development, as well as provide a human face to who is behind the campaign. On Twitter, we have promoted the campaign and its messages using the #WorldCancerDay and #NotBeyondUs hashtags. Facebook posts by UICC member organisations from around the world We use World Cancer Day to achieve outstanding global media coverage on an issue which affects most people at some point in their lifetime (directly or indirectly) - cancer. Over the last four years we have increased the active participation of UICC members in their own country – this has included arranging high profile events, launching their own projects or campaigns, publishing reports, securing government commitment to cancer and arranging fundraising events. This in turn, has increased media attention on the Day. At the heart of the campaign, which includes the distribution of support materials globally, UICC engages individuals and the media through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) coordinated through a standalone website: www.worldcancerday.org. Activities To achieve the objectives outlined above, we use different platforms to reach out to different audiences. The overall plan is constructed by UICC and executed by a team of three people based in Geneva, supported by others as outlined below. Social media is our largest and most effective communication channel for the campaign outreach. UICC Members (cancer organisations): The campaign is communicated to this group on a regular basis throughout the year, preparing the members for the theme and encouraging them to plan activities for the upcoming World Cancer Day. We e-blast the base with information and supporting materials (a World Cancer Day toolkit), run workshops at our Congress and encourage individual ideas to be shared with all other UICC members uploading each one onto an online map of events. Additionally, we include a group of members on our Advisory Group to help shape the campaign in line with their own thoughts and ideas. UICC Partners: UICC has 30 corporate partners who are encouraged to engage their employees on World Cancer Day. Also, a group of corporate partners help us develop a corporate toolkit which is then distributed through our network of members to other companies. The General Public: We develop a tailored social media campaign to reach the general public using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Thunderclap as the key platforms. On Facebook we share general cancer 36 | © Associations Network 2015 www.associationsnetwork.org

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