Recruiting Lifesavers – Building Community Through Purpose-Driven Marketing
St Kilda Life Saving Club, established in 1914, is one of Victoria’s most iconic surf lifesaving clubs patrolling one of Melbourne’s most beloved beaches. However, like many volunteer organisations, the club faced significant challenges in maintaining operational capacity following COVID-19 restrictions and border closures that severely impacted their traditional volunteer base of students and travellers.
Years on and with the club’s future uncertain, they needed to urgently rebuild their membership base and patrolling roster to continue their vital community service protecting beachgoers at St Kilda Beach.
Disciplines
Campaign Strategy
Meta Ads – Facebook & Instagram
Lead Generation Campaigns
Audience Targeting & Segmentation
The Challenge
St Kilda Life Saving Club was in operational difficulty with dwindling membership numbers and an inadequate patrolling roster. The club’s traditional volunteer workforce of students and travellers had been decimated by COVID-19 impacts, leaving them unable to fulfill their essential beach safety responsibilities.
They needed to rapidly recruit new members across different demographics while highlighting the value proposition of joining a lifesaving club – particularly the free first aid training and community connection opportunities.
The Solution
The thinking
We identified two distinct audience segments with different motivations for joining: retirees (60+) seeking meaningful ways to give back to the community that fit around part-time work, and younger people (18-25) looking to develop new skills while meeting like-minded individuals.
The concept
Multi-Generational Recruitment Campaign
Our approach centered on the universal appeal of community service while tailoring messaging to specific age groups. We developed creative that highlighted the flexibility of volunteering, the valuable skills gained through free first aid training, and the welcoming community aspect of lifesaving.
The campaign was strategically timed across two tranches: an immediate push before Christmas to capture people before their January 11 first aid course, followed by a sustained campaign through the peak summer months when beach safety is most top-of-mind.
We created multiple creative variations to combat ad fatigue and allow for continuous optimisation, with messaging focusing on giving back to the community, family involvement opportunities, and skill development.
The Result
Over the peak summer campaign period (December 2024 – February 2025), our targeted approach delivered exceptional results for recruitment:
Campaign Performance:
80,207 people reached across Facebook & Instagram
3,754 clicks to the Expression of Interest form
251 qualified leads generated
$11.38 cost per lead (well below industry benchmarks)
Key Insights:
- The younger audience segment (18-25) significantly outperformed with a cost per lead of just $8.33 compared to $22.27 for the older demographic
The campaign successfully provided St Kilda Life Saving Club with a substantial pipeline of potential new members, giving them the foundation needed to rebuild their operations and continue their essential community service. Most importantly, the diverse range of leads across both target demographics ensures the club can build a sustainable, multi-generational volunteer base for long-term success.