To write love on her arms

How did a self-described ‘accidental non-profit cause’ launch a social marketing campaign with enough ground swell to generate a major social movement? Find out how printed t-shirts, 284,138 MySpace friends, and partnerships with youth brands like Hurley turned the story of one girl’s struggle with depression and addiction into a global phenomenon.

How did it start?

In Florida 2006, Jamie Tworkowski wrote “To Write Love on her Arms” – the true story of five days spent with his 19 year old friend Renee, who was struggling with depression, addiction and suicide attempts. When Renee was denied entry to a treatment facility, Tworkowski penned the TWLOHA story and printed it onto t-shirts along with the slogan ‘rescue is possible’. To read the TWLOHA story go here.

TWLOHA started off as a personal fundraising campaign with a vision to inform, inspire and invest directly in treatment and recovery for people battling depression, addiction, self injury and suicide.

While working as a sales rep for surf/skate brand Hurley, Tworkowski established a MySpace profile to sell the shirts. Attracting the attention of emo and punk bands such as Anberlin, Switchfoot and Thrice, the TWLOHA t-shirts and message were quickly adopted by other bands in the genre like Jimmy Eat World and Evanesence. The musicians wore the t-shirts at gigs and festivals including the Warped Tour - a music and extreme sports festival which travels across the United States attracting huge crowds.

How did it get so popular?

As the non-profit movement’s audience has grown, their social marketing strategies have utilised popular social networking sites such as Flickr, LastFM, Habbo and Facebook to promote their cause. Winning a MySpace Social Impact award in 2007, TWLOHA appreciates the importance of recruiting young people to spread the movement’s message. HTML coding on their MySpace page means that young people can have the TWLOHA logo and fundraising widget on their own profile. TWLOHA also have a relationship with Socialvibe.com, a site which “empowers people to leverage their influence online”. Users earn points by publicising the charity/cause of their choice, and in exchange, participating brands offer funding and sponsorship.

In addition to their MySpace site, TWLOHA recently relaunched their website. The site now provides opportunities for people to donate, buy merchandise, join the TWLOHA street team, apply for an internship or link to a social networking profile.

What’s their point of difference?

TWLOHA have embraced the grassroots support they received from the emo, punk and Christian rock scene by incorporating music into much of their social marketing mix. They understood that their message and branding resonated with the young people who listened to these bands. TWLOHA also runs ‘Stop the Bleeding’, a project which aims to bring elements of art and spoken word to a live music show.

Renee, the 19 year old whose struggle inspired the TWLOHA story has subsequently written a book called ‘Purpose for the Pain’ – which was published in August this year.

So what is the next chapter of the TWLOHA story? Previously operating under the umbrella of another non-profit called Fireproof Ministries, TWLOHA obtained registered charity status in September 2007. 25% of the proceeds from t-shirt sales are invested directly into treatment and recovery organisations. To date they have donated over $100,000 to Kids Helpline, the National Hopeline Network and SAFE.

TWLOHA plans to launch in Australia and New Zealand in the near future.