Message testing and development

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) approached di:ga in 2025 to support a critical project to transform how the HIV sector communicates.

With charitable giving under pressure, effective messaging is key to engaging audiences - from new donors to policymakers. The HIV sector faces particular challenges in communicating the urgency of its work while respecting the lived experience of those affected, and this project was taking place at a time of political change in the UK.

Our goal was to help the NAT team develop, test and refine messaging to improve public understanding, deepen supporter engagement, reach new audiences and increase funding; all with the ultimate aim of advancing advocacy for systemic change and better outcomes for people living with HIV.

We complemented earlier research with focused workshops and stakeholder interviews, gathering insights from the NAT’s team and talking to representatives of their target audiences directly. Combining these insights with media and landscape analysis, we developed an initial set of messages for testing and evaluation through two rounds of public polling.

Based on these results we provided NAT with a final set of recommended messaging and guidance on how to tailor this to different audience groups, as well help to equip the wider HIV sector with the insights from our research, interviews and testing. We were proud to support such important work.