"Building with bricks does not immediately make a donation"… What LEGO’s campaign shows about measuring participation-linked giving

Connecting something visitors make on site to a giving campaign can add another dimension to their participation. In announcing the opening of its 2025 holiday event, LEGOLAND Malaysia described an activity in which visitors built LEGO hearts and were invited to share them with #BuildToGive. The LEGO Group announced a commitment to donate LEGO sets to charities for hearts shared in accordance with the campaign conditions.

When reporting results, organisers need to distinguish the people who made hearts at the event, qualifying shares and the quantity actually donated. Following the reference standard "Case Article Review", this column separates confirmed campaign conditions from operating suggestions for other events.

1. Distinguish participation measures: making and sharing are different actions

Completing a heart-building activity and sharing it in a way that meets the donation conditions are separate actions. LEGOLAND’s on-site announcement encouraged sharing with the hashtag, but it does not establish that every participant posted or that donations were completed.

• Count each stage separately: Record visits to the activity, creations made, qualifying submissions or shares by channel, and actual donations and receipts. State whether each count represents people, creations or posts.
• Check each channel’s conditions: LEGO’s global 2025 announcement described several ways to take part, including stores, LEGOLAND parks, Discovery Centers, the LEGO Play app and social media. The official US social-media conditions describe building a LEGO heart and sharing it with the hashtag. Rather than assume the same eligibility and duplication rules apply on site and in the app, check what can be verified for each route.

2. Explain the donation cap alongside actual delivery

The LEGO Group’s 2025 campaign conditions stated that its total annual donation would not exceed 1.5 million sets with a total value of US$15 million. These figures are limits on the global donation commitment; they do not represent an allocation to LEGOLAND Malaysia or the quantity actually delivered.

• Disclose conditions and limits in advance: For another campaign, organisers can explain the action that qualifies for a donation, the eligible period and unit, and the maximum quantity or amount. For example, 'KRW 10,000 per qualifying share, up to KRW 100 million' is a fictional illustration. An actual commitment would require confirmation of the budget and recipient organisation’s arrangements.
• Separate commitments from results: Qualifying participation, the quantity the company confirms for donation and the amount accepted by a recipient are figures recorded at different points. State the reporting date and confirming party for each, and use verifiable information when reporting whether the cap was reached.

3. Collect participation across channels and guide children’s involvement

On-site, app and social-media channels provide different information. Rather than assume every poster can be identified or all cross-channel duplicates removed, first define the scope of each count and whether duplication can be checked.

• Count by route and protect personal information: Record on-site submissions, app submissions and public social-media posts separately, using lawfully collected information only when needed. Where a reliable combined count is not possible, report the channel figures and the possibility of overlap.
• Information for parents: LEGO’s official 2025 social-media conditions stated that children under 16 needed a parent’s permission before posting. This was a condition of that campaign. Other events can check applicable local and platform rules for parental information and consent, and offer choices such as photographing the creation without including people.

4. A four-stage protocol for participation-linked giving

The following suggestions are for events connecting an activity or a share to a donation commitment. They are not verified descriptions of LEGO’s own counting procedure or delivery deadlines.

Planner’s memo: follow the path from goodwill to delivery

Making and sharing a creation together can give participants an enjoyable memory. When that experience is linked to a donation commitment, it is important to explain clearly which actions qualify and where the commitment’s limits lie.

After the event, organisers can verify the scale of participation, actual donations and receipt by the beneficiary separately and report them to participants. Even modest figures can help build trust for future participation when their definitions and supporting evidence are clear.