#BeKind365 is an online platform designed to engage, excite, and inspire kindness 365 days a year through a variety of digital components, activations, and features driving toward Born This Way Foundation’s mission to build a kinder and braver world. The online platform showcases a variety of digital components, activations, and features. Born This Way Foundation found platforms like #BeKind365 are especially important for LGBTQ+ youth who are less likely to experience kindness in their communities and often search for allyship and connection through online communities, according to foundation research. Born This Way Foundations’s Kind Communities: A Bridge to Youth Mental Wellness Report shows that young people who describe their environments as kind are more likely to be mentally healthy. That’s true for youth in high schools, colleges, and the workplace. The Foundation’s Kindness is Action research shows that there is an undeniable link between kindness and mental wellness, from helping young people feel safe, confident, and less alone to changing the trajectory of their day and even their desire to stay alive. Most young people say experiencing more kindness would improve their mental wellness—be it from others (73%), themselves (74%), or observed in the world around them (71%). #BeKind365 makes these research findings actionable — it’s an invitation to build kindness into participants’ lives every day, wherever they are, whenever they can.
#BeKind365 is grounded in Born This Way Foundation research, which shows practicing, receiving, or even witnessing kindness in the world is beneficial to young people’s mental health. According to the Foundation’s research, the acts of kindness young people most commonly say would have the biggest impact on their mental wellness are having someone who: listens when they have a problem (85% say it would have a big/moderate impact), believes in them and encourages them to do their best (83%), and checks in on them or asks if they’re doing OK (80%). #BeKind365 connects people to opportunities to practice these check-ins with others.
Since the internet plays a significant role in young people’s everyday lives, Born This Way Foundation implements various different tools that seeks to enhance young people's online experience and enable youth to connect through threads of kindness, from one part of the world to another, in a way that is accessible. The Foundation’s goal is for every participant of #BeKind365 to experience and carry forward the transformative power of kindness. The online platform showcases a variety of digital components, activations, and features, including:
Born This Way Foundation aims to meet young people where they are and to reach more people, Born This Way Foundation also worked with Do Big Things, a digital agency, to run ads to encourage sign ups and recruit micro and nano influencers to raise awareness, drive engagement around the campaign, and show how accessible and varied kindness can be.
Born This Way Foundation’s overall goal was for every participant of #BeKind365 to experience the transformative power of kindness and to engage people at every level - corporate, nonprofit, school, and individual - and together is building a kinder, braver world. Understanding that young people are highly active online and in digital communities influenced the decision to create this platform. As of January 2024, #BeKind365 has generated approximately 53K participants from 111 different countries, pledging to over 19M acts of kindness. The launch campaign recruited 10 influencers to generate 5.9M impressions and 40K+ clicks through to the website. Born This Way Foundation is proud of the impact the platform makes, even if it brings a smile to one person’s face, small acts of kindness make a difference.
