What happens when passion meets purpose, and purpose meets people willing to lend their skills? Pure joy and marketing toolkits! Last July, TheOneHourProject (TOHP) supported the partnership of BAGUS Together (Building All Groundups for Success) and the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) for the Digital Marketing Changemakers Program – a powerful in-person workshop bridging digital experts with various groundups. For the second year running, the mission was to enhance the groundups’ creativity and digital marketing skills. That’s digital superheroes helping these amazing community superheroes – talk about happiness multiplied!
Groundups—community-led initiatives that are often powered by passion and sheer determination—know the uphill task of making their voices heard. Our digital superheroes rose to the task to help these fledgling community heroes take flight. And what’s more joyful than seeing a good idea find its wings?
Sparks of Inspiration
The whole-day event and workshop was hosted by media and entertainment leader Jayaram Nagaraj with Grace Ann Chua of BAGUS Together guiding the groundup participants. Meanwhile, TOHP’s very own Madelene Ortega led the activity with 20 digital superheroes from TheOneHourProject.
Sometimes it takes a spark of inspiration- or three in this case. The program included a powerful sharing session by Sapna Kewalramani Malhotra of Rise & Thrive Initiative (previously Her Rise Above) together with Manuel Donual, a marketing leader, alongside Ci En Lee., author and media strategist. Their stories served as proof that marketing is not about slick slogans, but about authentic storytelling, lived experiences, and connecting with people on a human level.
Superheroes in Action
The highlight? The 1-to-1 consultations where digital superheroes rolled up their sleeves and worked side-by-side with over 20 groundups. Together, they built marketing and content plans and mapped out oncrete, actionable steps to bring each cause closer to its vision. For many a groundup, this kind of support can be trajectory-changing and even life-changing.
Each superhero left with the happiness of having made an impact, and each groundup hero walked away with tools to create ripple effects in their communities.
The Happiness Multiplier
There’s a unique joy in volunteering that goes beyond the immediate moment. For the digital superheroes, donating their expertise turned into a gift that multiplied—helping causes touch more lives, reach more people, and create more impact. For the groundups, the workshop wasn’t just about marketing; it was about gaining confidence, clarity, and community.
One piece of advice from the workshop summed it up perfectly:
“Start small but be consistent. Don’t wait to be perfect.”
Progress, not perfection, is what builds momentum—and when people come together to share their time and skills, joy compounds.
Gratitude in Action
A huge shoutout goes to our volunteers, participants, and speakers for making this session enjoyable, meaningful, and fruitful. Oh and a special salute to TOHP intern Joshua Grubbs for capturing the day as it truly was a day to remember. The success of the workshop is proof that when people show up for each other—whether with time, skills, or simply a willingness to help—everyone wins, and happiness multiplies.
