Fundraising
In The Mail -
St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation
S
By Brendan Read
ome of the best fundraising campaigns integrate channels, often with direct mail as the anchor, supported by email, digital media, including video and campaign-specific landing pages. In those instances, the measure of success isn’t whether direct mail is growing as a single channel, but whether it is growing while being supported by other channels. A case in point is the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation 2018 Holiday campaign. As with most charities, the Holiday campaign, running from late October to early December, is the biggest revenue generator of the calendar year for the Toronto, Ont. hospital on account of donors being more in the “giving spirit” during the holiday season (and the motivation of the tax deadline looming). The goals were to maintain the strong average gift from the previous year and to improve response. This multichannelled campaign told the story of Valerie, a grateful patient of St. Michael’s Hospital who, after experiencing almost no symptoms, was shocked to be diagnosed with bile duct cancer, which is rare and often fatal. She was even more shaken and afraid after being told that her tumour was inoperable. But Valerie’s initial fear was replaced with hope when she met her doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital. She recommended chemotherapy, and Valerie stayed hopeful and surrounded herself with friends and family. Just a after a year and a half after diagnosis, Valerie’s cancer was in remission. In line with St. Michael’s never say never attitude, the theme of campaign was “Tis the Season of Not Giving Up.” St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation selected Valerie’s story for two reasons. One, she was relatable as she represented the demographic of the donor base. And two, she had been diagnosed with cancer, which tends to connect with more people in the audience, especially when compared to less common or lesser understood illnesses. “We wanted to share Valerie’s story because it emulates our unique spirit of relentlessness, how our health care Ericka Tovey, teams stop at nothing when it comes to the toughest senior director, health challenges,” said Ericka Tovey, senior director, philanthropy, at St. Michael’s philanthropy, at St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation. Hospital “We believe the success of this campaign is a testament Foundation. 34
FOUNDATION Magazine
January/February 2020
foundationmag.ca
