Long-standing client Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal turned to Spirit to help drive a new £1 million ‘Cots for Tots’ fundraising initiative to expand the new-born baby unit at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol.
The challenge was to raise the money in a tight time-frame and difficult economic climate but also to raise the profile of the charity ahead of a new multi-million pound fundraising appeal.
Spirit decided that enlisting the help of a media partner who would ‘buy-in’ to the Appeal would deliver much stronger third-party endorsement and ‘call-to-action’ than drip-feeding stories to a range of media.
We approached the Bristol Evening Post to back the campaign and they came on board in autumn 2010, dedicating the first five pages of the paper to launch their involvement, with regular stories several times a week, supplied by Spirit. This created a sense of public ownership and the Post’s readers took the campaign to heart, signing up to charity events or organising their own fundraisers.
To enhance the fundraising, Spirit helped the Appeal set up and optimise sites on Facebook and Twitter to reach new audiences and develop deeper and more personal relationships with potential supporters.
The Cots for Tots Appeal has raised over £950,000 in just over a year, putting it firmly on track to reach its target. 600 new supporters have been recruited and the editor of the Post has joined the Grand Appeal as a Trustee.
