St John New Zealand

Overview

In remote and rural parts of New Zealand, volunteer paramedics are the first to answer the call for emergency medical aid. And when an accident involves difficult terrain, long distances and poor roads these paramedics need fit-for-purpose vehicles; providing equal access to medical support for all New Zealanders.

For this reason, St John New Zealand (St John NZ) ordered a bespoke fleet of First Response Units specifically for those regions, each unit costing NZ $150,000.

Marlin helped St John NZ to enter into pitching corporate sponsorships for the first time. Our job was to hold their hands, offering advice and guidance for how to frame an ask and developing the materials that helped the enthusiastic fundraising team pitch. The aim was to convince them to make a charitable donation towards purchasing these First Response Units.

Problem

The team at St John New Zealand wanted materials created that would help their fundraising team pitch to corporate supporters.

Solution

We gave them a story to tell, created materials that felt like a storybook, from illustrations to the narrative journey, and an ask sheet to help them pitch to corporate partners.

The Challenge

For the creative to be successful, we knew we had to do more than share the benefits that these vehicles would bring to communities. We had to educate corporate supporters on the realities of rural emergency response AND we had to be explicit about what was in it for the businesses who did make the decision to donate.

We knew that this was a new step for St John NZ, so we wanted to make sure their materials helped them feel bold, confident and uninhibited.

The Solution

Framing the conversation to achieve a financial target – Our ideas stemmed from developing a compelling proposition:

“Socially good stories are good for your business. Make sure you can share the story of how your support helps protect lives in remote and rural parts of NZ.”

We identified that every emergency response has a story – The story of a drama averted, an accident responded to quickly and a life saved. And there’s a story of why St John NZ needed the First Response Units.

We created an engaging way to tell both sides of the story. And through this proposition, St John NZ were able to give their corporate prospects the opportunity to be a part of the story.

Storytelling through illustrations and compelling visuals – The corporate pitch materials were all created to feel like a storybook, from the illustrations to the narrative journey. The presentation was developed to work on iPads (as well as in print) offering a refreshing, conversational and contemporary approach. The deck opened with an account of what it’s like to respond to emergencies in rural NZ, then talked about the profound difference new vehicles would have on improving this experience, and in turn, the ripple effect this would have on first responders, patients and the community as a whole.

And the critical part of this story? The corporate in question would be seen as the local hero who made it all possible.

A business opportunity – The final part of the solution was to communicate clearly the potential benefit to the corporate prospects. We laid out all the tangible advantages and gave them a clear contribution path to choose from, in the form of an ask sheet.

There was also a matched giving opportunity through St John NZ’s February appeal, which would act to bolster national exposure of participating corporates.

Wrapping up

Starting relationships with new supporters of any kind usually involves convincing them of why you need their money. In this case, the tangibility of a shiny new vehicle was a fantastic justification for St John NZ to offer to a prospective supporter. The sponsorships were a big hit and surpassed all income projections.

If you need assistance with framing communications to get your prospects to donate, or creating the ‘vehicle’ to kick off your corporate giving campaign, please get in touch with us.