Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF)

Overview

Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF) approached Marlin to strengthen their annual Light Up Xmas (LUX) Appeal. This campaign raises funds to ensure sick kids receive the very best care from Sydney’s network of world-leading hospitals and services. Back for its third year, we aimed to make it their most successful appeal yet!
In order to stand out during a competitive fundraising season, we leveraged the unique selling point of SCHF – that with one single donation, supporters can help transform the lives of all sick kids during a very special time of year.

By giving this powerful proposition an equally compelling allegorical creative expression, we were able to lay the foundation for a united piece of storytelling across the entire Christmas campaign – social assets, direct mail and eDM, television advertising and more.

These proved to be the winning ingredients for an incredibly successful Christmas campaign, surpassing their target of $8 million with an impressive total of $11.8 million in revenue.

Problem

SCHF’s LUX appeal is a key driver of donor acquisition and contributes a significant portion of their annual revenue. SCHF approached Marlin to strengthen its annual appeal and make it stand out during a competitive fundraising season.

Solution

We developed the LUX concept and collateral with the intention of establishing a clear challenge and victory for donors, and give them a chance to show their good citizenship.

Results

SCHF’s LUX appeal surpassed their target of $8 million with an impressive total of $11.8 million in revenue.

The Challenge

Like many charities, SCHF’s LUX Appeal is a key driver of donor acquisition and contributes a significant portion of their annual revenue.

Previous results from this client had also shown that income from direct mail had decreased significantly from the previous year.

SCHF had three key objectives for their 2022 appeal:

• Meet a fundraising target of $8 million dollars,
• Acquire 1,500 new cash donors and 70 new Regular Givers

To meet these challenges and targets, we needed a concept and creative that would stand out in the market and compel people to give at a time when fundraising is at its most competitive.

The Solution

We developed the LUX concept and collateral with the intention of establishing a clear challenge and victory for donors, and give them a chance to show their good citizenship.

In this case, by supporting SCHF, donors were providing an opportunity for all sick kids to experience the brightest Christmas possible in hospital. This included Clinical care, patient experience and research.

In DM packs and eDMs, emotive language and first-person storytelling from clinicians and parents of sick kids were interwoven to build a compelling case for support. Separate DM packs were created for SV and MV audiences, so that each audience group received a tailored, personalised message.

OOH ads combined powerful allegorical imagery with compelling calls to action to illustrate the challenge and victory, inspiring them to “give kids the brightest Christmas possible.”

The result was an emotional appeal that connected the role of the donor with the experience of sick kids at Christmas. In doing so, donors were left with a clear and distinct sense of purpose – to bring the joy of the holiday season to sick and injured children.

Marketing channels for the LUX Appeal included:

• Advertising – OOH (traditional and digital), Radio, TV
• Metro broadcast (Channel Nine)
• Direct Mail
• Digital – paid and organic social
• Earned media

The Results

SCHF’s LUX appeal surpassed their target of $8 million with an impressive total of $11.8 million in revenue. The team saw a noteworthy increase in response rate, at 2.94%, and an impressive 18% rise in the average gift amount in their mail campaign. The success can be attributed to the efforts of the mid-value and high-value donor segments, who brought in a remarkable 50% of the total mail income. The digital campaign was equally impressive, performing over 40% better than the previous year, with a 25% increase in the average gift. The digital campaign generated $200,186 in revenue, demonstrating the effectiveness of the campaign’s digital strategy.

Wrapping up

The SCHF team was incredibly excited to partner with Marlin. In only its second year, Marlin helped elevate the campaign with a cross-channel approach that included TVCs, out of home, direct mail, social media, email marketing and web elements.

The SCHF team noted that working with the Marlin team was a delightful experience, as there was seamless collaboration into the SCHF team and Marlin brought expertise and creative insights to the table. This resulted in a cohesive campaign that was able to thrive in challenging market and economic conditions where people were cautious about giving.

One of the standout achievements of the campaign was Marlin’s support to convert the mid-level and high-value donor segments in the direct mail appeal, with that cohort providing over 50% of the direct mail revenue. Additionally, Marlin was instrumental in supporting the digital campaign, which exceeded expectations by performing 40% better than the previous year.