Hong Kong WHO
Facilitating leadership on matters relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals, The Ontario SPCA is a charity centred around building community partnerships for the promotion of animal wellness. They offer many different mission-based services, with an importance placed on humane education, all directed toward making a difference in the lives of animals in need.
WHAT
The Gardeners’ Gathering is traditionally one of Ontario SPCA – Midland and District Centre’s largest fundraising events, but the pandemic forced a rapid pivot from physical fundraising to digital for their 2020 event. Using Facebook, the Midland Animal Centre raised $1,385 from their auction items and roughly $4,000 from the event as a whole. With the speedy transition that occurred at the start of the pandemic, Facebook’s auction tool was the best known digital facility, so they went with that. But for 2021, the fundraising team wanted to do, and raise, more.
HOW
Using Givergy’s Virtual+ platform, the Ontario SPCA – Midland and District Centre hosted a one hour virtual floral workshop and integrated Givergy’s silent auction facility into the running of the show. Givergy’s dedicated fundraising platform proved extremely easy to use for guests, especially those who had missed out on the 2020 event through not having social media accounts. The platform allowed the Midland Animal Centre to cater to the needs of their specific audience more effectively than they had been able to do in 2020.
RESULT
The 2021 Gardeners’ Gathering was hugely successful! The silent auction alone raised nearly $5,000, close to five times the year before. The final total raised nearly doubled that of 2020 and exceeded $7,400. The Midland Animal Centre’s guests were excited about using a platform independent from social media, with the increased audience participation being a significant factor in achieving the amounts raised.
TOP TIP
“The pandemic has taught us all so much! Firstly, with much of our audience not being on social media, communication was difficult. We knew it was so important to reach out to donors personally, often just to check in. Maintaining our relationships was crucial and it really helped our donors stay engaged with the charity during such a tough time. Secondly, I think we now know how much we didn’t know – and we’re not afraid to admit that! We’ve started constantly looking for resources, watching webinars, trying to implement inter-organisational collaboration and looking for new ideas to tackle the issues we’re all trying to get through together! Don’t be scared to take that first step and begin looking for new answers!”
“Givergy’s virtual and online fundraising platform is extremely user friendly and the support provided is incredible. Hannah is a star! We had a very successful event and would absolutely recommend them.”
