UK WHO
George Williams was an 18-year old boy who had been battling a very rare form of cancer for nearly two years. Shortly before his passing, George reached the stage where immunotherapy was one of his last forms of possible treatments. His story speaks for itself and we all remember him dearly.
WHAT
Knowing that immunotherapy was too expensive for both private insurers and the NHS, a group of George’s friends decided that they had to do something to try and raise money for the treatment. Urgency was the driving force behind the action and the friends felt that just having a coffee morning would not be enough. They opted for running multiple fundraising campaigns through one online portal using a bespoke branded fundraising website from Givergy. At this stage an initial £40,000 target was set.
HOW
Friends of George used their personal site to do a number of things. Firstly, they used the site to simply allow George to tell his story. It is both emotional and powerful, and after engaging with his story people can use the site to just donate – which they have done in the masses! However, George’s friends also used the site to run a prize draw for someone to win a villa break in Menorca. Finally, through Givergy’s platform they sold tickets to an in-person garden stroll and coffee morning.
RESULT
The reception George’s Peer-to-Peer site has had, has been incredible. The £40,000 target that was initially set was smashed and well over £100,000 has been raised! Indeed, £37,500 was raised through the prize draw alone. Having different avenues of fundraising exist side by side on the same site certainly helped create broad interest in the appeal. For example, George’s friends could use the site to simply donate what they could, whether that be £5 or £10, but then for those who were in a position to give more, there was the option to do so through buying up tickets to the prize draw.
TOP TIP
“The hook is so important, it is what draws people in. If it wasn’t for the power of George’s story we doubt we would have raised anywhere near as much. Also, with the prize draw we limited the number of available tickets and made that number well known. This allowed those who wanted to participate to know the odds and I think this definitely encouraged multi-purchases.”
“The last thing we wanted was a challenge and thankfully Givergy proved extremely easy to use. The navigation is nice and simple and the flexibility to use different types of fundraising on the same site was a massive benefit.”
