USA WHO
The Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation has been caring for children and their families for an amazing 100 years. As a key support in the Alberta area, the organization raises money to help fund critical care programs, develop life-saving technology, and facilitate research for severely ill and injured children.
The charity has made a commitment to fund more than $300 million dollars in current initiatives which means lots of fundraising income is needed to bring these to reality. Givergy has been supporting this incredible foundation since 2016 through a series of fundraising events and campaigns.
This is something that we are incredibly proud of, and we cannot wait to see what more this non-profit manages to achieve over the coming years.
WHAT
Bringing together the love that people have for festive celebrations and the passion for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Candy Cane Gala is a firm fixture within this organisation’s fundraising calendar,hosting its 16th event in 2022. The family-friendly extravaganza is an annual success and continues to increase in popularity. Due to this, the event is responsible for raising essential funds for some of the highest priority initiatives.
As an Unlimited client, the foundation was able to bring together multiple Givergy services for this fundraising event which included a Silent Auction, Buy Now and Losing Bids into Pledges. To build as much interest as possible around the auction items, the foundation opted to have the auction open two weeks prior to event day, with a variety of items being ‘released’ throughout the period to keep bidders engaged and coming back for more.
This use of the auction feature highlights just how much buzz and excitement can be achieved around an event if you get creative!
RESULT
This year’s Candy Cane Gala was a brilliant success, with $164,850 being raised thanks to the imaginative use of auctions and the client relationships that the event has founded over the years.
TOP TIP
We asked Catherine Feenstra, Manager for Community Initiatives & Events, what her top tips were for pulling off outstanding fundraising events year after year. They were the following:
- Concentrate on the “why” of your event – why you’re holding it, why it’s important to your organization, why it’s important to your supporters/guests, why will people come, and why will they come back again next time!
- Plan all the elements of your event with the “why” in mind – timing, choice of venue, number of guests to invite, any program/messaging, the fundraising elements, and your logistics – and you’re more likely to find success in a variety of ways.
- Our supporters were eager to return to this much-loved event in support of the hospital and to support us financially, even in a difficult economic climate. Having a wide variety of event elements and auction items that appealed to a wide audience was a winning formula!
“Being able to offer the auction online ahead of the event, and then continue throughout the evening of the Candy Cane Gala, with tablets in the room and with online access, was great. This meant that we saw bidders who were not in attendance continue to participate throughout the night (something we have not been able to do before this year). The Givergy support team is always very responsive and having their event team available on-site made everything go smoothly for our guests and for our staff/volunteers. ”
