28 February, 2008
Charity Consortium takes out top ‘Gong’ in industry first
On Monday night at the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) Awards in Perth, Include a Charity, Australia’s largest charity consortium campaign won both the Award for Excellence in Bequest Fundraising and the major FIA award, Most Outstanding Fundraising Project.
Comprised of four iconic charities; Australian Red Cross, Mission Australia, The Cancer Council and the Heart Foundation, the Include a Charity bequest campaign was launched in 2006.
The venture between the four charities challenged previous misconceptions regarding the ability for charities of this size and status to successfully form a consortium. Their union was without Australian precedent, and the charities have now paved the way for consortium marketing having established an industry benchmark for bequest campaigning.
Senioragency Australia, the specialist baby boomer agency, was appointed in 2006 for strategic development and implementation, and to produce all creative marketing materials for the campaign.
A spokesperson from Mission Australia says “One of the most interesting outcomes of the Include a Charity campaign was the proof that four major charity organisations could collaborate and institute social change far more effectively than each charity could individually, whilst keeping the costs to a minimum. This was an Australian first and was initially met with some scepticism by the industry.”
Adding “the research and subsequent business case developed by Senioragency showed, in theory, that this was the best use of our resources, as a group we can share the costs and deliver better results.”
Accepted by National Heart Foundation’s National Fundraising Director, Jennifer Doubell and Martin Paul, former Director of Marketing at the Cancer Council NSW, the FIA Award for Excellence in Bequests acknowledged the achievement of the Include a Charity Campaign.
Says Group Managing Director of Senioragency, Chris Cormack, “the consortium has really brought a force to the sector that in the past has seen good but often invisible programs. As with any social marketing program there is much to be gained from co-operative marketing.”
The annual FIA’s Awards for Excellence, are the Oscars of the fundraising world with fundraisers themselves evaluating their peers and deciding which campaigns should be recognised as the pinnacle of the profession.
The Red Cross added, “Include a Charity is a bold initiative within a sector that is not known for collaboration and the Australian Red Cross is proud to have worked with three of the most innovative charities in Australia to achieve this.”
Notes to Editors
‘Include a Charity’, is a social marketing campaign designed to raise awareness of the ease and effectiveness of leaving a bequest in your Will. It aims to make the inclusion of charitable bequests or gifts a normal part of Will-making and a widely recognised and respected way of giving.
When Include a Charity launched in 2006, around 8% of Australians were leaving a bequest in their Will. ‘Include a Charity’ aims to increase that percentage and help to break down the barriers that exist around including a charity in a Will.
The campaign targets those over 60 years of age through a broad media campaign utilising TV, radio, print and on-line advertising. A public relations campaign has supported all communications using existing and commissioned research as well as online products such as quizzes and polls to stimulate web visits. In addition Include a Charity has developed a stand-alone campaign to specifically support solicitors and assist them in reminding clients that leaving a bequest is an option they may like to consider.
“Although it is hard to tell exactly what the factors are causing people to respond, (and at the Heart Foundation we do have a number of other bequest marketing activities), we have certainly seen broader public willingness to initiate and engage in conversation about leaving a bequest and a far higher incidence of people wanting to talk about leaving a bequest to our charity. Our enquirers and bequestors come from a broad age range and are certainly not confined to the rich or those from wealthier suburbs” says Ms Doubell.
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