Summary / objectives

• To promote St Michael’s Foundation’s $210 million campaign to become Canada’s premier critical care hospital.
• To raise the remaining funds needed to complete our Inspire 2018 campaign. These funds would enable us to build a 17-storey patient care tower, double our emergency department, support important renovations and provide new resources for clinical care, education and research.
• To engage hospital staff in our Inspire 2018 campaign so they would feel invested in the new St Michael’s and make a gift towards our fundraising goal.

Background

In April 2015, St Michael’s Hospital broke ground on a 17-storey patient care tower and a twice-as-large emergency department. This transformative project was supported by a $210 million campaign called Inspire 2018.

The Final Piece campaign – which debuted across the hospital in January 2016 – publicised the urgency and importance of raising the remaining funds that were needed to reach our ambitious Inspire 2018 goal. It began as a poster campaign that would be seen by both the public and hospital staff. But as the campaign gained momentum, St Michael’s Hospital Foundation expanded promotions to encourage staff to give a gift and spread the word to their family and friends too. 

Creator / originator

The St Michael’s Foundation marketing and communications team developed the idea for the Final Piece campaign. The team worked closely with our external graphic designer for our Final Piece posters and subsequent multimedia visuals.

After the initial posters proved successful, we also chose to collaborate with the annual giving department to host a one day event that focused on encouraging St Michael’s staff to give their own gifts to support our new patient care tower. 

Special characteristics

The look and feel of the Final Piece campaign visuals featured jigsaw puzzle pieces that had been superimposed on a rendering of the Peter Gilgan Patient Care Tower. Of course, there was one missing piece to symbolise the near completion of the campaign. This was accompanied by the tagline, ‘Your gift will complete our $210 million goal to become Canada’s premier critical care hospital’, and aimed to galvanize the support needed to bring our campaign to a close. The Final Piece was featured on TV screens and various signage throughout the hospital and in all our satellite clinics.

To complement this campaign, the marketing and communications team joined with the annual giving team to host a one day staff fundraising blitz. We promoted the event with an e-mail blast to staff in our internal staff e-newsletter, The Daily Dose, and through key messaging during staff meetings.

We said, ‘On March 10, join our Inspire 2018 campaign. We need your help to reach our $210 million goal. You make all the difference. Watch for Foundation staff and support Inspire 2018 with a one time gift or sign up for monthly giving. All gifts are welcome! On March 10, help make St Michael’s Canada’s premier critical care hospital. We can’t do it without you!’

The team also produced custom St Michael’s branded donor cards, pens, stress balls in the shape of pylons, and teddy bears to help raise funds during this one day staff fundraising blitz. 

Results

The Final Piece campaign successfully achieved its goal of raising awareness, elevating staff engagement and garnering financial support to help complete our Inspire 2018 campaign. More than 639 donors contributed during our one day Final Piece event and gifts from staff continue to roll in.  

Influence / impact

The funds generated by our Inspire 2018 campaign will make St Michael’s the premier critical care hospital in Canada. We are well positioned to do this, given our location in the heart of the biggest city in Canada and our expertise in treating the sickest patients from across Canada’s biggest province. 

Merits

The Final Piece campaign exceeded our expectations.

We were able to sustain the initial success of our poster campaign by then re-purposing and developing the theme for a staff campaign fundraising blitz.

This one day hospital-wide event not only helped our Foundation raise critical funds for our new patient care tower, it also helped engage and inform staff about our fundraising priorities. This meant they could promote these priorities to patients, family and friends – and help us raise even more funds to reach our ambitious goal.