Dry July – National With NSW Focus
Before Dry July became the national fundraising initiative it is today, in 2008 it kicked off by raising money for the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation (PWHF) to help improve the plight of adult cancer patients treated at the hospital. In 2009, Insight was retained by the PWHF to generate awareness of PWHF and Dry July throughout NSW to increase participation and funds raised.
With limited budget Insight’s effective media strategy increased awareness of Dry July, PWHF and the plight of cancer patients to deliver increased participation, increased revenue (up by 300% on the previous year) and generate more than $800K for the PWHF while establishing a platform for ongoing national campaign growth.
Objectives
- To generate widespread awareness of both Dry July and the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation within NSW
- Increase funds raised and number of participants in NSW
Challenges
- Limited budget and organisational resources
- Short lead time
Successful Outcomes
- NSW participants increased by 150% (2008: 664 > 2009: 2494)
- NSW generated 63% of overall national revenue
- Non-NSW participants increased by 320% (2008: 385 > 2009: 1619)
- Non-NSW revenue went from $0 in 2008 to $465,121 in 2009
- NSW revenue increased by 300% on the previous year (2008: $257,283.02 > 2009: $802,804.93)
- Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation yielded over $800k
- Our strategy delivered a platform for ongoing national campaign growth
Testimonial
We started working with Insight Communications in the early planning days of the Dry July 09 campaign and it quickly became clear to us the importance of good, deliverable PR. Insight’s suggestions, contacts and planning ensured the campaign media launch was a resounding success, thus securing numerous radio interviews for both the founders, the hospital (the NSW partner and beneficiary of funds) and our ambassadors. This was followed swiftly by numerous articles across a broad range of media. Insight also secured the Rabbitohs U21 Team as Dry July ambassadors which proved highly successful in raising funds and awareness for this and future campaigns.
Given the success of Dry July 08 and the current economic climate we were hesitant to predict the outcome for Dry July 09. With the campaign now complete we can safely say we have cemented Dry July in the health awareness and fundraising calendar with a 292% increase in participants and a 369% increase in donations for our 09 campaign – raising over $AUD1.27 million nationally.
Clare and Alice have been there at every turn offering advice and support both professionally and on a personal level. Their passion and enthusiasm for healthcare and fundraising is evident and they have the intuition to pull it all together to make a real difference!
Brett Macdonald, Executive Director and Founder, Dry July