Tŷ Hafan campaign wins Income Generator of the Year at Welsh Charity Awards
Melanie May | 12 October 2023 | News
Tŷ Hafan won for a public fundraising campaign that raised almost £100,000 more than any other the charity had done, reaching £344,649 and bringing in 800 new donors.
Tŷ Hafan’s Welsh Charity Awards winner, When Your World Stops was launched after the cost-of-living crisis saw donations to the charity down 50% compared to the year before. To ‘supercharge’ their public fundraising, the team developed the 60-hour campaign, based on a new ‘Appeal Champion’ model of fundraising and focused on end-of-life messaging.
This was a significant step change for the charity, which had previously focused solely on positive experiences of children and young people with life-shortening conditions. After testing and consultation, they focused on end-of-life care messaging, initiating a conversation about the importance of dying well in these difficult circumstances, and showcasing the support available for families.
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A five-minute film was produced, highlighting Catherine and Andrew Jeans’ daughter, Rose, who died at the hospice in Sully on 13 February 2020, two days after her first birthday.
The Appeal Champion model saw 166 champions ask their personal networks to donate through an individual online champion page and unique link. The charity also invited family service users to share their story alongside Rose’s, with many reporting it to be a cathartic experience.
Jenna Lewis, Director of Income Generation for Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice, said:
“This fundraising campaign has the story of baby Rose Jeans at its heart and how Tŷ Hafan was able to support her and her parents, Andrew and Catherine, and big brother Oliver, through an unimaginably difficult time in their lives, and continues to do so.
“Thanks to the bravery of the Jeans family in agreeing to share their story, we were able to raise a fantastic £344,649 last November, smashing our campaign target of £250,000. This campaign used a new, time-limited, match-funded income generation model with a network of self-selecting appeal champions and was supported by Cardiff-based communication agency Cowshed. Such was the success of this campaign that we are now preparing to use this model again next month with another family story and with a fresh fundraising target.”
Tŷ Hafan beat two other category finalists: Cardiff Rivers Group and Codi’r To. Codi’r To, a community regeneration charity in north Wales, developed a concentrated income generation initiative, raising £156,249 in five months – more than its previous annual turnover – through shifting to a community-based model and developing a Crowdfunder campaign. Cardiff Rivers Group has gone from selling river-retrieved scrap in 2009 to starting a free scrap collection for voluntary sector groups, generating over £15k in income this financial year (£3.5k to local groups), through recycling 47+ tonnes of scrap, including 450 Next bikes.
The award winners also included:
- Volunteer of the Year – Nicola Harteveld
- Young Volunteer of the Year – Sara Madi
- Champion of Diversity Award – Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales
- Best Use of the Welsh Language Award – Alzheimer’s Society Cymru Dementia Support Telephone Service
- Trailblazer Award – Community Volunteers Wales
- Health & Wellbeing Award – Wye Gymnastics & Galaxy Cheerleading
- Organisation of the Year – The Welsh Refugee Council.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.