The Blossom​ Appeal​

The Story: Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity launched The Blossom Appeal in 2017 to fund the construction of a new, state-of-the-art £5.3million Breast Care Centre – for which they needed to generate £1.75million through fundraising.

​The arrival of Covid-19 meant that funding for the appeal had to be diverted to other priorities, such as staff wellbeing, and the Blossom Appeal was put on hold until Spring 2021 when we were brought on board to help raise the final £900,000 needed.​

The Brief: To reignite support for the capital appeal through an acquisition door drop campaign targeting the Ipswich Hospital catchment area and a follow-up mailing to current and newly-acquired charity supporters.​

Our Response: We ensured that​ the incredible benefits that the new​ Breast Care Centre will bring to the local community were central to each mailing and used patient stories and a stand-out large format pack to show the scale of ambitions for the new Centre. We also developed the targeting for the door drop to ensure that we approached the best donor prospects in the area.​

Why it Works: It was the perfect time for an acquisition campaign given the heightened appreciation for the NHS following the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

​Patient stories like Laura’s and Kirstie’s allowed for a first-hand account of the need for facilities that match the outstanding care provided by the Breast Care Team, and the benefits the new centre will bring to both individuals and the community as a whole. We were also able to adopt an ‘inside track’ approach for supporters, highlighting new details as they emerged – including the blueprints for the centre.​

Results: Results are still coming in for the Supporter Mailing but our acquisition campaign has already smashed targets by actually returning a positive ROI and raising £30,000 towards the new centre.​