SMASHING THE STIGMA SURROUNDING MENTAL HEALTH
VIRTUAL FUNDRAISING
For every 30 students in Australia, 7 will have a mental health issue, yet only 2 will reach out for support, leaving 5 suffering in silence.
In response to the mental health impact of COVID-19, I helped mental health not-for-profit Batyr, devise their first-ever virtual fundraising event;
Run for the Herd.
THE CHALLENGE
Each year Batyr enters a team into Sydney’s City2Surf half marathon to raise funds. With the 2020 edition cancelled due to COVID-19, Batyr were facing a shortfall in fundraising.
MY ROLE
I led the Batyr’s Brand and Fundraising teams to develop a campaign strategy, event planning and execution of a virtual running festival. Leaning on my experience developing campaigns for large brands and service design, I was able to guide the team in planning, decision making and implementing the event.
The event also provided the opportunity to undertake research into the events participating, understanding who they were and their motivations for running, providing a valuable insight into Batyr’s supporters to enable segmentation and more effective future strategic planning.
THE SOLUTION
With no template to follow (Run for the Herd was Australia’s first major virtual running event), we pioneered our own format, leveraging the original City2Surf date and opening the event up to make it more accessible - allowing people to run, walk or move from 5-50km from any location, anytime over the event weekend.
Securing over $1m in media inventory from our partners at UM Australia, we ran an integrated advertising campaign across TV, Radio, OOH, Digital and Social channels to raise awareness. An engagement program was then used to drive fundraising, advocacy and training in the lead up to the event.
With so many people in social isolation, creating a sense of community was important to us. To help make the event feel more tangible, we named the event a ‘virtual festival’, sharing and celebrating participants achievements on social media and hosting a live stream over the event weekend bringing together people from across the country.
THE OUTCOME
Despite the donor fatigue following the Bushfire appeals earlier in the year, the event was a huge success, attracting more participants and donations than ever before.
