MOST INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGN

Children’s Medical Research Institute

Jeans for Genes

Team Greg Noel-Butterworth

Jeans for Genes (J4G) is a fundraising campaign for the Children’s Medical Research Institute to help find treatments and cures for children’s genetic diseases. In 2018 it raised $337,284 from merchandise box sales. In 2020, due to the pandemic this dropped to just $19,922 and to $12,222 in 2021. Whilst other event income streams actually increased during this time, the gross revenue had fallen by almost half a million dollars. Urgent diversification was required to protect fundraising and the research relying on it for funding.

Finalist

The 2022 campaign aimed to raise an ambitious $1.4M and exceeded expectations raising $2.1M. This extraordinary result made this the most financially successful campaign in over a decade! The key was diversification. In partnership with Donor Republic, four event propositions were developed along with a Facebook challenge to steward gifts from multiple streams. A Facebook Skipping Challenge hoped to make $130,000 and exceeded expectations by raising over $300,000! It was a simple proposition – to skip for kids. The merchandise box sales were transitioned to high-end apparel sales, donations, a giving day, events, and school-based events. This new stream accounted for 14% of the total fundraising revenue for 2022. The long-term goal is to grow fundraising efforts in new and innovative areas to ensure the event remains truly diversified to minimise unforeseen risk.

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