BEST PIVOT CAMPAIGN OR INITIATIVE

Team

Peter Evans MFIA

Mirelle Brockett

John Back

Parkinson’s NSW

Step Up for Parkinson’s

Finalist

Sponsored by:

Fiona Jessiman

Cassie Morgan

Unity Walk was a signature fundraising event for Parkinson’s NSW. It took the form of a group of physical walks held in five different locations throughout the Sydney metro area. Due to COVID-19, Unity Walk had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

Following a slow recovery period, it was decided to move away from a physical event to a virtual event in 2022. However, COVID-19 was not the only reason for the pivot to a virtual event. Parkinson’s NSW decided to make a virtue out of necessity by leveraging a virtual campaign to scale up their signature event and broaden participation of the Parkinson’s community throughout NSW.

Exercise and social engagement are therapeutic for people living with Parkinson’s. Therefore, it was essential to maintain both the fitness and fun social aspects of the replacement campaign. It also had to factor in the ability to withstand another COVID-19 outbreak. The concept of Step Up for Parkinson’s was created allowing all NSW supporters to hold small events with their friends, families and pets while still being part of a larger campaign without the need for Parkinson’s to stage a physical, logistics-heavy event.

The result from the first campaign was 165 people registering and attracting 1,634 donations totalling $125,135 to fund services for the NSW Parkinson’s community.