An experiential approach to fundraising

SickKids, a children’s hospital in Toronto, is trying to raise money for a new hospital. And they really need a new hospital – the current ICU, in particular, is noisy, cramped, and chaotic. The quality of care is high, but it is not a good experience for patients or their families.

However, most potential donors don’t have direct experience as a parent or patient in this hospital. So, how do you make that experience more tangible, real, and emotional – and, thus, give these donors the extra push they need to contribute?

SickKids’ answer to that has been to partner with Airbnb. For three hours (and $2,600) you can stay in a replica SickKids ICU room. You’ll be there with six other “patients,” surrounded by all the equipment and chaos that comes with a stay in that ICU.

If you’re paying this much money for a three-hour experience, you obviously are a potential donor. So, SickKids is hopeful that building that empathy in potential donors directly, plus this campaign’s potential to reach others via earned media coverage, will help it raise the $1.3B it needs to update the hospital’s infrastructure.

(This comes from Suzanne Pope’s wonderful “Ad Teachings” blog.)