HeartKids and Initiative achieve record revenue for fundraising campaign ‘Sweetheart Day 2018’

A pro-bono partnership between unique charity HeartKids and media agency Initiative has seen a 33% lift in revenue year on year for national fundraising campaign Sweetheart Day, for which Initiative was able to secure over $3 million worth of pro-bono media value.

HeartKids is the only charity in Australia dedicated to supporting children, teens and adults affected by congenital heart disease. Congenital heart disease is the single largest killer of Australian babies. Eight babies are born with congenital heart disease every day in Australia and four of those lives are lost each week.

People impacted by congenital heart disease face unique challenges for their entire lives. HeartKids provides dedicated support services throughout this whole life journey, whilst funding life-saving research and advocating for these families’ needs.

Although congenital heart disease takes more babies’ lives in Australia than any other condition – there is relatively low awareness amongst the general public of both congenital heart disease and the HeartKids brand. HeartKids faced a big challenge with their Sweetheart Day campaign, to cut through the clutter of the highly competitive charity market and raise awareness and funds with a very modest media budget.

Initiative supports HeartKids pro-bono with media planning, implementation and reporting as well as contact with media owners who may offer free of charge inventory for the Sweetheart Day fundraising campaign. Initiative and HeartKids were brought together by UNLtd, the organisation focused on connecting the media, marketing and creative industry with charities, to create social change and shared value.

Says Melissa Fein, CEO, Initiative Australia: “There is massive enthusiasm in the agency for the work and results HeartKids achieves. It’s very rewarding for our people bringing their skills to the table for this unique charity and this year’s record result is a great outcome. I am very proud of the team and we look forward to continuing our support for HeartKids into the future.

Media owners oOh! Media, Val Morgan, TRSN and Southern Cross Austereo all made significant media contributions to the campaign.

Says Mark Brooke, chief executive officer, HeartKids: “We are incredibly grateful for the generous contribution Initiative and our other pro-bono partners made towards our Sweetheart Day campaign.  One of our biggest challenges is to raise awareness of the fact that congenital heart disease is the single largest cause of death of babies in Australia.

“By securing over $3 million worth of pro-bono media, Initiative enabled us to get this message out to more people than ever before! The team at Initiative showed genuine passion and commitment to the cause and have already provided strategic input into our future work. We look forward to continuing this fantastic partnership!”