Magen David Adom or MDA is often referred to as Israel’s second line of defense. MDA saves lives every day by providing Israel’s emergency medical response and ambulance services, managing the national blood bank and providing international disaster aid.
The vast majority of the medics and paramedics are dedicated and selfless volunteers, who rely on worldwide supporters to continue their life saving work.
Management was engaged in July 2020 to help them pivot their traditional live annual fundraising event into an online activation, in their 90th anniversary year.
The strategy involved a professionally produced 40-minute communal video with our content partner Barking Mouse: showcasing MDA stories, interviews with volunteers and music by Sydney's Moriah College, followed by an online appeal run on the Charity platform.
With generous matched funding for 24-hours on August 16, 2020, they set an initial target of $150,000. The final amount raised was over AUD$275,000.
The Challenge:
Pivot a well-known live annual gala to an online activation
Key Figures
AUD 275,151 raised
AUD 150,000 Target
405 online donors
Matched funds for 24-hours
"We engaged the Catalyst team to help to assess the current COVID-19 fundraising situation and options available to us considering our inability to hold our usual annual campaign events. Catalyst assisted us to consider several options to meet both our annual and emergency COVID-19 fundraising objectives. We jointly developed a virtual communal event solution with intense focus on the fundraising components.
Catalyst also assisted us with tactical components and coordination: campaign theme and narrative, and a virtual event video production, fundraising platform integration, and gamification elements. The result was higher attendance gross and net income and lowest campaign costs than even before. Catalyst helped us turn adversity into victory and we are incredibly grateful for their expertise and dedication."
CONTACT
Lawrence Jackson jackson@catalystmanagement.com.au
Juliana Payne jpayne@catalystmanagement.com.au