It’s that time of year again! This month, you may have spotted the iconic yellow daffodil on pin badges, brooches, or playful, branded scarves. The yellow daffodil is the symbol for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal, which takes place every March. It’s one of the charity’s single largest annual campaigns to raise money and awareness to support everyone in the UK through all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement.
How did the fundraiser attain this reputation? How does it endure and find success, year after year? For one, the charity is savvy and agile—it evolves as challenges arise (like the COVID-19 pandemic) and continually finds creative ways to reach new audiences. According to Marie Curie’s latest annual report, it helped more than 69,000 people directly last year and engaged an additional 2 million people. In this post, we share a few lessons from the Great Daffodil Appeal, to help inspire your own charitable efforts in the year ahead.
Offer a Virtual Challenge
Like so many other charities, the pandemic presented an immense challenge for Marie Curie. Navigating the uncertainties, the charity embraced video calling for families, discovered strategies to raise its profile online, and launched new virtual activities. It even shifted its annual Fundraising Excellence Awards online, complete with celebrity ambassadors.
Of course, some in-person fundraising events were canceled, postponed, or moved online, as necessary. Public collections dwindled. But, also like so many other charities, Marie Curie rose to the challenge and charted an innovative path to increase online fundraising, remote collections, and virtual activities. Overall, the charity saw a three-fold increase in online donation income (from £1.1 million in 2019/20 to £3.1 million in 2021/21)! It also completely reimagined the Great Daffodil Appeal. Out of respect for the safety of its volunteers, the campaign halted its UK-wide public collections in December 2020. But supporters still showed up—the charity’s online donations increased by over 200%.
Our first lesson is to consider opting for a virtual or hybrid fundraiser this year. Set clear and measurable goals and make it easy for people to participate in a way that feels safe, comfortable, and fun. Marie Curie’s Step into Spring Challenge is a great example. It asks people to raise money by pledging to take 10,000 steps every day in March. The steps can be taken anywhere, which means participants can join when and where they wish, like walking on the spot at home while watching programs or cleaning the house. Step into Spring even encourages friendly competition through a virtual leaderboard. Be sure to take the time of year into account. Spring is a great time to plan a daily activity challenge, as supporters are likely eager to venture out of the house and into warmer temperatures.
Let Supporters Fundraise Their Way
As we mentioned above, a key lesson from the Great Daffodil Appeal is to make it easy for your supporters to raise as much money as possible for your critical cause. After all, the more channels you create for people to get involved with your charity, the more awareness and money you can ultimately raise. With Step into Spring, participants use the JustGiving platform to set up their own fundraising page. The established service is intuitive and both JustGiving and Marie Curie provide all the information and materials someone needs to quickly set up their JustGiving page and commence fundraising.
Marie Curie doesn’t stop with 10,000 steps. It offers a wide array of challenges to appeal to all kinds of people, like: Crochet Every Day, a team-based pub quiz for the workplace, or gaming competitions among friends. The charity has a vast “fundraising ideas” page that acts as a library of creativity to inspire supporters. Consider adding a similar page to your own charity website—it could be a nice way to publicly thank your individual supporters for their interesting, replicable ideas.
Take an Artful Approach
One good thing to come out of the pandemic is the opportunity it provides people to think about what really matters and what they enjoy doing. We hear stories from the last several years of people taking on arts and crafts projects, finding new ways to exercise at home, and researching family ancestry. Lean into this a bit! Marie Curie, for example, offers a compelling and creative activity in which supporters can create digital memories of loved ones using Memory Cloud, an online platform for reflection and memories.
Another lesson from the Great Daffodil Appeal is that it’s not always about fundraising. Seek opportunities to make creative, powerful statements about your cause that will resonate with others. Marie Curie recently unveiled an artistic light display in Greenwich in which 4,129 LED lights formed the shape of the iconic daffodil. The number of lights represented the number of people helped each month by the charity, and the stunning light display was timed to kick off the March campaign activities. Statements and displays like this can also help your charity boost earned media coverage. For example, the Londonist published a story about the daffodil light display, alongside several striking photos.
Now that people are starting to venture out a bit more and return to workplaces, consider what activities you could encourage people to do around the office or other shared spaces. Marie Curie encourages communities to build Walls of Reflection to mark the National Day of Reflection. The Walls of Reflection showcase anything from photos to poems to music, or even a shelf for tea and biscuits, around which people can gather to enjoy a snack and share memories. As part of the campaign, you can follow a helpful activity map to find Walls of Reflection in your area, or even add your own wall to the map. All of these activities are great examples of how in-person or community events can include free virtual options, to encourage and expand participation and drive donations.
Harness Flower Power
Lastly, we return to the well-known symbol of the Great Daffodil Appeal—the iconic yellow flower is a positive, life-affirming symbol of spring. It’s been around for years but despite this long history, Marie Curie continually offers fresh perspectives on the iconic flower—most notably through the charity’s merchandise shop. Today, bird lovers can purchase a daffodil bird feeder or bird bath; gardeners can grab daffodil bulbs; beachgoers can order branded insulated bags; and fashionistas can find daffodil print scarves and jute bags. From pins and brooches to umbrellas and calendars, there really is something for everyone.
For your own shop, consider applying fresh designs and new lines around your iconic brand and imagery. Don’t let your merchandise shop grow stale! What are your supporters into? What trends resonate with you, and how might you turn this idea into branded charitable merchandise? Be sure to consider all price points and sizes to reach the largest base of supporters.
As you think about your own charitable efforts in the year ahead, what lessons resonate with you? What are you excited to try? We hope this post inspires creativity and leads to maximum impact with your campaign. Please get in touch with us today to share your ideas. We’re here to help you make the most of everything, just like Marie Curie and the Great Daffodil Appeal.