CASE STUDY: SCMP's Operation Santa Claus smashes fundraising targets

Background
Operation Santa Claus (OSC) is the annual festive fundraising initiative organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK. Currently in its 23rd year, OSC has raised over US$19,268,527 (HK$150 million) to support over 100 different charities in Hong Kong since its inception in 1988.

With an original target of US$1,361,634 (HK$10.6 million) to support 14 charities and two social enterprise projects, OSC 2010 launched on 16 November 2010 with prominent daily coverage in the South China Morning Post and RTHK to give the charities a valuable forum to raise awareness of – and funds for – their meaningful community initiatives.

Aim
OSC aims to raise funds for local based charities as well as enhance public awareness of them.

Typically highlighting the plight of smaller, lesser known charities, or supporting the specialised projects of larger concerns, OSC is managed by a small dedicated team and leverages the people-pulling power of the media organisations to drive awareness and action to raise money for the charities it selects.

Execution
The 2010 campaign to promote OSC was given a powerful new theme, namely 'The Heart of a Hong Kong Christmas', capturing the essence of the charity that has been earned over its many years of existence.

The campaign was promoted daily in the South China Morning Post with a half page story about the charities and donors. This was additionally supported with a regularly updated website on Osc.scmp.com, which gave donors and fundraisers a chance to catch the latest fundraising events and donation updates, in addition to the daily editorial coverage.

The campaign comprised a Facebook page and a donor recruitment advertising and marketing campaign that focused on the fund's position as the 'Heart of a Hong Kong Christmas'. It also featured external pedestrian billboards, regular advertising and eDMs, plus a wealth of exposure from the participating fundraisers.

The mark of success of the campaign was not just in the amount of money raised, but also the deep participation from the community.

Over 30 schools ranging from kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges to universities supported OSC as major school donors. Over half a million dollars was raised and received from this channel alone.

Project director Deon Lai commented, "It's a vital channel for us, but most importantly, youngsters are getting actively involved in fundraising and thinking selflessly about others; using their creativity and teamwork to organise various events including charity walks, casual wear day, famine camp sing-a-thons etc."

In 2010, OSC introduced a new initiative, called the 'OSC University Ambassador Programme' with the aim of mobilising 16 ambassador students from eight local universities to design their own fundraising initiatives. The ambassadors were also involved in corporate donor events so that they had a chance to learn from and gain valuable exposure to professional institutions."

88 corporations, 36 schools, 15 clubs and associations and thousands of individuals are estimated to have been involved in some way for 2010's OSC.

Results:
US$1,717,865 (HK$13,372,928) was raised by the 2010 OSC charity fundraiser, significantly above the original target set, and one of the highest totals in its 23 year history.