PARE0017 A piece of cake - an excellent way to unite reseachers and donors
Authors: C. E. Aldrin
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2013)

<h3>Background</h3> For many years The Swedish Rheumatism association has supported rheumatology research through fundraising activities. This is a growing business and a development area within the organization. To become a successful fundraiser we must create lasting relations with donors. Giving regular, creative and appealing feedback, to our donors is essential. This is a real challenge since we are competing with many brave, well-known and powerful fundraising organizations in Sweden. We need to find our own ways. We also need close relationship with the professionals. They are extremely important for us in the role of ambassadors for the research we support. They receive our donor’s money each spring, when we award the research grants. We want them to be proud of their grants from our research fund and be our external voice in their research area. What can we give them in order to influence them to place our fund as “top of mind”? A well known brand is a well invested and essential success factor for a fundraiser. To get media coverage is a real challenge but not impossible. We needed to find the right catches in order to interest them. With this background we strove to unite all the pieces in to one cake. So the event “cake event” was born! <h3>Objectives</h3> Visit different research clinics associated to the distribution of funds. Participating in the event would be: the Swedish Rheumatism Association, researchers and their teams, donors and members of the media. <h3>Objectives for the Swedish Rheumatism association</h3> PR for Reumatikerfonden. A possibility to meet and inform the researchers and their teams about our fund and how we raise money. Meat the media and interest them in our work. Last but not least, meet our donors in flesh and blood. Recognize them and create relations! <h3>Objectives for the researchers</h3> A fantastic chance to “face to face” meet, and give the donors feedback on their research. Research that donor’s money has made a reality. Meet the media and inform them about their research which will result in articles in the press. Meet the representatives from The Swedish Rheumatism association and learn more about the organization. <h3>Objectives for the donors</h3> A possibility to actually visit the world of research for a while. Meet the researchers, get immediate feedback on how the money is used, and ask them questions. We have informal discussions, all toghether, while having coffee and cake. <h3>Methods</h3> We arrange the event together with the clinic. We select donors and send them personal invitations. We invite the team around the researchers by mail and the media by sending out press releases. The meeting is informal with a nice and welcoming setting. We offer coffee and a special cake for the occasion. The donors receive a “goodie bag” with information and give-aways. The Swedish Rheumatism Association talks about and promotes our fund to the audience”. We congratulate the researchers to their grants with a diploma. The researchers talk about their research and donors and media ask them questions. <h3>Results</h3> We create relationships with all parts involved. Donors and researchers connect. The media draw attention to the researches work and to our work by writing articles. That also strengthens our brand which will give us new donors. Donors, who has participated, talk to other prospective donors which also gives us new donors and goodwill. <h3>Conclusions</h3> A fantastic win-win situation for everyone involved!Goodwill and a stronger brand! <h3>Disclosure of Interest</h3> None Declared