The Evolution of Fundraising – Part One
This year we are proudly partnering with your Women’s and Children’s Hospital to celebrate 140 years of caring for families. Since the first group of philanthropic women raised the initial £2,500 pounds needed to build the first Adelaide Children’s Hospital, we have worked with the community to raise funds for equipment and facilities upgrades, for vital research and programs that make our Hospital look better and feel better for families.
One major campaign of the 1930s had a fundraising target of £25,000 pounds, which was the amount needed to care for children suffering ‘infantile paralysis’ (otherwise known as polio) for one year. In today’s terms, that amount would equate to £1,716,049.78 (or $3,042,300 in Australian dollars).
Entitled ‘How the children suffering infantile paralysis are treated at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital’ this historical file footage obtained from the SA State Library, shows how the children receive treatment to help them walk again. Our narrator ends his report by encouraging the community to help make a difference in the loves of these children by sending a donation to the Adelaide Children’s Hospital.
“Don’t let the little ones down! £25,000 IS NEEDED EVERY YEAR – One shilling will maintain the Hospital for one minute. Will YOU help?”
Today, through the support of the entire community, our Foundation continues to fund support programs and services across the entire Women’s and Children’s Hospital raising $36 million in the last 10 years. Ways in which to raise funds have changed from fetes and picnics to include activities driven by corporate and community groups and individuals who often want to give back to the hospital in some way.
Over the next 12 months as we celebrate with the hospital community on our 140-year partnership, our Foundation will provide a look back on past fundraising activities, projects and families to rediscover the impact we all have had in the lives of families in the past and continue to do so today.