Stollery Children's Hospital - Fish Tank Campaign

[Proteus]

What happens five years down the road when the funding runs out. The tank goes south and the hospital wants it gone.

More revenue will have to be used to remove and remodel the area to make it usable again. I know there are people who take cats and dogs etc. to the kids and the best part about what these people do is take the animals home at the end of the day. The kids still get companionship from the animal and there no use of hospital grounds that could hold a bed or a MRI

[tgrover]

We are going to keep this simple. We will simply work with the Foundation and they can tell us what would be best for the kids.

[SanguinesDream]

http://www.stollerykids.com/

I don't know how many have been to the Stollery in Edmonton or are familiar with their fundraising campaigns, but in the grand scheme of things, 50k is a drop in the bucket.

Did you know that part of your donation to Stollery goes to purchase auction items for fundraisers? Did you know that they also using fundraising dollars to purchase gifts for their large corporate sponsors? This is a well-oiled marketing machine. Please take a look at all of their suggestions for fundraising. Read all of the initiatives that they consistently run.

As a donor, I'd rather know that my donation is going to a specific function (aquarium) than into a general pool used by the Foundation to solicit more money. IMHO, THAT would be a slap in the face knowing that my donation helped buy "complimentary tickets" for a sporting event for a corporate sponsor. No, I have the right to donate for a project specific cause.

Also notice the term "net proceeds". This isn't all of the money that they raised but the amount that goes to the Foundation AFTER advertising, sponsorship incentives, facility hosting, and many other superflueous expenses are paid out. Don't kid yourself. The $20 that you pledge in one of those Miracle Marathons gets eaten up for advertising costs to just bring in the big fish.

How do parents of sick kids feel about that?

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by SanguinesDream

Also notice the term "net proceeds". This isn't all of the money that they raised but the amount that goes to the Foundation AFTER advertising, sponsorship incentives, facility hosting, and many other superflueous expenses are paid out. Don't kid yourself. The $20 that you pledge in one of those Miracle Marathons gets eaten up for advertising costs to just bring in the big fish.

How do parents of sick kids feel about that?

The report I read says that the Stollery foundation has an expense of $14.80 to raise $100 and 69% of all proceeds go directly into the program (some of the money goes to related charities as well). So they are doing pretty well in their management of raised dollars. People would have to be pretty nieve to think multi-million dollar charities run themselves for free.

I would hope the parents would feel greatful that people are donating and continue to do so and should be aware that fundraising is only a small percentage of were the money comes from to run the facility.

[tgrover]

The Stollery Foundation is a pretty impressive BUSINESS. It's run as a business and they raise a lot of money. They spend ridiculous money on marketing but it does work. They also work with donors of 'items'. You can see that by walking the halls and public rooms.

[SanguinesDream]

Originally Posted by tgrover

The Stollery Foundation is a pretty impressive BUSINESS. It's run as a business and they raise a lot of money. They spend ridiculous money on marketing but it does work. They also work with donors of 'items'. You can see that by walking the halls and public rooms.

+1

They actually spend a ridiculous amount on corporate donations. Their fundraising is only 21% comparatively to 63%.

My point being, use the same lense for scrutinizing/evaluating all projects before tanking a proposal.

[Kevotron]

what I dont understand from reading this thread was why 600G ?
A tank that is 120G with easy to maintain softy corals would be more than enough to hold a children/adult non enthusiast's attention.
Kids that are sick and parents that are stressed out isn't going to benefit from seeing all the fancy SPS, LPS, Zoas
Donating a fish tank to the hospital is a great idea, but I think we are attaching some of our fish/coral obsessions along with the original idea, and in the end this will cause this project ultimately fail.
just my 2 cents.

[tgrover]

Hi Kevotron,

I have certainly been getting lots of feedback and I agree a smaller tank may be better. I will be meeting with the Stollery Foundation and will leave it up to them... but a smaller tank, stocked and with good maintenance would be the way to go I think.

At least that seems to be the feedback so far, which has been much appreciated all around.

Tim

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by Kevotron

what I dont understand from reading this thread was why 600G ?
A tank that is 120G with easy to maintain softy corals would be more than enough to hold a children/adult non enthusiast's attention.
Kids that are sick and parents that are stressed out isn't going to benefit from seeing all the fancy SPS, LPS, Zoas
Donating a fish tank to the hospital is a great idea, but I think we are attaching some of our fish/coral obsessions along with the original idea, and in the end this will cause this project ultimately fail.
just my 2 cents.

Agreed. Good idea... Bad plan.

It needs to be simple. So if something goes wrong ... Like my tank currently... It can be monitored.

My 100g system is crashing. And it's soooo much work to try figure it out. There is no company in town giving daily service out for free (that I'm aware of) and I can't think anyone will willing pay for it.

A big tank will need to be babysat in a place like that or the maintenace company will look bad.

KISS.. Keep it simple stupid. Lol.

Good luck with your plan either way.

[SanguinesDream]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

The report I read says that the Stollery foundation has an expense of $14.80 to raise $100 and 69% of all proceeds go directly into the program (some of the money goes to related charities as well). So they are doing pretty well in their management of raised dollars. People would have to be pretty nieve to think multi-million dollar charities run themselves for free.

I would hope the parents would feel greatful that people are donating and continue to do so and should be aware that fundraising is only a small percentage of were the money comes from to run the facility.

If that 31% is true, it is actually just below CRA's review rate for high cost fundraising.

The point being that those who are arguing "there is a better use for that money" may not realize that if that $50 000 were a cash donation, $15 500 of that would never see the hospital. Whereas a project with a $50,000 budget of capital and installation costs, a larger percentage would be actualized in bricks and mortar for the hospital.

If projects are going to be scrutinized, scrutinize them equally. Is anyone examining how useful a $50,000 cash donation would be???

https://chimp.net/charities/stollery...tal-foundation

This report from 2010 shows an extremely high expense report of 80% and of that 80% of expenses, "Gifts for Qualified Donees" made up 63%.
$6, 023, 026 was spent on corporate gifts. That is outrageous!

If we were to compare the $50,000 cash donation, $31 500 would be used for corporate gifts. Think about it a little before you criticize and apply the same criterium to all projects.