Background
Over the last four years, Very Special Kids has partnered with Fundraising Every Day (FED) to continually grow their annual Giving Day event ‘A Very Special Day, generating a substantial combined Gross Income of over $3.1 Million – solidifying the importance of this amazing 24-hour event as a crucial part of Very Special Kids’ annual fundraising calendar.
In 2025, our focus with the Very Special Kids team centred around how we could ensure continued growth in public funds on-the-day, following record-breaking campaigns in 2023 & 2024 which made the most of considerable media interest following the opening of Very Special Kids House, their newly built children’s hospice.
The Campaign
FED partnered with Very Special Kids in a full-service capacity, including campaign development, delivery and strategic support, with the aim of achieving a Gross Income target of $500,000.
The key proposition for ‘A Very Special Day’ 2025 was strategically centred around a 65% increase in family referrals to the service. Key messaging highlighted the organisations’ 40-year anniversary, as well as honouring the legacy of Sister Margaret Noone, patron and first employee of Very Special Kids.
The successful maturity of this campaign required a consistent, well-refined approach –carefully building upon recognised campaign branding assets year on year, utilising a multi-story approach to Very Special Kids’ ambassadors, plus the effective use of MMS and adaption of GiveEasy’s new landing page technologies.
A ‘save the date’ pledge strategy was also successfully implemented in 2025 to secure major gifts from high-value donors likely to be unavailable on the day.
External media support from 3AW radio also assisted with public awareness on the day.
The Result
Very Special Kids’ Giving Day ‘A Very Special Day’ is now their largest annual appeal, driven by a strong high-value donor base and a positive, celebratory tone that makes a difficult cause accessible to a wider audience.
The 2025 Gross Income result of $600K+ was a remarkable 130% increase on Very Special Kids’ 2021 inaugural Giving Day result ($260K+) – proving ‘A Very Special Day’ Giving Day continues to resonate year-on-year among Very Special Kids’ donors, families, and corporations who have fundraised, donated, matched, and left beautiful messages of support.
One of the truly lovely things to see is the growing involvement from very special families, choosing to create a fundraising page to either; celebrate the life of their sick child, or honour the life of the child they have lost. For Very Special Kids this becomes a two-fold opportunity to bring an in-memory component to the campaign.