Overview

All Australians should access quality health care when they need it. But when help is too far away, The Royal Flying Doctor may be their only chance of survival.  

Because the Flying Doctor evokes the romantic outback picture and saving a life is one of the most compelling offers for supporters, the Flying Doctor's Christmas and Tax appeals' stories are about emergency flights.

At Christmas 2019, the Flying Doctor's supporters read Maddison's story. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer at only 4, bubbly Maddison has needed to be rushed to the hospital a lot to get life-saving treatment.

Very quickly, we identified the unique aspect of Maddison's story: Maddison has flown with the Flying Doctors 5 times. Any day can be an emergency for her. The same way any day can be an emergency for the Flying Doctor. 

Not only this brought a complete alignment between Maddison's situation and the Flying Doctor mission, but the story shows the need is still current. Should Maddison need the Flying Doctor a sixth time, they both need to be ready to go.

Challenge

The Flying Doctor needed to increase their Christmas appeal income year-on-year while supporters were being solicited twice the month before, with a newsletter and a Christmas catalogue mailed only a few weeks apart.

Solution

On one hand, we have Maddison, whose bag is always packed 24/7. On the other, the Flying Doctor, who is always on standby for that call. They both need to be ready to go.

Focused on emergency preparedness, the Ready to Go appeal featured a hero who might still need the Flying Doctor in a near future.

Results

The Ready to Go appeal performed over target and saw some high performance within the RG and lapsed donor segments.