Foundation of Guelph General Hospital

Marketing Guelph’s most successful capital fundraising campaign

Since 1987, the Guelph community has donated more than $80 million through the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital to help heal, comfort and care for patients. We have had the privilege of walking alongside the Hospital nearly the entire time – our work together spans three decades and has ranged from branding to micro-campaigns, recruitment marketing and donor stewardship. We have been a leadership sponsor of Black Tie Bingo since 2003, providing in-kind event marketing for one of the community’s most popular event.

In 2018, to meet the fast-growing hospital care needs of the community, a bold new capital campaign was necessary. We were honoured to be invited to support the campaign, drawing on our experience in community awareness campaigns, fundraising and hospital communications.

Experience doesn’t equal understanding, though, especially in the complex and competitive world of hospital funding. The Letter M first led extensive public engagement to fully explore the nuances of messaging and tactics to engage the community, then got to work building a brand, marketing and communications strategy to launch the $34 Million Together, We Care campaign.

Building clear messaging around the role of government versus community dollars was an essential first step – equipping a growing cabinet of campaign ambassadors with this language in pithy, effective sound bites was close behind. From there we focused on storytelling using a wide range of tools from traditional brochures and presentations to short video and social media content.

Despite the complexities of a two-plus year global pandemic, in March 2022 we were delighted to help the Foundation announce it has not only met its goal – but surpassed it, raising a whopping $37,496, 057 – the most successful community-focused capital campaign in Guelph’s history.

Testimonial

“We have had the pleasure of working with The Letter M for many years. They provide design services for our signature event, Black Tie Bingo, and their work always exceeds expectations. From poster to ticket to ads to website and more, they capture the essence of the committee’s vision. They have also designed a number of logos for us over the years, including our Hospital and Foundation logos. We have found them to be responsive, sensitive to our needs, creative and fun.” 

Suzanne Bone, Chief Operating Officer 
The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital