Canuck Place Children’s Hospice

A thorny problem

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice is a place of refuge, easing the end of life for children and their families. Canuck Place has supported families for decades, but most British Columbians don’t know about its critical work. It needed a remarkable, head-turning campaign that would raise the organization’s profile and attract new donors. Director of Marketing, Debbie Butt, also wanted her team to grow and thrive by learning campaigning best practices and new ways to work.

Navigating the wilderness

Canuck Place signed on for a Capulet Remarkables Lab, a six-month campaign creation program custom-designed to level up a team’s skills during the execution of an extraordinary campaign. Capulet worked with Canuck Place to invent, design and build a stand-out campaign that would raise brand recognition and boost online fundraising.

Out of the woods

The result? A giant blanket fort constructed in downtown Vancouver and an accompanying campaign called “Best Day Ever”. To capture the imagination of the public, potential donors and local media, the team constructed a 2,000 square foot blanket fort. All who entered experienced hallmarks of a child’s best day–superheroes, Disney princesses, decadent sweets, storytime with an NHL star and, of course, fort building. Accompanying the blanket fort was a month-long digital campaign of the same name with an ask to donate to a best day for a child in hospice care.

The hugely successful campaign exceeded Canuck Place’s fundraising goals by 45%. Notably, 20% of all donations were from new donors. At the Non-Profit Innovation & Optimization Awards, Canuck Place took home the top award for Best Donor Acquisition.