Children's Mercy Research Institute

KANSAS CITY, MO

A stunning donor engagement system that reflects the DNA pattern of children diagnosed at Children’s Mercy to enhance philanthropic culture and support future fundraising.

A visionary new communication center to continue engaging with lead donors, the Hall Family Foundation and the Sunderland Foundation.

Website

childrensmercy.org/childrens-mercy-research-institute/

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE:

Children’s Mercy is an internationally leading children’s hospital dedicated to the most cutting-edge holistic clinical care, translational research, breakthrough innovation, and educating the next generation of caregivers.

They transform the health, wellbeing and potential of children, with unwavering compassion for those most vulnerable.

In recent years, Children’s Mercy received two $75-million gifts for a new Children’s Mercy Research Institute from the Hall Family Foundation and the Sunderland Foundation. The combined gifts represent the largest one-time philanthropic investment in pediatric research ever in the US and the largest gift in the history of Children’s Mercy. These important gifts also served as a catalyst to prompt the Children’s Mercy philanthropy team to launch a $300-million fundraising initiative, all in support of research.

DONOR RECOGNITION CHALLENGES:

The philanthropy team knew they would need a way to recognize the two lead gifts and other contributions in such a way that would make the grand opening of the new Children’s Mercy Research Institute not only a celebration of its creation, but a launching pad that would generate even more philanthropic investment in research.

Children’s Mercy also wanted to inform the donors who invested in the Children’s Mercy Research Institute of the direct impact they would have on the immediate care of children and young people treated at Children’s Mercy. In other words, they wanted donors to know the direct impact they were having today and in the future.

With that in mind, BrookGlobal and Children’s Mercy worked in collaboration to create a donor engagement system that would accomplish the following:

Recognize the two remarkable gifts in an elegant, strategic and impactful way;
Recognize all donors investing in pediatric research;
Build donor loyalty;
Build institutional awareness of the amount of investment the community is making in Children’s Mercy;
Create awareness of the direct link between investing in research and innovations in clinical care;
Inspire, engage, and prompt other donors to consider investing in pediatric research;
Create internal awareness of the role philanthropy plays at Children’s Mercy; and
Promote a deeper culture of philanthropy.

"The donor engagement center brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it. Reading the words and seeing the names is a reminder that we did it and it is here for future generations to come."

Shanelle Varone
Senior Administrative Director of Philanthropy

Children's Mercy Kansas City

THE SOLUTION:

Reflecting the DNA patterns of children diagnosed at Children’s Mercy is what the Institute used as theme for the lighting of the outside of its new facility.

Through a deliberate design and content development process, BrookGlobal created a central Donor Engagement System that is a combination of digital and Brook Easy Change elements, and successfully produced a stunning and hopeful visual representation of a DNA strand that has yet to be completed – specifically implying that work still needs to be done in pediatric research before every child has the chance to live to their fullest potential.

THE RESULT:

In addition, Brook Global worked with the Children’s Mercy Philanthropy Team to design a comprehensive donor engagement strategy that would create a tool for the fundraising team to not only recognizes the donors who helped make the Children’s Mercy Research Institute a reality but encourage continued philanthropic investment to fuel its work in creating breakthroughs in the future.

“We wanted a company that would listen to us, because we wanted something different than the traditional system. We also wanted someone who could come in and understand Children's Mercy and our culture. We wanted a company with a real history of doing things out of the ordinary that would fit with what we were looking for. And BrookGlobal was just that."

Jenea Oliver
Chief Development Officer

Children's Mercy Kansas City

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