Acorns given award of excellence for digital fundraising (From Redditch Advertiser)

Acorns given award of excellence for digital fundraising

11:50am Monday 29th October 2012 in Local

ACORNS Children's Hospice, which has its head office in Wythall, has won a national award for excellence in digital fundraising, announced at a ceremony in London.

Acorns won the ‘Best use of mobile fundraising’ category in the inaugural Blackbaud Digital Fundraising Awards in association with UK Fundraising. The awards were launched to highlight and reward the most exciting, innovative and effective use of digital in fundraising in the UK.

UK Fundraising editor and judging panel chairman, Howard Lake, said: “The panel was hugely impressed with all of the entries but Acorns was a worthy winner on the night.

“Acorns showed both creativity and impressive results for its campaign that took place at Aston Villa FC.”

The hospice used text donations and a 'virtual bucket' for donations at the Premier League match against Newcastle Utd, raising more than £7,500, a record for text donations in a football match.

Acorns digital marketing manager, Dawn Curnyn, said: "We are delighted to have won this fantastic award. Fundraising is hugely important to us; we rely on it for the majority of our income to provide vital care and support for life limited children and their families across the West Midlands, at a cost of £750 a day to care for each child. 

“There is no charge to families to use Acorns’ services, and most of the money comes from fundraising, so it is vital that we have the support of our local community. The Aston Villa supporters have played a key role in achieving that, and in helping us to gain this prestigious award.”