What happens when your special event becomes bigger than Ben Hur and is better known than the organisation it is designed to raise money for? Julijana Trifunovic explains the challenges confronting the Children’s Medical Research Institute and its signature event, Jeans for Genes Day.
What happens when your special event becomes bigger than Ben Hur and is better known than the organisation it is designed to raise money for? Julijana Trifunovic explains the challenges confronting the Children’s Medical Research Institute and its signature event, Jeans for Genes Day.
The Children’s Medical Research Institute’s (CMRI) special event, Jeans for Genes, is now in its 13th year and is firmly entrenched as one of the most successful and longest-running special events in Australia.
However, as part of a recent risk assessment, branding of CMRI and the Jeans for Genes event was identified as a significant issue. As Jeans for Genes has grown over the years its brand has gone from strength to strength and overtaken that of its parent, CMRI. What are the consequences when the fundraising day becomes more well-known than the charity itself? A quick summary of the event will help provide some context.
What is Jeans for Genes and how did it all start?
The Children’s Medical Research Institute was founded in 1958 to perform research to prevent childhood illness and disability. Today its 100 scientists (recruited from across the globe) focus on genetics and areas such as cancer, gene therapy and cell signalling.
When CMRI moved from its base at Camperdown in Sydney’s south to Westmead in 1993, the new premises were much bigger and the costs higher. In short more funds were needed to meet the new research capacity and maintenance costs.
Jeans for Genes was the baby of a brainstorming session involving staff and volunteers, and the first Jeans for Genes Day was held in August 1994. Just over $240,000 was raised and an iconic day in the Australian calendar was born.
Since then, the campaign has raised a staggering $34 million, and the event has been adopted (with the approval from CMRI) at Great Ormond St Hospital for Children in London, and at another research institute in Vancouver, Canada. It is one of the few “home-grown” ideas that has gone international.
The concept
It’s a simple idea – people support the event by paying money to wear their jeans, and the event’s name cleverly indicates the nature of the cause – genetic research.
These days Jeans for Genes is a mammoth machine with over 10,000 people from businesses, schools, government departments and community groups registering as volunteers to sell badges and make donations.
Jeans for Genes sells merchandise items at three different prices – $3, $5 and $10. In total approximately 800,000 pieces of merchandise are ordered a year and last year 25 major retail partners helped sell the badges leading up to the day.
Jeans for Genes has two full-time staff, and leading up to the day, other staff within the institute share tasks including mail, banking, badge orders, database entry, community relations and general logistics. Packing and incoming calls for the day are outsourced.
The campaign includes coordinating the marketing, advertising, merchandise, public relations, logistics, website management, volunteers and all events under the banner of Jeans for Genes.
The Jeans for Genes Art Auction is a highlight of the event, and involves celebrities from around the world donating their personally signed jeans. Australian artists paint on them and they are auctioned at a gala dinner. The art auction nets approximately $220,000 annually.
The branding dilemma
To address the branding issue, an expert has been engaged to help clarify how and when the brands are used so that the public understands the differences between the organisation, its role, and the event and its role.
One of the suggestions being explored is eradicating the use of the “CMRI” abbreviation and instead using the full name “Children’s Medical Research Institute” at all times. The general public does not know what CMRI means or stands for, so giving the name in full might help drive recognition of the organisation and what it does.
There will also be a new policy and procedure manual that outlines how the two brands are used. This will reduce the risk of people bastardising the brand or abusing the privilege of being associated with it.
Finally, like Pink Ribbon “owns” pink, and the Cancer Council owns yellow, Jeans for Genes owns denim and we need to work with that and understand it – this is how the public recognises the event.
While not related to branding, another idea being explored is pursuing corporate partnerships and sponsorships. The risk assessment identified that neither CMRI nor Jeans for Genes had targeted this area before so it represents untapped potential.
Jeans for Genes An annual event of the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) Began 1994 – raised $240,000 Revenue 2004 – $4.01 million Total raised since inception: $34 million (there have been 12 Jeans for Genes Days) Staff – 2 full-time, 5 part-time (admin) Volunteers – Approx. 10,000 Jeans for Genes income represents 55% of total revenue raised for CMRI Jeans for Genes Day 2006 – Friday, August 4
