Tiny Tickers smash fundraising target for second year running

No stranger to the success of Giving Tuesday, a small charity with big ambitions smashed their fundraising target three-fold on this year’s global day of giving.

Setting out to raise £500, Tiny Tickers raised £1572, enough to fund 150 dolls which will be used across UK hospitals to help sonographers detect congenital heart disease in the womb.

The charity, which raises awareness on detection, care and treatment of babies with serious heart conditions, launched their Donate a Doll appeal in mid November and spread the word as widely as possible in the lead-up to Giving Tuesday on December 3rd.

They asked donors to name the dolls to commemorate those who have been lost to congenital heart defects and to honour those living with heart conditions.

Speaking about the incredible result, CEO of Tiny Tickers Jon Arnold, said: “I am delighted with the response to the Donate A Doll appeal – we thought the opportunity to name a doll would resonate with our supporters but we didn’t expect the phenomenal response we received.

“What moved me the most were the poignant messages we received throughout the day from supporters naming dolls after their loved ones. I’m so pleased that these dolls will be heading out to hospitals across the UK to help sonographers in a very practical way. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the appeal.”

On Giving Tuesday, he tweeted: “I need to apologise to @tinytickers supporters: I’m sorry, I underestimated you. We asked you to help us fund 50 dolls with our appeal for #GivingTuesday. Well, we’ve been adding up your donations & you raised enough to fund 150. ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY. You are all truly amazing.”

For two years running, the charity has launched a fundraising appeal in November and used Giving Tuesday as a platform to maximise their campaign results.

Last year, they smashed their target six-fold, raising £4,500 to provide six hospitals with life-saving pulse oximetry machines, which are used to detect heart defects in newborn babies.

The equipment will be used to test roughly 9,000 babies a year in maternity units across the country.

Speaking at the Giving Tuesday 2019 launch event, Jon spoke about the nature of being a small charity and encouraged others to ‘roll their sleeves up and get involved’.

He said: “Our small charity budget was £0 so we had no money to spend on this, so we decided to set up a Facebook fundraiser and use our text donation platform and our online donation platform and see what we could do.”

To watch the video, click here.

To support the Donate a Doll appeal, click here.

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