Milestones

In 2020 myself and a peer took the opportunity to submit a project to Young Cannes Lions.

Summary
The Milestones corporate engagement app will drive critical fundraising for clinical trials by drawing a direct correlation between CureSearch’s rigorous research milestones and the childhood milestones made possible by reaching them.

Insight
Each year, 15,300 children are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. At that emotional moment of diagnosis, the future for these children shifts drastically. They may not have the chance to grow up or achieve their goals. But every time a critical breakthrough is made in pediatric cancer research, the chance increases for these children to live out their lives and reach those important milestones. Milestones like the first day of school, or joining the soccer team, are monumentally more important for them. By demonstrating the real life impact of donating to CureSearch, Milestones will drive deeper corporate engagement and empowerment. Studies show that attaching a face and name to a cause drives higher levels of donation, rather than an anonymous group of victims.

Solution
The Milestones app will encourage both corporate partnership and employee donations with the goal of accelerating vital pediatric cancer research. It will distinguish CureSearch as an ideal non-profit partner that not only delivers measurable results in an accelerated timeframe, but also provides tangible corporate benefits. Employees who actively engaged in corporate giving programs tended to have 75% longer tenures with the company. The app will help companies build that employee loyalty and trust by demonstrating more transparency around their charitable initiatives in a way that gives employees an active role in driving change.

Donate
Companies enrolled in the program will donate a one-time or recurrent lump sum to be distributed amongst employee users on the app. Employees can choose which clinical trials or research initiatives to contribute their funds, but can also donate money on their own. To incentivize employee donations companies can offer prizes for individual fundraising milestones, such as an extra vacation day.

Engage
After donating, employees can see through an interactive timeline how their donation has helped support both research milestones and individual childhood milestones—like Johnny graduating from kindergarten! With parental approval, childhood milestones will be integrated from CureSearch’s patient facing app CancerCare or from their blog “Meet the Superheroes”.