Since emerging onto the content creation scene in 2017, Ben Lupo, aka DrLupo, has made a name for himself as not only one of the premier gaming creators across all major platforms, but also a steadfast representation of what the content creator and their community can provide to those in great need.
Build Against Cancer began in December 2018 with the goal of raising $1M across the calendar year for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as DrLupo was $570k away from that goal. In his first 24hr event, he raised over $627k with the help of his friends, partners and community. His community was hooked, and from that point forward, Build Against Cancer has been an annual tradition for many, providing what they can each December. From that point forward DrLupo, his wife Sam Lupo, fellow creators, partners and his global community have collaborated to raise over $12.7m for St. Jude.
For the 5th annual fundraising event held December 17-18, 2022, the goal was to up to the ante by streaming the full 24hr event live from the St. Jude campus. This provided all parties an opportunity to expand the experience beyond Lupo’s at-home studio and into the world of St. Jude in a physical sense. The goal was to reach his established audience and new communities through changes to content, providing new tech to make the most of the live experience, while also proving that an event of this caliber could be produced live from an active research hospital.
The planning process begins each summer, as the Lupo family and staff at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude, plot out potential PR/audience engagement opportunities leading up to December, external partner support targeted for the campaign and the overall makeup of the marathon event. The day-to-day process and the ability to execute each beat comes down to the “family” relationship between the Lupos and ALSAC.An equal level of investment from both parties allows this experience to flourish in the face of an extremely daunting task to produce a 24hr live event live from the St. Jude campus.
PR/Marketing/Social:
- Combined effort in promotion between DrLupo’s management (Loaded), and ALSAC PR and digital teams.
- Event-specific landing page to drive donations, engagement for the main event, additional supporting campaigns, matching gifts, donor rewards and more
- Best in Class call to action through DrLupo’s experience with the mission of St. Jude and his unrivaled ability to spell out each function of how St. Jude leads the way in fighting pediatric life-threatening illnesses around the globe
Supporting Campaigns:
- A recurring merchandise campaign for a limited-edition Build Against Cancer t-shirt provided by DrLupo partner ($38k raised through portion of proceeds for each shirt)
- First year of providing opportunity for DrLupo community members and general St. Jude supporters to provide supporting campaigns to Build Against Cancer (over $20k raised in two weeks)
- First year in providing matching donor options for anyone wanting to donate to the event and have their employer or similar organization contribute to their amount
Production:
- Specific photography and general content from a tour of the St. Jude campus and a specialized lab tour by Dr. Marybeth Lupo (unrelated) at the new Inspiration4 Advanced Research Center on the St. Jude campus
Look & Feel:
- Donor reward for $60 donation for a sticker pack of St. Jude, DrLupo and BAC stickers.
- Each year the overall campaign design is based on the associative “building” in games such as Minecraft and Fortnite or specific Lego challenges.
Production:
- Specific photography and general content from a tour of the St. Jude campus and a specialized lab tour by Dr. Marybeth Lupo (unrelated) at the new Inspiration4 Advanced Research Center on the St. Jude campus
- Complete reimagining of ALSAC’s Guest Experience Space overlooking the St. Jude campus
- Extensive lighting o Stage prep and general rigging for a multi-stage setup for four main stations during 24hr event
- Four high-end gaming PCs connected to a single streaming PC, processed through equipment pulled from the ALSAC studio
- Two controller options between DrLupo and production team with ability to control 12 different cameras, which included live shots from the St. Jude campus
- Segment rotations between the central streaming area, a live 4ft tall Lego build, a double-segment of a hot wing challenge and a wild game of Uno, a main coach for interviews and specific gameplay segments
- Technologists from both organizing parties crafted captivating and interactive fundraising tools to make the most of the live experience, with the majority of the work occurring during the actual broadcast
Total Raised: $1.04M in 24hrs ($12.7M raised lifetime since Summer 2017)
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42 unique donor countries represented
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Over 6,000 total donations
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#BuildAgainstCancer treading on social for opening and closing segments
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Total reach from event – 229M
Video for Build Against Cancer 2022
