Objectives

Stephen Hackett (Memphis) and Myke Hurley (London) are co-founders of Relay FM – an independent network of roughly 30 podcasts covering topics like consumer technology and creativity. Stephen's son, Josiah, became a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2009 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

With a desire to give back to St. Jude for saving the life of Stephen’s son, now a thriving 13-year-old, Stephen and Myke were inspired to start a fundraising campaign to fully leverage the power of their podcast network after learning how gaming content creators fundraise via St. Jude PLAY LIVE. They asked ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude, to help them bring that vision to life in what has become a first-of-its-kind, multi-platform activation of a podcast community, raising over $2.2M since the inaugural event in 2019. 

2022 Key Objectives

• Drive awareness for the mission of St. Jude to Relay FM’s global audience (1.3M monthly downloads) during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM)
• Raise life-saving funds for St. Jude with the goal of surpassing the $701K campaign record set in 2021
• Continue to deliver a unique, fun, and deeply engaging philanthropic campaign for the community of Relay FM listeners
• Differentiate the 2022 campaign with new engagement opportunities, including piloting a community peer-to-peer fundraising CTA for listeners asking for more opportunities to support St. Jude or who could not give monetarily
• Test-and-learn multi-platform activations to demonstrate the potential of podcast communities to have a massive impact on the social good

Strategy and Execution

Relay and ALSAC have worked hand-in-hand from day one. The partnership is built on mutual admiration and trust demonstrated in collaborative and sometimes zany bi-weekly planning calls March through September– ideating new campaign content and fundraising tactics while continuously improving successful elements from years past. The performance of the campaign this year is a testament to the power of the relationship. Knowing that continued YoY growth would be difficult in the economic climate, Relay and ALSAC committed to pursuing innovative strategies and content to broaden campaign reach, like community fundraising.

Podcasts

• Hosts shared mission moments highlighting the lifesaving work of St. Jude, including discoveries and initiatives best aligned with audience interests
• Hosts shared personal testimonials about their passion for the mission along with updates on fundraising progress, fundraising milestone events, and planning of the “Podcastathon” to maintain engagement
• Segments included strong CTAs to donate and/or start a personal fundraising campaign; enticing listeners to act by promoting exclusive donation rewards and fundraiser incentives

Digital  

• The Relay FM website promoted the campaign, CCAM gold-themed show art, and show note CTAs
• A stjude.org/relay landing page was created to easily convert listeners by verbal CTAs in a central location to donate, register to fundraise, and find other key campaign information.

Social

• Relay FM logos and banners on social accounts “went gold” for CCAM and promoted stjude.org/relay
• Relay FM Twitter promoted a co-founder video message about passion for the cause and their gratitude for the support of the community
• Co-founders stuck a cartoon sticker of the other founder on studio furniture for every $500 raised and posted photo updates in a Twitter thread

Streaming Platforms

• Milestones: Community unlocked special Relay content as key fundraising milestones were surpassed, like a co-working stream on YouTube or a Twitch stream disassembling a Mac Clone
• Podcastathon: This signature event is an 8-hour livestream on Twitch hosted by the Relay FM co-founders from the St. Jude campus studio. The event serves as both a community celebration event and a continuation of the fundraising efforts.
  • Content featured segments with Relay FM hosts on listeners’ favorite topics and mission moment interviews including ALSAC’s Chief Marketing Officer, a St. Jude doctor, and two recently married former St. Jude patients
  • Balancing content with fundraising is the key challenge of this event. Fundraising CTAs are driven through fun and interactive challenges, such as a wheel spun for every $2,500 raised to make the co-founders wear silly onesies, smash a PC with a sledgehammer, and more.

Community Activations

• Community fundraising: Community fundraising was a new pilot, targeting listeners looking for a deeper engagement or who could not give in the difficult economic climate. Listeners created personal fundraising campaigns, asked personal networks to donate, and earned incentives.
• Discord: The Relay FM Member Discord featured a dedicated St. Jude channel to answer fundraiser/donor questions, share ideas, and promote upcoming events; bot commands provided fundraising updates.
• Tech-community promotion: Relay FM hosts leveraged relationships with five digital publications in the tech community to drive new eyes to the campaign.

Results

Total Raised: $706,297 ($2.2M since inaugural 2019 event)

• $85K from 255 community peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns (pilot effort)
• Over $100K raised during the 8-hour Podcastathon livestream on Twitch
• 58 unique donor countries represented
• 45% were first-time donors to the campaign

In-episode mission moments & CTAs: 65 unique episode segments

Campaign-related social posts: 90+ by 18 Relay FM influencers, estimated reach of 4M

Tech-community blog posts: 7 posts by 5 publications, including 512 Pixels, 9 to 5 Mac, Mac Stories, Six Colors and Daring Fireball

Podcastathon viewership: Over 9,300 unique viewers with 305K minutes watched

Media