The mission of The Tyler Robinson Foundation is to strengthen families financially and emotionally as they cope with the tragedy of a pediatric cancer diagnosis by offsetting out-of-pocket life expenses.
In 2013 the Robinson family and Imagine Dragons lost a son and a friend when 16 year old Tyler Robinson passed away after battling pediatric cancer. The family and the band then teamed up to create the Tyler Robinson Foundation with the goal of raising money to help strengthen families financially & emotionally as they cope with the tragedy of a pediatric cancer diagnosis.
Every year, the Foundation is committed to further raising the awareness of pediatric cancer and increasing its fundraising efforts through innovative campaigns that reach a wider audience.
This year was no exception with widespread social promotion, unique fan events, and a partnership with live streaming experts Telescope.
From local fundraisers and driving recognition across social, fans have rescued a lot of families dealing with the fallout from a pediatric cancer diagnosis. Continually looking at new ways to reach fans and in partnership with CrowdRise, the band initiated a $1 donation plan for every concert ticket sold on tour as well as a donation promotion to win VIP and upgraded tour tickets and band meet and greets.
This culminated in the annual Believer Gala, a truly memorable philanthropic live event. The show was streamed live to Facebook and broadcast to fans around the globe through Telescope's live streaming platform - Live Studio.
Utilizing Live Studio's interactive graphics, viewers were prompted to donate in real-time via Facebook's Donate Button, and share their support for The TRF Foundation. The event yielded an inspiring live streaming event – honoring the memory of Tyler Robinson while raising national and global awareness and support for families fighting pediatric cancer.
"The Tyler Robinson Foundation, founded by the band and the Robinson Family to honor a young fan that succumbed to cancer, is the most important and meaningful thing the band has been a part of. It's been incredibly inspiring to see the way that fans literally around the world have raised money to rescue these pediatric cancer families in need. These families have had their entire life turned upside down, and playing a small part in getting them through that crisis and out the other end happy and healthy is a privilege."
- Mac Reynolds, Vice Board Chair, TRF & Manager of Imagine Dragons
The live Gala event raised $1,065,000. Combined with an additional $350K in donations from Imagine Dragons's ticket sales and sweepstakes efforts throughout their tour and 150K in 3rd party events - this resulted in a total of over $1.4m in donations.
With the livestream alone generated amazing results including: 1.3 million views, an overall reach of 6,042,000 with 965,548 unique viewers.
All of these dollars will help so many kids come out the other side of cancer healthy, happy and stronger than ever. Proving that while Tyler may not be with us, his legacy continues to leave a profound effect, positively affecting countless lives and families.
