Starlight Enhances ‘Wish List’ Program with Online Gift Certificates

Just in time for the holidays, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, which works with more than 500 American pediatric hospitals and medical centers to provide programs that help young patients and their families, has enhanced its online “wish list” that allows individual, corporate, and foundation donors to help meet the expressed needs of institutions in its network.

Now, in addition to, or in lieu of, making their own contributions, donors can buy online gift certificates and send by email to others, who can then use them to donate electronically to any wish list requests they choose.

The program is now small, but Starlight officials expect it to grow steadily as additional incentives like the gift certificates offer a simple way to increase the number and amount of donations.

Another aim of the program is to support the organization’s plan of having a well-diversified revenue stream. Starlight decided that no more than 5 percent of donations should come from any one source, says Chris de Haan, a senior director at the organization.

Donors and recipients of Starlight’s e-Gift Cards can use the wish list to search for pediatric facilities by location, name, or medical specialty. From there, clicking on any institution that pops up takes users to that organization’s wish list of needs, from inexpensive games for sick kids to pricey medical equipment and services.

While the Starlight wish list is similar to DonorsChoose, the popular website whereby people donate money to school projects posted by teachers, it operates differently, says Jacquie Hart, Starlight’s chief executive. Starlight doesn’t rely on a group of donors to pay for any particular item or project listed, as does DonorsChoose, nor does it withhold money from a project unless it meets a stated goal.

And unlike DonorsChoose, which charges administrative and fundraising fees, Starlight paid the cost of creating its wish list and takes no fees from contributions.

The items donors select are shipped directly to each pediatric facility, and Starlight deducts no fees from their contributions, which appeals to donors. Other wish-list donors like the fact that they can use the wish list to find local charities needing their support. “People want to give where they live, work, and play,” says Ms. Hart. “It is a benefit that we are a community supporter coast to coast.”

The new e-Gift Cards, which can be purchased for as little as $10, are Starlight’s latest endeavor to improve its fundraising returns with the 16-month-old wish list, which has raised $2.6-million since its debut in July 2013. Starlight officials said they chose electronic gift certificates because of the rise of online shopping, the popularity of gift cards, and a desire by donors, particularly millennials, to be socially responsible.

The e-Gift Cards are prominently featured on the foundation’s website and are also one of the options people can choose in the“12 Days of Giving” online holiday campaign that Starlight started in 2013 and is repeating this year.

The campaign highlights a different wish-list need or opportunity on each day of the drive. Representing those days are 12 whimsical-looking doors on the campaign’s website, each of which goes live on the related day of the campaign. The campaign began on Giving Tuesday and will end December 13, after being featured in three email appeals and heavily promoted on social-media sites including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The effort raised just $27,000 last year, but officials say that in this year’s 12-day online campaign, they hope to at least double that amount, and continue growing from there.

The year-end campaign and e-Gift Cards seem to be working: Two companies are expected to collectively purchase more than 100 gift cards for their clients and employees, Starlight officials say. Meanwhile, the number of donations are up 67 percent from this time last year, and the total amount given is 20 percent higher.