The MOF Federated Health campaign was run by two very capable chairs, Pauline Padmore and Gregory Collins. Both work in the Stakeholder Coordination area of Budget Secretariat in the Communications Services Branch.
The ministry’s campaign had two executive Leads, Sara Tune for the multiple offices in Toronto and Frances Ryan for Oshawa and other area offices.
This was not Pauline’s first time, but it was Gregory’s as he has only been with the government for 10 months. As a result, Gregory brought a plethora of new ideas and new ways to light up the 2024 campaign while Pauline provided, in her words, “essential past experience.”
MOF never has a problem recruiting volunteers, but her advice to future chairs is to always be friendly and open to volunteers. As well, Gregory felt that working on the campaign would be a great networking opportunity. It provides a means of reaching out and getting to know other people in the ministry and its various divisions, as well as more senior ministry people like the Honorary Chairs. Pauline added that the experience can be very personal and that can bring a lot to the table; a great way to include your own experiences to the campaign, particularly new experiences and perspectives that can enhance and refresh the campaign.
Pauline also provided a handy tip about using AGCO for raffle or 50/50 purposes. And her advice was do it as early as possible to ensure you have the license in place for your event.
Gregory felt that innovation fueled this year’s campaign at MOF, and he said the volunteers “really stepped up.” Using technology help streamline events, such as a booking software for the Headshot appointments — photographs taken by the BudSec Graphic Designers , Eva and Jonathan; and implementing Microsoft Forms and QR Codes for easier event registration.
Events that worked
The MOF team really thought ahead and reached out for event donations when they made sense, not just within the parameters of the campaign. They raised more that $600 with a candygram sale which was done around Valentines in February. However, Pauline reached out to get donations around early January and managed to get quite a few from different candymakers.
Gregory brought innovation to some of their sales. It was his idea to sell succulents and, working with Pauline who found an excellent source, they raised over $600 and they ran it in association with Father’s Day in June.
The closing event was a Jeopardy-style trivia tournament. They incorporated pop culture questions in response to suggestions from contestants that participated in the event in 2023. There was a 25 percent increase in contestants from the previous year.
They also had a Wikipedia War Room, an Escape Room event, and a mini-golf Tournament.
Oshawa’s bake sale raised $900, Toronto’s Jamaican patty sale brought in over $300, and the total amount raised through MOF special event sales held across the province exceeded $10,000.
And the results, a 13% increase of funds raised over 2023 campaign. Regardless, as Gregory put it, “You can always do better.”
