Westpac promotes, manages and funds the national Westpac Chopper Appeal, aiming to raise $1 million every year to help keep rescue helicopter services flying.

In 2012 times were tough, and with over 20,000 registered charities there was a lot of competition for the charitable dollar. People were also feeling a little ‘donored out’ given their generosity to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and the lack of tangible results seen as a result of their donation. There were also questions being raised about third party collectors who took 75-90% of people’s donations just to pay their collection fees (something we definitely did not want to rub off onto the Chopper Appeal, as Westpac delivers 100% of donations straight to the Rescue Helicopter Trusts). To top that off, a Chopper Appeal event that raised $357,885(22% of 2011’s donations) was not going to be run this year – and the Chopper budget was the lowest in four years – down 27% on 2011.

Despite these challenges, a record Chopper Appeal was achieved, raising $1,672,085 (67% over target) and increased direct response from some channels by up to 283%, achieving an ROI of $3.65 for every dollar spent - an increase of 39% year-on-year.