Lease let down
Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) is a world-leading charity that swoops in with a team of highly-skilled lifesavers to over 3,300 incidents annually across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
In December 2023, they hit turbulence when their aviation partner faced administration, risking grounding their fleet. Fortunately, a new partner came to the rescue, offering them the opportunity to buy a helicopter, a lifeline but with a clause – a tight three-month deadline. With some money already in their ‘helicopter kitty’, KSS needed to raise the final £1m, urgently.
An emergency appeal, for an emergency service
The team at Join the Dots threw themselves into media planning and recommended an integrated approach that would be greater than the sum of its parts. We launched KSS’s most ambitious fundraising drive yet. Our campaign, ‘Buy it for Life’, had a simple yet powerful message – help secure the helicopter and save lives. Utilising radio, door drops, press and inserts, the campaign targeted Kent, Surrey and Sussex with precision, avoiding encroaching on other air ambulance territories.
Flying high
The campaign soared, exceeding its target in just four weeks, raising an astonishing £1.9m in total – it was the most successful campaign in KSS’s history. Nearly 14,000 donations poured in, with more than 2,000 donors contributing £100 or more to have their names inscribed on the helicopter. There was also an unexpected outcome – the outpouring of emotional support for the charity. KSS found that hundreds of people were writing very personal and moving comments alongside their donations. It really felt like the community was banding together. We couldn’t be prouder of our work with KSS, it’s made a real difference to nearly 5m people living in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and everyone in team KSS. We were also finalists for this campaign in the Drum Awards Festival, DMA Awards and The Strategic Mailing Partnership Awards. And KSS won the Air Ambulances UK Campaign of the Year!
We were finalists for this campaign in the Drum Awards Festival, DMA Awards and The Strategic Mailing Partnership Awards in 2024. And KSS won the 2024 Air Ambulances UK Campaign of the Year! Not only this, but we’re also shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Fundraising National Fundraising Awards 2025, for Fundraising Campaign of the Year – vote for us!
Campaign stats
- The total amount raised stands at an astonishing £1.9m
- 13,948 people donated
- 6,368 people donated for the first time
- More than 2,100 have donated £100 or more to have their name on the helicopter
- The media campaign reached around 360m across the globe
