How Jazz Romania Turned 1 Empty Chair into a Massive Money Raiser

For parents whose children have cancer, life is exhausting. Things get even more draining when the family lives a long distance from the hospital – parents find themselves practically welded to the chair by their child’s bedside, caring for their kid during the day and spending the night trying and failing to sleep.

That’s why Romanian charity Magichome provides housing for families of sick children.  

Unfortunately, their Bucharest facilities were unable to accommodate many families and seriously ill children in need of support and a place to stay. And so they turned to local agency Jazz, to help them raise enough money to build a new centre.

The idea sprang from that uncomfortable hospital chair. They placed a chair behind a window in an art gallery and invited people to come and keep the chair occupied until the charity had received enough donations. Hundreds of people applied online and soon they had enough volunteers – 1,821 – to fill the chair 24/7 until April 2018. 

PR agency Rogalski Damaschin got involved to help push the project out and get the local media on board. The project launched on November 3rd 2017 and within 20 days, and with the help of 636 sitters, the charity reached their goal. They raised €309,000 and recruited 115,000 monthly donors. 

In terms of reach, the campaign performed well in the country, reaching 66% of Romanian Facebook users with the campaign video being viewed 1.1 million times. Not bad, given the non-existent media budget.

But, most importantly, the project allowed Magichome to crack on with building their new centre. Situated next to the Bucharest Oncology Institute and Fundenj Clinical Institute, the facility will accommodate 25 and 30 people a day and will provide nearly 10,000 meals a year.