Friday, March 25th, the 24th Irish Cancer Society Daffodil Day took place. This is Ireland’s largest flag day which helps raise almost €4m for cancer research and care services each year with over €43m raised since 1987. This funds free, nationwide patient care services, night nursing and cancer information services – a very worthy cause. Speaking about Daffodil Day, Aongus Hegarty, VP & GM, CSMB EMEA, Dell said: "Dell is delighted to be involved with the Irish Cancer Society and its flagship event, Daffodil Day. Over the past six months we have worked closely with the Irish Cancer Society to help ensure that this year’s event is the most successful ever. This has been a fantastic partnership for us as it has been an opportunity for our Dublin and Limerick based teams to work together on a cause that is close to many people’s hearts and we are really proud of how our employees have embraced this event.”
The 3 year partnership between Dell and the ICS was announced internally to all employees via the all staff events. The Limerick all staff took place on the 23rd of November, while the Cherrywood all staff took place on the 13th of December – both of which were attended by the Irish Cancer Society CEO and guest speaker John McCormack. Internal mails to all staff also announced the partnership to employees
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A photocall took place on the 16th of January to publically announce Dell’s sponsorship of Daffodil Day to all external audiences. The external announcement was fronted by VP EMEA CSMB Aongus Hegarty who appeared in a large number of photos in national and regional papers as well as in online coverage. In Limerick a separate announcement with Sean Corkery, Vice President, Dell Global Supply Chain Operations and Padraig Healy, Site Leader, Dell Limerick was held. Speaking on Daffodil Day Padraig Healy said: " Daffodil Day is a very special day on the Irish calendar for everyone – for thousands of volunteers, patients and those involved in cancer care. Dell has a long tradition of supporting Daffodil Day and the Irish Cancer Society through a range of fundraising and volunteering activities. We are delighted to be their official sponsor for Daffodil Day this year.”
The Irish Cancer Society’s volunteer launch then took place in the Dublin Convention Centre on Wednesday the 9th of February. Up to 6,500 people volunteer for Daffodil Day each year so this piece was central to the campaign’s success. Dell sent a total of twenty Dell employees from both Limerick and Cherrywood sites to the event, with Dermot O’Connell, GM, Dell Ireland addressing the hundreds of attendees to talk about details of Dell’s support.
On the 22nd of February, the “Our Company Cares” photocall took place which included a mix of Dell’s volunteers from both Limerick and Cherrywood with celebrities from the Irish version of “The Apprentice”. The ‘Our Company Cares’ campaign is designed to encourage corporate involvement and support for Daffodil Day. This photocall also received coverage in national and regional newspapers.
A national advertising campaign to support Daffodil Day and to highlight Dell’s involvement commenced on the 28th of February with the TV advert being placed on all Irish TV channels including RTE, TV3, TG4, SKY, E4, MTV, Paramount, Living TV, 3E, Setanta as well as other digital channels – it was also placed on YouTube. The radio advert was also heard on RTE Radio 1, Newstalk, Today FM, UTV Urban Access and 16 other stations. There were over 40 outdoor advertising sites around Ireland, with a large banner being placed on Liberty Hall – Ireland’s tallest building. The Daffodil Day / Dell images have also been placed on all .ie websites – helping to further raise awareness of Daffodil Day and of Dell’s involvement with this huge campaign.
The social media plan was well on track, with an ICS tab being placed on the Dell Ireland Facebook Page. The Daffodil Day avatar was in place with many users including the avatar on their profile pictures. Dell also worked with the ICS to create an online Garden of Hope
The volunteering efforts began in earnest in mid February, when over the course of a month 84 Dell volunteers assisted in the ICS warehouse – organizing, packing and distributing Daffodil Day merchandise across Ireland.
Onsite cancer health awareness talks ran in Cherrywood on the 8th and 9th of March as well as the 15th and 16th in Limerick. Preparations for the Garden of Hope also began on the 14th of March with 93 people volunteering to assemble paper daffodils over a period of 10 days.
In the week building up to Daffodil Day itself, volunteers from both Dell sites helped sell merchandise onsite, while the Limerick site hosted a table quiz with over 220 participants raising €1,120 alone. A final photo call before the day was also arranged and gained national coverage.
Overall, in the build- up to the day itself, over 500 Irish employees volunteered their time to sell merchandise on the streets, to sell on site, to count money or to help in the ICS warehouse. In addition Dell participated in national radio interviews, two photocalls and met the Prime Minister of Ireland who publicly acknowledged Dell’s support for this great cause. As well as this, over 2000 people in the Cherrywood and Limerick Dell sites wore yellow to work on Friday – helping to create a great atmosphere as well as helping to support the ongoing fundraising efforts.
Daffodil Day itself was a massive success story, with various activities occurring on and off the two sites. Firstly all Dell employees were asked to wear yellow to create the Daffodil Day atmosphere. This along with yellow balloons and posters created a great buzz around both Dell sites. Teams of Dell volunteers arrived in Phoenix Park, Dublin and People’s Park, Limerick to help plant paper daffodils in the Garden of Hope, while more volunteer teams positioned themselves on the streets of Dublin and Limerick to assist the ICS with on street merchandise sales – all of which was captured on Dell Streak and placed on the Dell Ireland Facebook. Media activity was busy on the day with Dell appearing on radio interviews in both Dublin and Limerick. A team of volunteers also assisted with the Garden of Hope tidy up on Monday.
Over 550 Dell Volunteers were involved in Daffodil Day with more fundraising and volunteering events being planned for the remainder of 2011
At present, Dell are unable to state an overall amount raised, however we are delighted with the amount of work and effort all Dell and ICS employees put in to make Daffodil Day 2011 a huge success.
To find out more information visit Dell Ireland Facebook site or The Irish Cancer Website
