The Hospital for Sick Children officially launched what it calls the largest hospital fundraising campaign in Canadian history on Friday, with the goal of rebuilding its facility from the ground up.

The goal of “SickKids VS” is to raise $1.3 billion by 2022.

“We started the campaign quietly a couple of years ago and we have already been able to raise $570 million. It’s a bold goal, with a 10-year plan to tear down and rebuild the hospital for Sick Kids,” says Ted Garrard, CEO for the Sick Kids Foundation.

The oldest part of the hospital was built in 1949 and does not allow for some of the innovative technologies staff and patients now need.

The new plans show new patient rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit and a new playroom.

SickKids spends about $2.3 million a year on advertising, which is about 1.6 per cent of its expected annual revenue. The hospital says it sees exponential returns on advertising during big campaigns like this one.

“For context on how marketing drives fundraising results, last year when we launched the new SickKids VS brand platform, we saw the best ever fundraising results during October – December 2016 of $57.9 million,” Sick Kids Hospital spokesperson Sandra Chiovitti said. “We saw that online donations more than doubled and the average donation value online also increased by 63 per cent.”

Mayor John Tory also naming Friday ‘SickKids VS Limits Day’ in Toronto. The Toronto sign will light up blue to commemorate the occasion Friday night.

Filed under: 680-news, fundraising campaign, sickkids, SickKids VS Limits Day