Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is in the process of building a new 70-acre campus in Atlanta to provide highly specialized pediatric care to more patients than ever before. The 1.5 million-square-foot hospital will feature 19 floors, over 446 patient rooms, multiple activity centers, and copious outdoor play space planned.
To make the development of this campus possible, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation aims to raise $1B over the next five years. However, with countless other non-profit organizations seeking similar donations, standing out amongst the competition and bringing donors on board can be challenging.
The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation needed a unique way to excite corporations, private donors, other foundations, as well as the general public. The Foundation has traditionally relied upon architectural dioramas and visual renderings to secure donations, but these models do not tell the whole story. Even after careful examination, donors are still left with questions. To alleviate common concerns preventing donor commitment, the Foundation explored alternative methods of showcasing the future campus.
We collaborated with building and landscape architects to get the 3D models and reference images needed to recreate the future campus in virtual reality. From the beautiful outdoor gardens to the indoor dining facilities, we identified 25 hot spot locations throughout the hospital; when donors put on a VR headset, they will be able to visit them all! These locations were carefully curated to provide donors with a walk-through of the areas that patients will see when they first arrive, highlighting what makes Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta a positive experience when families are challenged with extended stays away from home. As donors journey through entry plazas, check-in desks, and play areas, they will better visualize the impact their donation will have on patient lives and hospital development.
Hover over the image to see a before and after texturing of the dining room.
Instead of creating a hospital that donors could only look at, we created a hospital that they could interact with. To do this, we incorporated a handful of activities that spark unexpected moments of joy throughout the campus walk-through experience. These interactive elements include basketball, frisbee, and xylophones located in The Zone activity center, a cornhole and a soccer ball outside on the Great Lawn, and a miniature door with pictures of the hospital’s therapy dogs.
donated as of June 2023
As of June 2023, three years into their five-year fundraising campaign, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation has raised over $838M – 84% of the campaign’s total goal. Most notably, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation donated a generous amount of $200 million and secured the naming rights to the hospital. This is the single largest donation in Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s history and one that is sure to have a positive impact on the development of the hospital as well as the lives of patients and their families. The virtual reality experience shows donors what their contribution means and what the new campus will look like when it is completed. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and donor appointments had to be extended by 30 minutes to account for the extra time people were spending in VR.
