Tables4aCause.

April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Late in April this year a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, killing more than 8,800 people and injuring 23,000 others. This was made all the worse by the barrage of aftershocks that followed. The most powerful of these occurred on 12 May, with a magnitude of 7.3 – a staggering earthquake in its own right. Hundreds of thousands have been left homeless following the mass destruction which has levelled entire villages. The journey towards recovery and the rebuilding of a shattered economy will take many years. The combined cost of this global effort could exceed $5 billion. Now, more than ever, Nepal needs as much support and compassion as we can give.

Australia’s hospitality industry benefits greatly from the culinary expertise and cultural enrichment brought by the many hard working Nepalese migrants and families working in kitchens around Australia. With this understanding an idea was born – Matteo Pignatelli (National President of Restaurant & Catering Association) and David Mackintosh (Chairman, Victorian Food & Wine Tourism Council) coming together to raise funds for earthquake victims.

In two weeks, with support volunteered from August, Langton’s and Ellen Rolland PR, they brought their idea to fruition: an auction-style fundraiser, called Tables4aCause.

What do you need to know about Tables4aCause? Let’s count backwards from 4.

• A booking for 4 people at one of Australia’s best venues.
• An amazing 3 course meal (at minimum),
• With 2 bottles of wine personally chosen by the sommelier.
• 1 fine way to spend an evening!

112 restaurants, wineries and cafes donated tables to the auction. These included some of Australia’s best venues such as Rockpool, Rosetta, Matteo’s, Pei Modern (Melbourne), Estelle Bistro, Momofuku and Coda, just to name a few.

How they did it.

When David and Matteo originally came up with the idea for Tables4aCause, they contacted Zoe, and asked us to partner with them on branding, site development and social management.

“The team at August were more than happy to jump in and help out,” said Zoe, “Within about a week we had pulled it all together, and with support from Langton’s Auctions, the online auction site was also ready to go the following week.”

Digital tools are being utilised to coordinate community action and mobilise support for global issues. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Zoe says:

“The tools we have at our disposal now help us to turn talk into action much more quickly. We can create meaningful online campaigns that can achieve amazing results – and we can do it fast.”

So, how’d it go?

The weeklong live auction wrapped up on Wednesday 20th May with the winners attending their dinners a week later on the 27th. All up, Tables4aCause raised $33,000! Director of Services & International Operations at the Australian Red Cross, Michael Raper, said:

“The funds raised by ‘Tables4aCause’ represent one of the biggest contributions raised by community groups in Australia to help the millions of people in Nepal who have been so tragically affected by earthquakes in the past month.”

Tables4aCause was a success:

• 100% of the $33,000 raised went directly to the Australian Red Cross Nepal Region Earthquake Appeal.
• Participating venues benefited from positive publicity as sponsors and supporters.
• Winning bidders enjoyed amazing meals at some of Australia’s most delicious places to dine – with many reporting back that they received up to 10 courses or full degustation menus (above and beyond the 3 course minimum contribution) and generous beverage services.
• Everyone earned the deep satisfaction of supporting a worthy cause.

A fantastic outcome!

Co-founder, David Mackintosh:

“We’re proud to belong to a caring industry. We have been overwhelmed with support […] the response confirms how much we care about our teams and their families, here and abroad.”

The age of digital philanthropy

Matteo and David, with their many sponsors and supporters, have achieved an amazing thing here. They demonstrated how a good idea with a creative execution and digital channels can be used to make the charitable process something exciting, engaging and easy to pull together.

Digital is profoundly changing the philanthropy space. It has increased the speed at which it is now possible to get fundraising campaigns up and running. It’s also changed the experience for both donors and recipients.

We’re looking forward to seeing more campaigns of this nature in the future.

We’d like to congratulate David, Matteo, participating venues, Langton’s, Ellen , as well as each and every bidder for making the first campaign for Tables4aCause the resounding success that it was.

Photo credit: James Broadway