Five Years Powering NZ's Iconic Pink Ribbon Street Appeal
How PurposeTech helps Breast Cancer Foundation NZ coordinate 8,000+ volunteers across 1,000+ collection sites every October
About the Pink Ribbon Street Appeal
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ's iconic Pink Ribbon Street Appeal has been running for almost twenty years and is one of New Zealand's most iconic volunteer-powered fundraising events.
The appeal is held during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, with thousands of volunteers taking to the streets to collect donations for breast cancer research, education, and patient support services.
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ believes that one day, no one will die of breast cancer. Your donations help fund early detection programmes, ground-breaking research through Te Rēhita Mate Ūtaetae (the National Breast Cancer Register), and the iconic pink campervan that travels the country educating Kiwis.
The Challenge
Scaling a Nationwide Appeal Through a Pandemic
When Breast Cancer Foundation NZ first partnered with PurposeTech in 2021, they were facing multiple challenges: an increasingly cashless society, the complexity of COVID-19 traffic light restrictions, and managing an expensive, overly complex and disconnected volunteer management system for coordinating Area Coordinators and volunteers across the country.
Key Challenges:
- An increasingly cashless society: Awareness that future fundraising would likely decline as people carry less cash
- COVID-19 traffic light system: Different regions had different restrictions, requiring real-time, region-specific communications
- Expensive, disconnected volunteer management: Managing an overly complex and disconnected volunteer management system
- Poor data visibility: Lack of insights into volunteer coverage, repeat registration rates, and campaign performance
- Duplicate registrations: Previous processes led to duplicate records and inconsistent volunteer data
The Solution
PurposeTech deployed a full-featured volunteer management platform at pinkribbonvolunteer.org.nz, enabling Breast Cancer Foundation NZ to coordinate their massive appeal with increased efficiency.
The platform supports two-hour collection shifts across 1,000+ sites, gives Area Coordinators a unique login with all the information they need, and enables real-time region-specific communications. During COVID-19, this proved essential—allowing Breast Cancer Foundation NZ to send targeted updates to affected regions, sometimes the day before appeal day.
Five Years of Growing Partnership
Partnership Begins During COVID
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ adopts PurposeTech to navigate traffic light restrictions with region-specific communications.
Scaling & Optimisation
Platform expanded to operate at scale with enhanced Area Coordinator tools.
Self-Service Evolution
Volunteer self-service booking refined, improving repeat registration rates.
Continued Growth
Fourth successful appeal with improved coverage tracking and reporting.
Fifth Year Together
October 17-18 Street Appeal—the 2025 campaign is wrapped up with thousands more volunteers coordinated.
Transforming NZ's Iconic Street Appeal
Five years of partnership has fundamentally changed how Breast Cancer Foundation NZ coordinates their Pink Ribbon Street Appeal.
Sustained Revenue Growth
After years of limited growth, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ achieved improved volunteer coordination and coverage to drive fundraising success.
Reduced Admin Time
Self-service volunteer management dramatically reduced the administrative burden on the fundraising team.
“The platform has transformed the way we run our street appeal – we are much more efficient and can focus on generating income vs moving data around.”
Volunteer Coordinator
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ
Empowered Area Coordinators
Unique logins give Area Coordinators visibility and control over their regional volunteers.
COVID-19 Resilience
Real-time region-specific communications enabled the appeal to continue through changing traffic light restrictions.
Every volunteer shift, every pink ribbon given out, every dollar collected brings us closer to a future where no one dies of breast cancer.
Learn more about Breast Cancer Foundation NZ's life-saving work at breastcancerfoundation.org.nz
Ready to Transform Your Street Appeal?
Whether you're running a nationwide collection campaign or coordinating regional fundraising events, PurposeTech can help.