The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
SickKids 'The Count' reframes birthdays as the fight — One Show 2026 Best of Non-Profit
For SickKids' 150th birthday, FCB Canada films real patients as athletes fighting toward their next birthday — One Show 2026 Best of Non-Profit.
SickKids Foundation · FCB Canada
What it had to solve
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) turned 150 on April 3, 2025, and SickKids Foundation — newly partnered with FCB Canada — had to celebrate the milestone while motivating donations at a time when charitable giving in Canada was declining and donors were hesitant.
How it works
On April 3, 2025 — the 150th birthday of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children — SickKids Foundation launched 'The Count' as its first brand film with new agency FCB Canada. Charitable giving in Canada was falling and donors were cautious, so the brief was to honour the history while still motivating gifts today.
FCB's idea turned the milestone around: what every patient is fighting for is literally their next birthday. The film merged birthday imagery with athletic training, casting more than 20 real patients (23 by the campaign credits) as athletes preparing, enduring and pushing toward that goal, with an original score built from the patients' own audio recordings. Director of brand marketing Roy Gruia said FCB held the foundation to the fight instead of letting the work water down its message with 150 years of accomplishments.
Production partners donated significant time — Merchant co-produced with Iconoclast, Clément Durou directed, Neil Smith edited, ARC handled VFX and colour, Soundtree composed — and the film ran as an integrated TV, OOH, social and digital campaign built around the suggested $150 'ultimate birthday gift.'
The work generated $776K in one-time donations, acquired more than 5,300 new donors and drove a 44% increase in year-over-year revenue, more than doubling its objective. The One Show 2026 named The Count Best of Non-Profit alongside RSBC's Bedtime Donations, and SickKids Foundation was the show's Non-Profit Client of the Year.
Why it lands
- The 150th anniversary became a stage, not the subject: the ask was future birthdays, giving donors a concrete reason to give now.
- Casting real patients as athletes reframed treatment as active fighting, dignifying the children instead of pitying them.
- The birthday goal made a vast institution's mission graspable in an image every family understands.
- FCB doubled down on the equity of the SickKids VS platform instead of launching a fresh one for a new agency.
What it did
The campaign generated $776K in one-time donations, acquired 5,300+ new donors and lifted revenue 44% year over year, more than doubling its objective; The One Show 2026 named it Best of Non-Profit alongside RSBC's Bedtime Donations.
What you can take
An anniversary is a stage, not the story: by making the milestone the occasion and each child's next birthday the goal, the campaign gave an old institution a reason to donate today.
Since then
SickKids Foundation reported $776K in one-time donations and 5,300+ new donors, with year-over-year revenue up 44% and average gift size and donation intent also rising. The film extended the SickKids VS platform into the hospital's next era, and The One Show 2026 gave The Count a Best of Non-Profit award — shared with RSBC's Bedtime Donations — while naming SickKids Foundation its Non-Profit Client of the Year.
Sources
- SickKids Fights for Every Birthday in First Campaign from FCB Canada
- 2026 Winner — SickKids Foundation, 'The Count'
- Ogilvy Singapore wins three Best of Disciplines at The One Show 2026
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