Get NT Christian Schools Students to the Hydrogen Grand Prix 2024 World Finals

Client

TE H2 and NT Christian Schools

Service

Fundraising campaign set up and maintenance

Communication, marketing and media support

True North Strategic Communication was engaged by TE H2 to provide fundraising support to a team of 5 NT Christian Schools students after they received a wild card entry to compete in the Hydrogen Grand Prix (H2GP) 2024 World Finals in Anaheim, California.

This competition allows STEM students to design, engineer, build and race their own hydrogen-powered remote-controlled cars – a real-world opportunity to test an energy of the future. The team, Power Surge NT, competed at the regional finals in Queensland as the first ever Northern Territory team and placed second after a 4-hour endurance race testing their cars efficiency and team collaboration.

Challenges

Usually only the winner receives automatic qualification to the H2GP World Finals, but Power Surge NT were offered a wild card entry as they completed the highest number of laps during the race. This amazing opportunity presented a significant challenge – would it be possible to raise the funds to send the team to the World Finals in USA in time.

True North provided partial pro bono support through the set up of the fundraising campaign on GoFundMe, securing sponsorships, and communications, media and social media assistance. With a short timeframe to secure the required funds, True North prioritised this project and utilised existing relationships with key businesses and personnel secure $10,000 sponsorship within the first 24 hours.

Working with the staff at NT Christian Schools, True North developed the communications materials to ensure the team’s story was best told and distributed to a wide range of businesses to increase sponsorship possibilities. Facebook and LinkedIn pages were created and managed by True North to increase awareness on the project, connect with the community and continue to call for donations.

Our involvement culminated in a media event at Palmerston Christian School with the students meeting with the Chief Minister and two of the generous sponsors, TE H2 and Tivan Limited. This allowed the students to present their car and skills in an exciting and fun way, and experience sharing their stories with media.

Outcomes

• $35,000 was raised in 5 weeks from a combination of corporate sponsors, GoFundMe donations and NT Christian Schools quiz night fundraiser. This provided sufficient funding for the team to travel to USA, with the remaining funds being used to improve the STEM education program for future students.