Collaborating with local farmers to generate income

In early 2020 the fundraising team at The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House were approached by PS and JE Ward, a local commercial tulip farmer, about a potential fundraising event.

PS and JE Ward cultivate the only outdoor tulip fields in the UK. In order to be commercially sold, tulips have to go through a bulb-strengthening process where they must bloom twice – once outdoors and once in a greenhouse. This means there is a period of time each year when the tulip fields are in full bloom, but the flowers themselves won’t be harvested for sale.

The farmer believed people would pay to visit the colourful fields. With development from the fundraising team, this idea evolved into the ‘Tulips for Tapping’ event.  

Overall the team welcomed approximately 10,000 people to the second event and raised £93,392 over the 10 days that the fields were open.

‘Tulips for Tapping’ has now become an annual event for the Norfolk Hospice.

In 2022, The Norfolk Hospice was awarded with the Innovation in Income Generation Award at the Hospice UK National Conference for their work on the ‘Tulips for Tapping’ event.

Key facilitators

Local businesses were keen to provide facilities in exchange for having a presence at the event. They also advertised the event in the local area, which drove up ticket sales.

PS and JE Ward advertised the event via their own social media channels, even creating video content specifically to market the event. This was especially helpful as the company has quite a large social media following.

Challenges

COVID-19 posed a problem for ‘Tulips for Tapping’. Planning for the first event got underway in early 2020, but was stopped in its tracks by the pandemic, leading it to be delayed until spring 2021. Some COVID restrictions were still in place which meant the hospice had to ticket the event. This was actually helpful - the number of ticket sales indicated that the event was going to be more popular than expected, allowing the team to adjust the number of volunteers and facilities they provided. Without the social distancing rules, the hospice might not have thought to sell tickets.

The ticketing service that was used during the first event took a large chunk of the ticket money as commission. This left the hospice team with less profit than expected. The team is now using an alternative software for ticket sales.

An event like this is unique, as the whole thing is reliant on plant growth cycles. Flower growth is not an exact science, so the farmers don’t know exactly when their tulips will bloom. This means the hospice doesn’t know when the event will be held until about 10 days beforehand, in which time they need to book trade stands, arrange volunteers and sell tickets. 

To navigate this, the team creates anticipation about the ticket release by marketing the event on social media and in local press. This buzz around the event means tickets are bought up quickly once released. The team keeps volunteers and potential trade stands informed about the window of time when the event is likely to happen, so they have an idea of times they should keep free.

Crops need to be rotated regularly, so the event must be held in a different field each year. To avoid any confusion around this the fundraising team make sure each new location is clearly advertised to attendees. The team also has to arrange new facilities each year, such as a nearby car park for visitors and easily accessible toilets.