make-a-wish alaska & washington
Wish Night Gala & Auction
Designing a Record-Breaking Fundraiser
Make-A-Wish Alaska & Washington is part of a national network that grants life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses. Each wish is meant to bring hope, strength, and joy during an incredibly difficult time, made possible by community support and annual fundraisers like Wish Night.
For the past three years, Touch has partnered with the Make-A-Wish team to shape the Wish Night experience for donors. Together, we’ve worked to make the event more immersive and more personal by focusing on stronger storytelling and a deeper emotional connection to the mission.
Each year, the challenge is the same: how do you create an environment that doesn’t just host a fundraiser, but actually moves people to give? We approach the evening as a series of intentional moments, guiding guests from curiosity to connection to action.
$3 Million
Raised
$500k
Over Goal
This year’s theme, “Waves of Wonder,” was inspired by a wish kid who wished to go to Hawaii and meet a mermaid. We transformed the venue into an underwater world with soft lighting, flowing fabrics, and suspended marine elements that helped immerse the room and prime guests to participate, not just attend, when the program and auction began.
The program opened with a panoramic animated story across three LED screens, following the featured wish kid as she swam with a sea turtle through an underwater journey toward the mermaid of her wish. It transitioned into a live performance of Seasons of Love, featuring wish alumni alongside local youth performers—pulling the story out of animation and into the room.
The auction became a shared experience, with the auctioneer guiding the pace and real-time bids displayed on screen, making generosity feel visible and collective. The result was the most successful night in the organization’s history, raising just under $3 million — nearly half a million over goal.
Designing a record-breaking fundraiser
More importantly, guests described it as one of the most seamless and emotionally engaging galas they’d ever attended in Seattle. Proof of what can happen when an event is designed as a thematically layered, story-driven, strategically engaging experience.
Interdisciplinary Services Included:
