UK
Biobank
UK Biobank is a UK-based charity that has followed 500,000 volunteers for two decades, creating the world’s most comprehensive dataset linking genetics, lifestyle, imaging, and health outcomes. Over 22,000 researchers in 60 countries use it. The data has enabled 18,000 peer-reviewed papers, informed clinical practice, and accelerated drug development.
Learn more about the projectContext
UK Biobank’s participants enrolled between 2006-2010, aged 40-69. They’re now averaging 74 – precisely the age when major diseases manifest. This creates a time-sensitive opportunity: baseline data from decades ago can now be correlated with disease outcomes as they occur. But the window is closing. Each year participants age represents data that cannot be recreated without another 20-year wait.
The organisation needed a fundraising brochure for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and philanthropic foundations to support two major studies (Healthy Ageing and Brain Health) and critical infrastructure investment.
Challenge
We conducted interviews with UK Biobank leadership and researchers around the world whose work depends on the resource. We then translated technical research into accessible narratives that demonstrated impact without overselling achievement.
The structure leads with urgency, establishes credibility, demonstrates proof through global case studies, presents specific funding opportunities, and addresses operational sustainability. Each section builds without restating arguments.
Solution
A fundraising document that respects donor intelligence while making the urgency case clearly. The client reports a strong positive response.
Close
I have used HOPE for many years and it’s always been a strong relationship. They understand the brief, they ask good questions, the copywriting and creativity is super, and the ‘outputs’ are always effective. This is particularly true when I have commissioned marketing assets for the attention of wealthy individuals and philanthropists. In my last job, the work HOPE produced helped me raise over £13 million. I would always recommend HOPE for major gift fundraising.
Paul Summerfield Director of Philanthropy, UK Biobank
