Taylor Swift hype helps rake in dollars beyond charities’ wildest dreams

Taylor Swift’s wildly successful Eras Tour has moved economies, caused world leaders to plead with her to tour their countries and has given a huge boost to local businesses and tourism.

But it’s also had another, lesser-known impact: Several Canadian charities have been able to auction or raffle off coveted tickets to the tour, donated by benefactors, and rake in unprecedented amounts of money, as fans opened their wallets for a good cause and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation received tickets to a private suite for the last night of Swift’s world tour in Vancouver.

Angela Chapman, president and CEO of the foundation, had been hoping to raise north of $100,000, in her best-case scenario.

The 15 tickets ended up bringing in a staggering $320,000. Once the bidding started, it rapidly exceeded her target — and just kept going.

I had never seen anything quite like this, said Chapman, who has been a part of the fundraising scene for several decades.

She compared the tickets’ sale to an auction the foundation held a few years ago, where a De Beers necklace raised $168,000, roughly one and a half times their face value. In comparison, the Eras Tour tickets went for more than eight times their face value.

This was on a completely different level than that.

Swifties give back to community

In Toronto, 22 street signs bearing the name Taylor Swift Way went up for auction in support of the Daily Bread Food Bank, a local charity that aims to end food insecurity in the city.

It was the largest fundraising auction ever for the charity, raising nearly $217,000, which included a $113,000 contribution from Rogers. Past auctions tended to draw in between $5,000 and $10,000, said Neil Hetherington, the charity’s CEO.

Tickets that were a hot commodity helped local charities rake in unprecedented amounts of money as Taylor Swift fans opened their wallets for a good cause and a once-in-a lifetime experience. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) Photo: Radio-Canada / Evan Mitsui

This is certainly by far the largest auction that we’ve ever done before, Hetherington said.

It’s both the largest from a monetary perspective, it is also the most well-known and publicized auction because of the sheer celebrity factor around Taylor Swift.

However, because of how many people the organization serves, that could turn out to be a drop in the ocean, as it provides just under 200,000 meals a day, with one meal costing about $1.

This is less than two days’ worth of food for Daily Bread, he said, highlighting the rising population facing food insecurity, and the need for government intervention.

Not just fans trembling with excitement, but charities, too

Layne, The Auctionista is a charity fundraising auctioneer who’s sold several Canadian Taylor Swift tickets this fall. Prices ranged from $7,000 to $20,000.

Those tickets have been game-changing revenue for charities, they told CBC News.

Layne has found that hard-to-get tickets typically sell really well in auctions, like for Beyoncé, Pink, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen — but Taylor Swift is in a class all of her own.

Swift’s multigenerational appeal creates a frenzy across all ages.

I could be at one charity gala event where possibly the most they’ve ever sold a live auction package for is $5,000. So getting something like $10,000 or $12,000 for Taylor Swift tickets is phenomenal, they said.

They don’t want the TV, they don’t want the bicycle. But when T. Swift tickets are at the show, people will be making some crazy monetary decisions in that moment just to be there.

Meanwhile, Campfire Circle, a Toronto-based non-profit that supports children with cancer or other serious illnesses, was donated 20 tickets to Swift’s sold-out shows in that city.

It raised a massive $100,000 from a raffle for two pairs of tickets, and gifted the remainder to children who are part of the program and to a parent or guardian each.

WATCH | Ecstatic camper who was among the lucky ones gifted a ticket:

Meet a 14-year old who was gifted a Taylor Swift ticket

Noah Dickens, 14, and his mother Carla Dickens, who live in Hamilton, Ont., were among the members of Campfire Circle who were gifted Taylor Swift tickets. Noah was diagnosed with leukemia when he was four years old, and he beat cancer when he was six. Campfire Circle, a charitable organization, is dedicated to bringing joy, healing, and friendship to children with cancer or serious illness. Noah has been a part of it for nine years. Correction: A previous caption said Noah won the tickets in a raffle; in fact, they were a gift from the organization.

Fandom hopes it does Taylor proud

Mother-daughter duo Vivian and Sophia Vaillant called in the Swiftie community magic when they raffled off two Eras Tour tickets for the Lake Trail Community Education Society in Courtenay, B.C. Vivian works at the charity, while Sophia volunteers.

Their raffle raised $20,000 from ticket sales and an additional $6,657 from benefactors who heard about their fundraising and wanted to get on board.

Raising just $400 would have been a big deal for the organization prior to the Swift bonanza, Vivian said.

Most significant of all, the fundraiser helped launch the charity — which was previously at deficit of $20,000 — into surplus territory for next year.

I hope Taylor Swift would be proud, says Sophia. Now 19, she grew up with Swift’s music, and was a little girl when the 1989 album came out.

“Something I really admire about her is all of the charitable work that she does (new window), all of the donating that she does in every city she visits.

And so I hope she’d be proud and feel good that the magic that she’s created as an artist is doing good in communities big and small.

Other fundraising efforts remain in progress — like Tay It Forward, a Canada-wide fan project started by Waterloo, Ont.-based Heidi Van Schaik that’s raising money for Food Banks Canada. It’s encouraging fans to donate $13, a nod to Swift’s lucky number. So far, the group has raised almost $56,000. The donation window wraps up on Dec. 13, Swift’s birthday.

“You don’t need to attend a concert to be part of this fan project and have the best day,” Tay It Forward wrote on the project’s website.

“Whether you’ve been watching livestreams, singing in the car, getting lost upstate, dancing like you’re made of starlight at Taylgate or were one of the lucky ones who got a ticket — YOU can be part of this!”

Taylor Swift’s multigenerational appeal causes excitement across all ages when tickets to her shows hit the block, helping charities raise astounding amounts of money. Photo: Radio-Canada / Evan Mitsui