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02 July 2026 | 2 min read
9 April 2026
For decades, the Good Friday Appeal has brought communities together in support of the life‑saving work of The Royal Children’s Hospital, a long-standing NAB customer. NAB is proud to be part of that tradition, working closely with the hospital and the Good Friday Appeal (GFA) team each year and playing a small role in the extraordinary 2026 outcome, with $25,268,485 raised for children and families across Victoria.
NAB’s support ranges from close collaboration behind the scenes, to supporting volunteers on the day and contributing a $10,000 donation via the NAB Foundation.
Alongside practical and logistical support to help donations flow smoothly, NAB also looks for ways to broaden involvement from the community. This year, that included a focus on engaging young people, creating opportunities for students to learn about The Royal Children’s Hospital and take an active role in fundraising through the GFA Schools Challenge.
Learning fundraising fundamentals
The GFA Schools Challenge is designed to help students learn how community fundraising works and understand the role it plays in supporting organisations like The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Working with a number of Victorian schools, Steven Sikora, Senior Consultant in Leadership Delivery at NAB encouraged students to develop and lead their own fundraising ideas in support of the Appeal, with a focus on participation, creativity and teamwork.
The response from schools was outstanding. Two schools were recognised as winners of the challenge, highlighting the enthusiasm and dedication shown by students.
Students from Wesley College
At Haileybury College, students ran multiple fundraising activities across campuses and year levels, raising $6,227 through their online fundraising page and building on that through additional events. Their combined efforts raised $13,453.
Wesley College launched a Making Every Friday a Good Friday campaign, with students planning and delivering different fundraising activities each Friday over the past month, raising $8,526 to date.
Supporting the Appeal at scale
The Good Friday Appeal is one of Australia’s largest and most complex fundraising operations that relies on careful planning, coordination and support to run smoothly. NAB provides the payment and banking infrastructure that enables donations to be received efficiently across thousands of collection points, as well as supporting the handling of cash donations behind the scenes. Coin counting machines also help volunteers process funds accurately, ensuring donations can be directed to the hospital as quickly as possible.
During this year’s Appeal, NAB representatives were able to see the full scale of the operation in action, from volunteers taking donations over the phone to teams coordinating transactions throughout the day.
L-R GFA Chair Penny Fowler, NAB Business Banking Executive Jacinta Brouwer, NAB Client Director Martin Hoffman, GFA Executive Director Rebecca Cowan
NAB Client Director – Government, Education and Community, Martin Hoffman, with students from Haileybury College
NAB Business Banking Executive, Jacinta Brouwer, said seeing the volunteers in action brought home the scale of the community effort behind the Appeal.
“It was fantastic to meet some of the incredible volunteers taking donations over the phone and supporting such a large fundraising operation. The energy and generosity on the day really showed how much community effort goes into making the Appeal possible,” Ms Brouwer said.
“It was also wonderful to see the two schools recognised as winners of the NAB Schools Challenge Cup! Congratulations to the students from Haileybury College and Wesley College, also NAB customers,” Ms Brouwer added.
NAB is proud to support the Appeal in ways that help bring people together, whether that is enabling donations, backing volunteers or encouraging students to get involved for the first time.
