September Multi-Channel Match Special Appeal

Highlights

• This campaign bested both budgeted and prior years’ results with combined revenue of almost $250,000
• Mail revenue beat budget by 33% and beat last year’s revenue by 212%
• Online results were similarly successful, generating nearly double the entire September budget for e-funding ($37,382 actual vs., $20,000 budget)
• A matching gift offer was leveraged for the first time in this campaign slot to motivate donors to give more and earlier
• Copy focused on C&C’s highly-regarded End-of-Life consultation program and an incredibly moving client story

Challenges

The campaign needed to coordinate the online and offline efforts in a way that maximized the potential to both. Combined with the effort launching in the historically difficult period right before year-end fundraising, strategic timing became a more formidable challenge. We also needed a story that tied to the mission and was powerful enough to carry over from channel to channel and still resonate.

Strategy & Audience:

• We set out to craft a coordinated, emotional multi-channel campaign to motivate donors ahead of the year-end fundraising season.
• Offline, we positioned the match as a secondary but unmissable incentive, so the substance of the offer commands greatest attention; online, we played up the unique nature of the match more, but reinforced the offline message in key efforts.
• The letter in the mail package, signed by Alexa Fraser, told her father’s tragic story of using a handgun to end his terminal suffering. Though C&C packages are most often signed by its President, we felt strongly that the powerful personal testimony, from a peer of the donor personally and emotionally affected by the problems donors are united to solve, would have the most powerful resonance with donors. A separate lift note from C&C’s president credentialed Alexa and her story.
• An authenticated match by a fellow C&C donor was used to add a strong incentive to respond either offline or online.
• The primary audiences were 0-48 month mail and online donors, lapsed donors 49 month and non-donors.
• Online especially, we felt the match and personal story would persuade non-and lapsed donors to give.

Results

• The campaign was a great success across all metrics, with gross revenue just shy of $250,000.
• The mail effort reached an all-time high and generated 133% of the budgeted income goal.
• High-$ segment was particularly successful, with a 30% average gift increase over last year and nearly double the response rate.
• Online results were equally impressive, achieving nearly 200% of the revenue goal for the entire month of September.
• Across the board, we saw strong metrics, well above those typical of outside year-end giving — a nearly $90 average gift (across all segments) and click-through rates above 50% were standout.
• The last effort, sent only to non-openers, had a lower than average open rate, but was the second-most successful revenue generator of the entire five-part series.