Big Wins for Small Organization: The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Chapter
	Posted by Chris McKinley at Nov 08, 2012 07:00 AM CST

This past August, the IMAB recognized some of North America’s best nonprofit campaigns and projects that demonstrated the power of integrated marketing. When evaluating the submissions for the 2012 Integrated Marketing Awards, the IMAB saw that charities of any size can employ an integrated marketing approach.

Connecticut’s chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is proof in practice. Last summer, this small chapter was able to partner with an established event, and then use their strong community connections to involve local celebrity chefs in a unique fundraising event that went viral.

Here’s how they did it:

The Challenges

• The Connecticut chapter is one of TNC’s smaller chapters with a small staff.
• The chapter faced a crowded marketplace of fundraising around Earth Day.
• The staff needed to market an event with minimal marketing budget.

The Campaign
At the beginning of the summer, Connecticut’s TNC chapter had two immediate opportunities to raise money and make a splash in the local scene. First was an annual (non-TNC) fundraising event called Rock-to-Rock which gathers over 1,000 cyclists to cycle across New Haven. The second was an annual TNC event called Picnic for the Planet.

For a small organization with limited resources, the easy choice would be to pick one of the two events, and go all in.  But, knowing that Earth Day is the best opportunity for an environmental organization to engage their supporters, Connecticut’s TNC decided to take on the challenge of both events. And let’s not forget, executing an event (or two) is one thing, but marketing two events simultaneously is another.

To make the most of Rock-to-Rock, the chapter entered their own team and set an ambitious goal of $10,000 in peer-to-peer revenue. If successful, it would be a great way to engage their base and bring in much-needed fundraising revenue.

Picnic for the Planet wasn’t promoted as a fundraiser; rather it provided an opportunity to reach new audiences in the community. The team’s strategy was a spin on the picnic theme. Chef-to-Chef: Picnic Battle for the Planet became the core idea, in which local celebrity chefs face off in an on-stage cook-off using sustainable ingredients that would be suggested by fans via Facebook.

Some of the marketing channels they used for the events included:

• Weekly email communications to registered Rock-to-Rock riders to boost fundraising
• Email promotions for rider sponsorships to all members and trustees
• Print ads
• A text-to-donate campaign in local restaurants

The Results

• Rock-to-Rock raised over $10,000 from 154 donors, and then one of their trustees stepped up and matched every dollar raised. Their total finished at $21,750 -- more money than any other team on the ride.
• Promoting the Picnic Battle via social media was risky, but paid off -- 1,000 people attended the event.
• Targeted ad buys purchased in the two months leading up to Earth Day attracted 1,600 new Facebook likes.
• Over 500,000 impressions via the Facebook page, due largely to the active participation from the celebrity chefs, and by engaging the audience to let them choose dishes and ingredients.
• A quarter-page ad in the local paper and earned coverage in industry e-newsletters.
• 11 new community partners engaged with the chapter and look forward to participating again next year.
• The event model was a first for a TNC chapter, and is now being used as a model across the country.

Now that is what we call success with integrated marketing! Our hats off to The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Chapter!