Compelling Message through Multiple Channels Yields Impressive Results for Nonprofit
	Posted by Guest Blogger at Jul 02, 2013 07:02 AM CDT

This article was written by guest blogger Brock Warner. Brock is a fundraiser for War Child Canada & US, as well as a TEDx speaker on philanthropy, a blogger, and volunteer with the AFP Greater Toronto Area chapter.

Few charities can articulate their mission as simply and powerfully as The Children's Center (TCC) can with their powerful statement that “children should be seen, and not hurt.” The tagline was the core message of their 2012 reactivation campaign and is a marketer’s dream, but more importantly it was the vehicle for a highly effective fundraising campaign for lapsed donors that grabbed attention across channels.

Since 1929, TCC has served children and families in the City of Detroit with an integrated approach to community mental health that treats the whole child and the whole family. TCC puts children and their families at the center of all that they do – while providing the most expert and compassionate care needed – so children and families can heal, grow and thrive.

Like many charities, the value of the work being done by front-line staff was for some reason not being communicated to donors in a compelling enough manner that they were giving loyally year after year. In early 2012, the leadership at TCC faced the fact that their number of active donors was dwindling with proof in the results of their annual winter campaigns: in 2010 the appeal had only broken even, and in 2011 had fewer donations and lost money. Online revenue was an insignificant 2% of total revenue, and only 27% of their database had an email on record. So, they hired a senior marketing executive to rebrand, retool and press the “reset” button. Enter the new message, tailored specifically to reactivate their lapsed donors: “children should be seen, and not hurt.”

This custom reactivation campaign marked a complete turnaround from past years. It encompassed the entire multi-staged communications cycle from the very first donor touch to the final acknowledgement letter.

The list of communication channels employed was impressive:

• Executed two-stage direct mail targeting volunteers and lapsed donors, segmented into three groups by previous giving levels.
• Created responsive landing page to engage mobile traffic; convert online donations.
• Sent 3 emails with links back to landing page.
• Recruited internal/external influencers to help spread the word online.
• Pre-written on-message Facebook posts/tweets.
• Customized Facebook Cover photos for supporters.
• Customized acknowledgement letters to personalize and include campaign-relevant messaging.
• Continued traditional face-to-face, telephone channels, when appropriate.

The campaign was a resounding success! The key was the deployment of a seamlessly integrated, multi-channel campaign, with a compelling message, designed to accommodate donors at anytime, from any device.

At the time of publishing this blog, the annual appeal raised over $72,100. Lapsed donors renewed by 15%, and online donations represented 21% of total revenue. Mobile web traffic increased by 78%, and TCC’s donor email list increased by 15%. There was also a significant increase in social media activity.

The strategy was so successful that TCC will be refreshing the assets and rolling it out to active donors, as well as designing an acquisition component. Congratulations to The Children’s Center from everyone here at the IMAB!