Proof That Busting Your Silos Works
	Posted by Guest Blogger at Mar 06, 2014 07:01 AM CST

This article was written by guest author Chip Grizzard, CEO, Grizzard. The article originally appeared on Grizzard's blog.

We have all heard about the barriers to fundraising success created by internal silos. But few have done anything about it because it is a very complicated issue. After all, it involves your organizations culture, turf wars, systems and even financial and performance goals.

Recently one of our clients, Animal Humane Society, located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area, decided to launch a large-scale multi-channel campaign to: (1) acquire new donors; (2) reactivate lapsed donors; (3) engage current donors; and (4) increase awareness for homeless animals in the Twin Cities area. The bottom line goal was to increase year-over-year net revenue by at least 8%.

They realized that to be successful they had to become more internally integrated. They decided as a start that they would merge their fundraising and marketing teams. This multi-channel campaign was the first test of their reorganization, with fundraising, web and marketing staff simultaneously involved and accountable. (In other words, no more judging direct mail, online, or other components separately — they all live or die together.)

With such ambitious hopes, it was essential to develop a compassionate tone with sympathetic imagery that helped the community believe they could make a difference, and inspire them to action. The integrated creative and call-to-action, used across all media, was “Believe you can make a difference,” with a photo of the captivating canine star Esmeralda.

To maximize the campaign’s success, we had to “cast a wide net” to connect with as many people as possible. Therefore, this truly integrated campaign used:

• Direct mail
• Free standing inserts
• Wealthy zip code saturation
• Television ads
• Billboards
• Bus shelter ads
• Movie theater ads
• Magazine ads
• In-shelter signage
• Homepage ads with a unique landing/donation page
• Email
• Banner ads
• Social media

Samples of the media and the television ads can be seen at: http://www.grizzard.com/work/case-studies/animal-care-case-studies/animal-care-multi-channel-marketing-success/. 

Results were a spectacular success:

• New donors acquired from holiday acquisition direct mail increased 78%
• Online donations increased 17%
• Unique website visitors increased 13%
• Gross revenue in the time period increased by 9.3%
• And, the active donor file grew by 7.5% as a result of this campaign

According to Katie Nelsen, Chief Advancement Officer of Animal Humane Society, “This campaign would not have been possible without our teams break down of our internal silos. We came together as one team, with one goal, and the results were a huge success.”

Is your organization still isolated by channel?  What challenges have you been able to overcome?