The days of blindly donating a portion of your paycheck to do-gooder organizations in your community are over. A new generation of workers are demanding greater flexibility and more importantly results. Following years of declining fundraising in the Washington, D.C. region, I set out as Marketing Campaign Manager with United Way to try something new.
Though we used a compilation of data to ascertain existing and emerging needs within the community, we historically ignored this data when evaluating our own needs. We developed cookie-cutter campaigns that relied on stock photography and repeat benefactors. Data was merely yielded as a weapon to guilt donations, when hidden within the numbers were riches of stories of people helping people.
To tell these stories I created a digital advocacy campaign that targeted Millennials who had never donated. Using our CRM system, I identified influencers within their workplaces who shared similar philanthropic interests and held a photo-shoot to capture their images and stories. I then distributed targeted email communications, video solicitations and text-to-give campaigns – the first in the organization’s history!
With a website that was over 10 years old, we also lacked the digital credibility necessary to close the sale after an email conversion. With zero experience and budget, I spent 6 months mastering HTML and CSS on the weekends to ultimately deliver a website that would facilitate online donations. This afforded the development of our first digital fundraising KPIs.
Despite a heavy dose of cynicism from my older colleagues, these nontraditional digital campaigns broke multiple records, exceeding sales targets by $110K and achieving year-over-year growth of 12%. I also received a nomination for Best Short Film from the Rappahannock Independent Film Festival.