In the nonprofit sector we often hear board members, CEO’s, and even development officers argue that they shouldn’t invest in fundraising agency partners, and instead should just “go it alone” in order to keep costs down. There’s a belief that fundraising strategy and communications are easy to create, and that anyone can be successful in this area.
The reality is far from that.
This fall I partnered with three organizations that had never worked with a strategic agency partner before. They had all engaged consultants of various shapes and sizes, but never worked with a true fundraising agency.
And the results were pretty strong for all three…
Client A
We revamped this organization’s direct mail program to shift from an institutionally-focused approach to a truly donor-focused approach. In place of facts, figures, and internal information we created copy that was rich with stories of lives changed, and highlighted the importance of donors to the organization’s success.
In just two months we generated 133% more NET income than this organization had generated in the entire year prior!
Client B
This organization began working with us on a digital acquisition program after spending tens of thousands of dollars with another consulting firm and not generating a single online donation. 40 days after transitioning over to work with us (using Search Engine Marketing, Display, and Facebook advertising), we’ve helped this client achieve the following results:
- 287% increase in total web visits
- 313% increase in Facebook impressions
- 288% increase in clicks
- 8% increase in Click Through Rate (CTR)
- 26% increase in Facebook follower
- 27% increase in Facebook page likes
- 98% increase in online average gift
- 13% online monthly donor conversion
- 2,700% increase in online donation volume
Client C
This organization has a built-in constituent base of people who have formerly received services from them, but have never been talked to for fundraising purposes, along with a small but committed group of prior donors. We developed an initial outreach campaign to these potential supporters that included a heartwarming impact story, a survey to assess their service experience, and a request for financial support. Though the results aren’t even complete yet, the campaign has successfully resulted in:
- The identification of one estate gift commitment
- Double digit year-over-year growth in online revenue
- Hundreds of responses and new success stories from their audience of service recipients
If you have a different experience, I’d love to hear your point of view!
Andrew