Shriners Children’s™
The Power of Integration: Increasing Year-End Giving
Related Services
Industry
Health Care
Project Overview
The importance of the end-of-year giving season for nonprofits can’t be overstated. Generosity is running high and people are looking for ways to do some good in their communities. In order for Shriners Children’s to provide the highest quality care to children within a compassionate, family-centered and collaborative care environment, regardless of the families’ ability to pay, Edge Direct needed to engage supporters during these most critical months.
For Shriners Children’s™ and their agency partner, Edge Direct, the goals were:
- Increase revenue year-over-year.
- Expand the reach of the campaign through an integrated multichannel marketing strategy.
- Hyper-target donor and prospect audiences to ensure we are reaching the right audience, at the right time.
- Develop inspirational creative and messaging, driving traffic to increase mission awareness.
Founded in 1922 to provide life-changing care for children suffering from the crippling effects of polio, Shriners Children’s™ has evolved into an international medical system. Recognized as one of the world’s greatest health missions, Shriners Children’s delivers specialized treatment for orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, regardless of the families’ ability to pay.
Our Solution
The Edge Direct team of campaign strategists, digital fundraising experts, writers and designers, and production staff developed an integrated multichannel strategy to increase mission awareness and donor conversion. We activated local markets through the hospitals, memberships and corporate partners, with traditional mid to lower-funnel channels, but expanded reach through higher-funnel tactics like video and display advertising, and Spotify.
The Holiday and End of Year creative strategy sought to align the messaging across all digital channels and DRTV spots. We circulated patient imagery to establish an emotional connection with our targeted audiences, which increased donations instantly. High-resolution photos of featured patients were placed on holiday-themed backgrounds highlighting Christmas elements, as well as clock elements for the End of Year countdown. “Give the Gift of Love”, the midnight countdown and the messaging strategy encouraged donors to not only join in the spirit of the holiday gift giving but emphasized the deadline element of the End of Year Campaign.
Results
The campaign was an enormous success: boosting mission awareness, increasing audience reach across channels, and breaking all previous records for the organization for EOY fundraising. Utilizing a surround sound approach ensured we captured the attention of upper funnel leads and drove conversion with lower-funnel tactics. Among the keys to success were:
- Increasing Awareness
- Increasing Reach
- Acquiring New Donors
For this project, Edge Direct received a MAXI award in the Nonprofit Special Appeal category from the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW).
