EMI CANADA
The Challenge
As with any year-end fundraising campaign, the greatest challenge was being heard above the noise of the holiday season. Not only is there the bustle of the holidays to contend with; virtually every charitable organization is looking to meet their giving/donation targets as the end of year approaches.
EMI needed to distinguish itself from the crowd with strategic timing and a message that would resonate deeply with its audience. Effective appeal development would be crucial to launching a campaign that would connect with EMI’s donors.
The Solution: Engineering a Successful Campaign
To address this challenge, we developed a year-end campaign with multiple digital and print touchpoints. After identifying key dates for the campaign, it was determined that four emails and one print appeal would be created with a singular call to action (CTA) across each.
An overriding theme and engaging story were selected, and then our copywriters went to work creating the series of appeals. Each appeal was filtered through the lens of the target personas we had developed for EMI’s core audiences. The language and tone were meticulously tailored to align with each persona, fostering a sense of familiarity and connection with readers.
We came alongside the newly appointed President and CEO, Allison Alley, and incumbent President and CEO, Barry Slauenwhite, to think through messaging from a number of angles - communications to churches across Canada, peers and leaders in other non-profit organizations, and media outlets. From launching the initial transition messaging, to helping Barry Slauenwhite create and launch a book, and recording podcasts with Allison Alley at the time of transition, we worked to build and implement a comprehensive, organic, intentional public relations and publicity plan.
The Results
Raised 86.67% over their fundraising goal.
379.25% ROI on print mailing
7.2% CTR
Utilizing a multi-point digital marketing campaign, a conventional print piece and strategic calendar deployment was a winning combination.
EMI Canada surpassed their end-of-year donation targets by 86.67%. The email campaigns achieved a remarkable click-through rate (CTR) of 7.2%. And direct mail contributions yielded an impressive return on investment (ROI) of 379.25%.
The outstanding response to the end-of-year campaign resulted in a record-breaking financial year for EMI. Executive director Greg Young was overjoyed.
