Multichannel (Less Than $10 Million): African Wildlife Foundation

Holiday Match
African Wildlife Foundation
Submitted by Sanky Communications

The numbers:

• Recipients: 96,872
• Response rate: 3.12 percent
• Total cost: $30,895
• Income generated: $199,027
• Average gift: $65.79
• Cost to raise a dollar: $0.16

First off, any campaign that harnesses the seemingly endless power of Betty White is just smart, smart, smart. But the way the African Wildlife Foundation used the iconic actress’s involvement is what set this campaign apart.

Anyone who knows anything about Betty White or who is in tune with the animal-welfare wing of the fundraising sector knows the woman truly loves animals and that when she supports a cause, she supports it as more than just a “celebrity spokesperson.”

One of AWF’s most successful fundraising efforts to date, the campaign focused on e-mails crafted to sound like they came from White’s own pen, easily reflecting the warm but no-nonsense persona that is her trademark.

That this was a matching-gift campaign supported by White’s own donations — “When folks at the African Wildlife Foundation told me about the threats to rhinos and other beloved creatures … you can be sure I wasn’t going to just lie down and mourn the loss. I decided to do something … and to do it with you. I decided to double the impact of the gift you make today by matching it one-to-one with my own gift.” — makes it even smarter.