A stagnant annual-giving program prompted changes to how City of Hope approaches donor cultivation and acquisition that, in many ways, defy conventional fundraising wisdom.

By Abny Santicola

“The percent response for that package is much higher than the response rate we would see from those donors if they had just gotten the normal appeal,” Oaksmith says.

It also revamped its gift-acknowledgment program, which, up until then, was a generic tax receipt that basically just included the amount of the donor’s gift for tax purposes.