St. Labre Catch-Up Campaign Wins a Gold MAXI Award

When natural disaster strikes, donations spike. But what if a series of disasters in a different part of the country directly affects your donor base and your fundraising efforts? This was the question St. Labre School faced when planning its next campaign to ensure the continued education of the 750 students across their three Southwestern Montana campuses.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma had just torn through Texas and Florida, and it soon realized this would lead to a clear drop in fundraising for the school. St Labre knew it needed rescuing, and it came in a letter from one of their donors in Florida. He apologized for not being able to send a larger donation this year because his house had been destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

Source: DMAW

Sharing his story with their donors in a non-premium appeal, St. Labre asked donors who were blessed with a home and good health to help make up the loss of donations from these disasters. This “non-premium package” to a premium-driven audience netted over $1 million — which was more than double the net income from the prior year’s campaign. With nearly a 35% reduction of costs and an average gift up 112%, a Gold MAXI was awarded to Fundraising That Works!

Editor's Note: This DMAW MAXI award feature was originally published in the May/June print edition of NonProfit PRO. To see the original article, click here.