10th Annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence

By Sean Norris

Multichannel Acquisition Annual Operating Budget $10 Million or Over

Sadie’s Story
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Submitted by CDR Fundraising Group

The Numbers
Income Generated: $1,100,100 (one-time donations)
Average Gift: $25.77 (monthly gift)

Why It Won
Shriners Hospitals for Children had extensively experimented with DRTV commercials produced and placed by a commercial agency, but the results weren’t there. The commercials simply weren’t producing new donors or any significant revenue.

So, the nonprofit called in CDR Fundraising Group, and the agency went to work. Using existing B-roll footage, it quickly put together a pair of montage spots to test the marketplace, and set up a sophisticated tracking system for the call center and online donations. One of the spots, “Sadie’s Story,” focused on the emotional and financial toll faced by Sadie, a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children. CDR also ran a concurrent digital acquisition campaign, which included YouTube videos, remarketing ads and a custom microsite. The effort resulted in 8,260 active credit card sustainers and an average monthly gift of $25.77. Oh, and $1.1 million from one-time donors.