10th Annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence

By Sean Norris

Email House Annual Operating Budget Under $10 Million

Puppy Rescue Emergency Campaign
Northeast Animal Shelter
Submitted by SankyNet

The Numbers
Recipients: 77,075
Response Rate: 0.83 percent
Total Cost: $2,000
Income Generated: $30,296.00
Average Gift: $47.49
Cost to Raise a Dollar: $0.06

Why It Won
When Northeast Animal Shelter received word that 70 homeless puppies were in danger of being euthanized at a shelter in Alabama, the Salem, Massachusetts-based nonprofit knew it had to act, rescuing the animals and transporting them to its home-base. But now, the shelter was in a bind. Taking on so many additional dogs meant soon-to-be skyrocketing costs for food, medical care and other necessities, and the organization needed funds, fast.

So, it turned to SankyNet, an integrated direct marketing agency, for help creating and sending an emergency appeal to the organization’s full email list. The email was sent to 77,075 recipients, and within 24 hours it generated $30,296 for just a $2,000 total cost—a colossal ROI by any standards.

Why was it so successful? First: puppies. The email featured images of the newly rescued dogs and large header text reading “Our expected newest arrivals need your help.” But it wasn’t all heartstrings and cuteness. The email also featured a clean design with five calls-to-action—two “donate now” buttons and three in-text URLs linking to a donation page—and large social media buttons. Given the short turnaround and massive payoff, this campaign was an unqualified success.