Winners of the 2014 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

It was another “wow” year for the Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence — and for those of us who got to judge them. It’s never an easy task, but it’s always a rewarding one.

Round one started with veteran judges Joe Boland, FundRaising Success’ managing editor, and Paul Bobnak, research director at DirectMarketingIQ.com, holing up in our Philadelphia office to choose finalists from among the 123 entries (submitted by 35 nonprofit organizations and agencies).

After a full day of vetting, the finalists were sent here to me in Texas. I hunkered down for a day at the offices of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, along with this year’s other judges:

Angela Ballantyne, senior development officer, Houston Ballet;
Robyn Mendez, senior development director, MD Anderson;
Heather Icenogle, director of annual giving and events, Houston Food Bank; and
Debbie Campbell, head of the annual fund, MD Anderson.

Judging the Gold Awards is always exciting for a number of reasons. Mainly, it’s because we get a bird’s-eye view of some of the most creative and successful fundraising efforts of the previous year. But also, we get to be involved in terrific discussions around those efforts. It’s fascinating to see the reactions that some of these campaigns elicit in the judges, who have been intimately involved in their own organizations’ campaigns (and those of numerous others’ at their previous positions). It’s inspiring to see how moved they are and how passionate they can be when singing the praises of their top choices.

Anyone who has been following the awards over the years (this is our ninth annual) knows that we here at FS, as well as our outside judges, wish we could name all of our entries winners. We never fail to be amazed at the level of effort, passion and creativity that is so obvious in so many of them — not to mention the results!

I’d like to thank our intrepid judges for sharing their thoughts — as well as their time — with us. I’d also like to thank everyone who submitted entries into this year’s competition and those who were involved in their creation and execution. And, as always, the Gold Awards are another reminder of just how special the fundraising sector and its practitioners are. So thank you all — winner or not, entrant or not — for all that you do to help make the world a better, safer, saner place.

Across Channels … and Generations
The Children’s Center in Detroit went all out to create a campaign that truly embraced the notion of multichannel and gave some of our judges chills with its powerful messaging and far-reaching appeal.

Campaign of the Year
(Also Gold Award — Multichannel, $10 million and over)
Heal Children, Heal Detroit 2013 Year-End Multichannel Appeal
The Children’s Center
(Submitted by The Children’s Center)

The Numbers
Recipients: 4,157
Response rate: 4.2 percent
Total cost: $9,932
Income generated: $90,287
Average gift: $520
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.11

I can usually predict the ultimate Campaign of the Year winners by the number of gasps and “wows” I hear as the judges mull over particular entries — as well as the amount of furious note-scribbling going on. When I heard one of our judges say, “This gives me chills,” followed by a round of hearty agreement, I suspected we had a winner. And the final judging bore out my suspicions.

The campaign at hand was The Children’s Center’s Heal Children, Heal Detroit multichannel appeal. Powerful imagery of children that balances their beauty and potential with the seriousness of their situation is just the start of the long line of winning elements in this campaign.

Beyond the numbers is the wonderfully consistent messaging that seamlessly carries through the many touchpoints involved.

In this case, multichannel also meant multigenerational, as one of the stated goals of the campaign was specifically to reach the next generation of donors, while at the same time targeting existing and lapsed donors, and acquiring new donors from the organization’s traditional donor profile (45 years and up).

It was a tall order that took some big thinking.

“Reaching the millennial group is easier said than done,” writes R. Trent Thompson, senior director of brand and strategic communications at The Children’s Center, who submitted the campaign. “The majority are not yet established in their careers and have not accumulated enough wealth to be captured by the many lists and databases available to funders. Reaching this particular segment was indeed the greatest challenge of the campaign.”

While current donors and future philanthropists may be moved in different ways, TCC settled on a message that everyone could get behind: “Children are the future of Detroit. If you want to heal Detroit, then we must first heal the children. For a brighter, future Detroit — help Detroit’s children heal, grow and thrive.”

With messaging no one could argue with, TCC launched a comprehensive campaign that included these elements:

Direct mail: a two-stage direct-mail approach targeting volunteers and lapsed donors that featured a personalized pledge sheet as well as a Web address and QR code directing donors to a custom, responsive landing/donation page.
Email: a series of five emails sent three weeks apart to reinforce the campaign messaging and call to action, with a link back to the custom landing/donation pages.
Social media: TCC leveraged its 27-member, internal social-media team and a number of external key influencers, providing prewritten tweets and Facebook posts with selected campaign images, as well as Facebook cover images to make it easy for them to spread the word about the campaign. There was also a presence on Pinterest and Instagram.
Telephone/face-to-face: continuing its traditional use of these channels.
Donor acknowledgment letters: Campaign-specific thank-you messages helped close the loop.

Thinking outside the box to reach millennials, Gen X and Gen Y, the campaign also included:

Pop-up restaurants: TCC created five impromptu dining experiences in places frequented by millennials. Promotions for the dining experience leveraged the influence of key millennials. Each event featured an informational video about TCC, conversation and food created by local, up-and-coming chefs.
Yellow Coaster Hunt online contest: Several local bars and restaurants agreed to use special yellow coasters during a specific time period, and participants were asked to locate coasters, take photos and post them to their social networks.
Social media: TCC live-tweeted during tours of its campus, then repurposed those tweets throughout its social-media calendar.

No doubt, this campaign is a multichannel masterpiece. But another thing that got the judges’ attention was the organization’s reason for submitting it:

“We entered this competition to share with other nonprofits what has worked for us,” Thompson writes. “To inspire use of their imagination to connect with generational donor audiences in new and relevant ways, beyond the traditional approach. And to say, ‘Think outside the proverbial box. Get creative.’”

Additional Campaign of the Year Winners
SILVER: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — Building Hope Campaign (Submitted by Schultz & Williams)

The Numbers
Recipients: 5,434
Response rate: 3.42 percent
Total cost: $122,613
Income generated: $487,171
Average gift: $2,619
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.25

Sometimes, it still pays to think inside the box. But it all depends on what’s in there. Our judges were downright giddy to get their hands on this stunning campaign from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to fund its new Buerger Center. The allure of the hefty mailer, in box form, grabbed them right away.

Inside, they found highly personalized elements including personalized blueprints of the building and a handwritten note from CHOP’s executive VP (with his business card and contact info).

This mailing, which went out to low-dollar donors, midlevel donors, major donors and the hospital’s board of trustees during a peak fundraising time (November to December 2013), was a risky one. The hospital had never mailed to both low-dollar donors and major donors at the same time. The package also needed to redirect donor attention from patient stories (the crux of all previous fundraising efforts) to funding a building. There was no choice but to make it genuinely unique.

“From using a Buerger Center-branded box as the carrier to including personalized blueprints of the building, the intention was for the donor to feel that they had been hand-selected to receive an exclusive invitation to become part of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Christina Kukelhaus, an account executive at Schultz & Williams.

Our judges also applauded the hospital’s willingness to take a risk, as well as the package’s ability to draw a great average gift without sacrificing response rate.

BRONZE: St. Louis Children’s Hospital — Secret Guide to Children’s Campaign (Submitted by The St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation)

The Numbers
Recipients: 115,000
Response rate: 1.47 percent
Total cost: $89,800
Income generated: $103,117.73
Average gift: $77.60
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.87

There were guffaws all around as our judges looked through this submission from the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation. Always a good sign.

Not that humor is necessarily a hallmark of a great campaign, but when done right it can elevate the effort to award-winning status.

Although it is a multichannel campaign using direct mail, email and a social-media element, this submission’s reach alone wasn’t what earned it its honor here. More impressive was how it found numerous ways to present its consistent message. The theme — missives from Josh, a 16-year-old patient at the hospital, offering “insider” information about the facility — stayed consistent throughout the elements of the campaign, but each of the six mailings, one year-end piece, an email and a Facebook page seemed fresh and unique.

Plus the humor didn’t hurt. Josh’s personality and perspective on life are real, his voice is his own, and he was able to paint donors and potential donors a genuine picture of how much their support means to a real patient and his real family.

“Because Josh’s stay in the hospital plus his ongoing treatment have been so extensive and put him in contact with so many facets of the hospital, we focused each mailing around a different area that the foundation wanted to highlight,” explains Angie Winschel, a partner at Almanac, the design and branding firm that worked on the campaign.

Each of the pieces featured casually written side notes from Josh and offered tidbits of advice such as, “Order extra butter at every meal. Save them up for your mashed potatoes,” and, “Meet Toni (one of Josh’s favorite physical therapists). She’ll make ya work!”

Mailings guided recipients to a themed Facebook page to keep the engagement going, and it also worked as a vehicle to engage other potential donors who weren’t on the mailing list.

Sick kids aren’t the easiest topic to joke about, but this campaign succeeds by letting Josh just be a teenager and drive home a point to donors in a way that engages, entertains and educates.

Additional Multichannel ($10 million and over) Winners
SILVER: Human Rights Campaign — The Supreme Court and A Red Equal Sign (Submitted by HRC)

The Numbers
Recipients: 99,114
Response rate: 1.82 percent
Total cost: $67,031
Income generated: $130,391
Average gift: $72.04
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.51

It all started with a simple red equal sign. Well, sort of. HRC’s historic overtaking of Facebook and Twitter with a red-tinted version of its iconic blue-and-yellow logo actually started with an email when, in March 2013, two landmark marriage-equality cases reached the United States Supreme Court. The email educated the organization’s more than 1.5 million members and supporters about the cases. Then on the first day of oral arguments, HRC posted the specially hued logo and asked others to adopt it on their social-media pages. By June 2013, HRC had provided innovative apps for mobile, Facebook, Twitter and HRC.org, and the red logo was everywhere. Following up, the organization mailed an Equality-Gram fundraising appeal, asking for a special donation to continue its mission.

In three short months, the Red Equal Sign and campaign around the marriage-equality cases added more than 300,000 new followers to HRC’s Facebook page and 26,000 new followers to its Twitter page; smashed previous one-day Web traffic records for HRC.org four times over; added 100,000 new email addresses to HRC’s online activist files; added 150,000 signatures to its Majority Opinion e-letter, resulting in $42,000 in post-action donations; fulfilled 63,000 requests for free HRC logo stickers, with more than 50 percent of those requests coming from people who had never engaged with HRC in the past (after requesting a sticker, those people were presented with an opportunity to donate to HRC — that page saw a 1.74 percent response rate, with more than 80 percent of those donations coming from first-time HRC donors); saw 40,000 smartphones download HRC’s Red Logo iPhone and Droid apps, with more than 25 percent of the users providing new email addresses. In addition, the Equality-Gram mail piece exceeded it goal fourfold.

BRONZE: Wounded Warrior Project — 2013 Year-End Digital Campaign (Submitted by CDR Fundraising Group)

The Numbers
Number of recipients/response rate: Varies according to channel
Total cost: $220,046
Income generated: $8,981,596
Average gift: $147.72
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.02

You just can’t underestimate the power to testing, and this effort by CDR for the Wounded Warrior Project bears out that truth. Like many organizations, WWP saw a significant change in performance of its Google grant in 2013. The grant, which had previously been used to drive year-end giving, could only serve as a supplement to paid advertising. With this in mind, WWP sought to capitalize on year-end fundraising by testing into new control messaging before year-end giving was in full swing. This testing was able to put WWP in the best possible position in the final weeks of December when its investment would be the highest and had the greatest potential for return.

The organization tackled this issue with a multichannel effort, the hallmark of which was powerful imagery that remained consistent across channels. Extensive testing via email was done early in the season to inform strategy during the final weeks of December and then again in December to chart a course for 2014. WWP also tested eight different sets of ad creative over the course of the year-end period, ensuring that controls were identified by the height of the giving season; the testing was structured like a domino effect, with results of each test informing the next stage of testing.

WWP had to invest more funds than had previously been used in this campaign due to declining performance of the Google grant and a general decline in email response across the sector. But the testing created a data-driven strategy that ensured the best possible performance. More than 14,648,921 impressions were served from the Google Grants, paid search engine marketing and remarketing campaigns, and a new evergreen control SEM ad was identified; 57 different emails were sent with an average 15.87 percent open rate, 5.92 percent clickthrough rate and .07 percent conversion rate; and $9 million in gross revenue was raised through 60,952 gifts at an average of $147.72. That represents a 224 percent increase in giving over the same period in 2012.

Multichannel (Less than $10 million)
Secret Guide to Children’s Campaign
The St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation
(Submitted by The St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation)

The Numbers
Recipients: 115,000
Response rate: 1.47 percent
Total cost: $89,800
Income generated: $103,117.73
Average gift: $77.60
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.87

There were guffaws all around as our judges looked through this submission from the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation. Always a good sign.

Not that humor is necessarily a hallmark of a great campaign, but when done right it can elevate the effort to award-winning status.

Mailings guided recipients to a themed Facebook page to keep the engagement going, and it also worked as a vehicle to engage other potential donors who weren’t on the mailing list.

Sick kids aren’t the easiest topic to joke about, but this campaign succeeds by letting Josh just be a teenager and drive home a point to donors in a way that engages, entertains and educates.

Additional Multichannel (Less than $10 million) Winners
SILVER: International Campaign for Tibet — Match Appeal (Submitted by Schultz & Williams)

The Numbers
Recipients: 346,698
Response rate: 1.43 percent (3.7 percent mail only)
Total cost: $56,985
Income generated: $315,445
Average gift: $64
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.18

When Richard Gere smiles kindly at you from a letter, email, website or anywhere, really, and asks you to give, you give. At least that’s what 1.43 percent of the recipients of this effort on behalf of the International Campaign for Tibet did. And while Gere’s face certainly couldn’t have hurt, it wasn’t exactly that that was the driving force in this campaign’s success. It was his commitment.

Gere is the organization’s board chairman, and messaging for this campaign emphasizes that Gere himself is the person matching the gifts. No nameless, faceless foundation or mystery benefactor — but Richard freakin’ Gere. The campaign elements kept the star at the forefront of the messaging, and recipients received emails from him, followed by reminder emails from the organization’s interim president. It was a simple campaign that took full advantage of its star power, which made an even greater impact because it clearly conveyed Gere’s personal and deep commitment to the cause.

BRONZE: Art Institute of Chicago — 2013 Year-End Appeal (Submitted by The Lukens Co.)

The Numbers
Recipients: 76,611
Response rate: 2.14 percent
Total cost: $84,375
Income generated: $158,895
Average gift: $97.12
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.53

Any membership organization knows how difficult it can be to persuade members to give to an annual fund when they pretty much look at their membership dues as their donations. The Art Institute of Chicago was no exception. So it took a look at what it had been doing — a single-channel, annual year-end campaign — and did it better by turning it into a multichannel campaign (based on what was working in its acquisition and lapsed-donor reinstatement programs). Our judges liked the gumption it took to try a new approach to an old problem but basing it on something that was seeing success for the organization in another capacity.

During November and December 2013, members received two mailings and a series of four emails; the messaging was carried through to a lightbox on the museum’s website. Direct mail and the lightbox directed recipients to an e-commerce page to donate, while emails linked to a similar URL using personalized information that was prepopulated, including the same variable ask amounts that were included in the recipient’s letter. And it all wrapped up with a telemarketing effort to select members in the final days of the year.

Overall, the campaign resulted in $158,895 gross revenue from 1,636 donors with a 53 cents cost to raise a dollar. This is up from the single-channel results from the 2012 year-end annual campaign of $86,227 in gross revenue with a 68 cents cost to raise a dollar. The increase is even more impressive when you consider that there were no changes in the universe pulled for the single or multichannel campaign. The museum established a new control based on the results of the campaign, involving at least the email follow-up series, which has been implemented in all campaigns moving forward.

Direct Mail ($10 million and over)
Building Hope Campaign
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
(Submitted by Schultz & Williams)

The Numbers
Recipients: 5,434
Response rate: 3.42 percent
Total cost: $122,613
Income generated: $487,171
Average gift: $2,619
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.25

Sometimes, it still pays to think inside the box. But it all depends on what’s in there.

Our judges were downright giddy to get their hands on this stunning campaign from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to fund its new Buerger Center. The allure of the hefty mailer, in box form, grabbed them right away.

Inside, they found highly personalized elements including personalized blueprints of the building and a handwritten note from CHOP’s executive VP (with his business card and contact info).

Our judges also applauded the hospital’s willingness to take a risk, as well as the package’s ability to draw a great average gift without sacrificing response rate.

Additional Direct Mail ($10 million and over) Winners
SILVER: Longwood Gardens — March 2013 Member Acquisition Campaign (Submitted by Daniller & Co.)

The Numbers
Recipients: 300,792
Response rate: 1.36 percent
Total cost: $129,371.78
Income generated: $378,255
Average gift: $92.14
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.34

Longwood Gardens was faced with no small problem in 2013, when results for its 2012 appeal had fallen nearly 50 percent from the previous year. The 2011 campaign got a 1.1 percent response rate with a non-traditional package that contained a four-page letter, a benefits insert and a reply form.

The 2012 campaign was written and designed in-house, and for 2013 Longwood Gardens recognized that it might need some outside counsel. Once it partnered with Daniller + Co., it aimed to test an improved version of the successful 2011 format against a shorter letter with more images. The 2013 control maintained 2011’s 6-inch-by-9-inch format and offers but was updated with a new theme, a more welcoming and appreciative “you” tone aimed at gardeners and garden lovers, and more “people pictures” with a deliberate mix of ages and activities. With the refreshed control in place, the organization tested three packages around offers, extra package components, and letter length and format.

This silver-award-winning campaign greatly exceeded projections, securing more members and generating higher income than anticipated. It also outperformed the wildly successful 2011 control, becoming Longwood’s most successful package to date.

BRONZE: Perez Art Museum Miami — November 2013 Member Acquisition Campaign (Submitted by Daniller & Co.)

The Numbers
Recipients: 111,292
Response rate: 1.97 percent
Total cost: $66,210.83
Income generated: $455,404.66
Average gift: $207.95
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.15

Toward the end of 2013, the Perez Art Museum Miami found itself in something of a good news/bad news situation. The good news was that 1) the former Miami Art Museum was about to reopen with a new name in a stunning new facility, and 2) the period just before a grand opening is a fabulous time to fundraise. The bad news was that depressed results due to mail fatigue were a real possibility because two previous mailings had gone out just prior. Plus, the museum was looking to expand its supporter base by reaching out to both upscale audiences seeking recognition and lower-income audiences who might not ever have considered museum membership.

This award-winning package deftly combined features that managed to appeal to both audiences, including a members opening event, opportunities for permanent recognition, free admission, and other premiums and discounts. Plus, the package itself was vibrant with consistent messaging and imagery throughout.

In the end, results for the campaign greatly surpassed projections, with a net income of $389,193 (exceeding the projected figure of $12,300). Average gift reached $207.95 (far exceeding the $85 expectation), and return for dollar invested was nearly five times higher than the projected at $6.88.

Direct Mail (Less than $10 million)
The Fund for Iona College
Iona College
(Submitted by Iona College)

The Numbers
Recipients: 427
Response rate: 16.16 percent
Total cost: $4,168
Income generated: $175,865
Average gift: $2,548.77
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.02

There are times when less is more. Such is the case with this letter from Iona College, intended to attract members to its President’s Club and encourage existing members to renew. The effort is simple and classy, with a definite formal allure. Our judges liked that, as well as the real-pen addressing on the outer envelope.

Iona managed to pack a trifold card with President’s Club information, details about the college’s strategic plan and a note from the college’s president; a letter from the chair of the President’s Club; and the usual reply device into a comparatively tiny envelope, without it feeling cramped or stuffy. But the judges also were impressed that the college realized it was time to shake up the President’s Club appeal — previously, it had never sent anything other than a standard letter.

“This was something the college did that was not part of its previous practices,” writes Jill Krueger, senior director of annual giving and advancement services at the college. “The results of this piece exceeded our expectations.”

Additional Direct Mail (less than $10 million) Winners
SILVER: World Jewish Congress — Major Donor Urgent Year-End Appeal (Submitted by Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey)

The Numbers
Recipients: 2.115
Response rate: 15.89 percent
Total cost: $13,976
Income generated: $179,494
Average gift: $534.21
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.07

In December 2013, World Jewish Congress found itself having to play a game of catch-up. The organization established a budget goal of $2.5 million net for the year. Typically, the majority of net revenue comes in during the last three months of the calendar. However, 2013 was unusual in many aspects. Due to the changeover to WJC, American Section, no mailing began until late February 2013, so almost two months of potential income was lost. So the fourth quarter of the year took on even greater fundraising significance.

CCAH mailed a year-end appeal message in mid-October. But entering November 2013, there was still a considerable way to go to meet the organization’s annual fiscal numbers. This award-winning package was mailed on Dec. 12, with just a few weeks remaining in the year. The letter focused on the three remaining weeks to take advantage of a special year-end match (gifts up to $250,000 made by Jan. 30 would be matched).

The appeal generated more than $165,000 net revenue from only 336 contributions, and it did so in a matter of only a few weeks.

BRONZE: Tiger Haven — ROAR!!! (Submitted by Fund Raising Strategies)

The Numbers
Recipients: 19,729
Response rate: 16.69 percent
Total cost: $64,418
Income generated: $169,398
Average gift: $51.44
Cost to raise a dollar: $.38

There is just no containing the joy when you open the holiday card that is part of this package, and Ramses the lion roars out a holiday greeting. (Well, just roars.)

The objective of this campaign was both to raise funds, and to thank and engage loyal Tiger Haven donors. The very cool talking card not only features a very lionly greeting from Ramses, but also a special recorded thank-you message from Tiger Haven’s founder and president. There is no denying that the numbers bear out the success of this package. At 16.69 percent response rate, it surpassed the average rate of 2013 donor packages (10.60 percent), and at $102,323 net, it far surpassed the average net of 2013 donor packages ($69,333).

But Tiger Haven was equally thrilled with the deepened connection to the organization that the package seemed to create with its most loyal donors, as evidenced by a flood of calls and emails from donors who were delighted with it. The organization took a risk on an expensive package ($3.27 each), and it paid off.

Email ($10 million and over)
30 Days of Giving Email Campaign
National Park Foundation
(Submitted by RobbinsKersten Direct)

The Numbers (based on the email series)
Recipients: 350,000 (3,125,873 over seven emails)
Response rate: 0.05 percent
Total cost: $3,500
Income generated: $133,564
Average gift: $92.47
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.026

Short and sweet. That’s what our judges liked most about this seven-email, end-of-year campaign for the National Park Foundation.

But they also found it funny and refreshing, and full of nice touches that seem to have made quite an impact on recipients. Among them: multiple opportunities to give, a holiday e-card and a giving thermometer to allow recipients to monitor progress.

“The overall campaign on both email and the website had a $500,000 fundraising goal,” explains Polly Papsadore, vice president of marketing at RobbinsKersten Direct. “The emails included a giving thermometer and included different segments for offline donors, online donors and nondonors. The overall 30 Days of Giving campaign surpassed that $500,000 goal by 10 percent. Email contributed 24 percent of the revenue.”

Additional Email ($10 million and over) Winners
SILVER: The Wilderness Society — Online Renewal Campaign (Submitted by ABD Direct)

The Numbers
Recipients: 181,241
Response rate: 0.53 percent
Total cost: $4,688
Income generated: $47,652
Average gift: $49.95
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.10

The goal of this campaign was to reinstate lapsed and soon-to-be-lapsed online donors, and it focused on emotional, mission-based language while testing a new subject line to lapsed donors in the first three emails. The new subject line, “Your 2013 Membership Card (Pending),” used a more straightforward approach than the previous campaign’s “Show Your Commitment to Wilderness.” The following two emails used a rollout of the (Pending) subject line, and results improved with each subsequent send. The second email in the series was a duplicate of the first message, and the final email utilized a “forward” technique to allow a third usage of the extremely successful creative.

In the end, the subject line test saw unprecedented results for The Wilderness Society. Open rates increased by 46 percent, clickthrough rate by 40 percent and revenue by 109 percent. The ability to roll out with a test subject line during the campaign allowed the series to rival year-end email campaign performance. Through the series, response rate increased with each send from 0.36 percent, to 0.55 percent and finally to 0.68 percent. Plus, 6 percent of the campaign donors became sustainers.

BRONZE: The Wilderness Society — Year-End Email Campaign — (Submitted by ABD Direct)

The Numbers
Recipients: 181,241
Response rate: 0.53 percent
Total cost: $4,688
Income generated: $47,652
Average gift: $49.95
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.10

In 2013, The Wilderness Society set out to increase revenue without degrading its file through donor fatigue or spiked unsubscribe rates. The organization increased emails from two to three in the final days of December, but it employed a number of techniques to keep recipients receptive, including:

Targeted messaging with variable copy based on the recipient’s 2013 donor status;
Emails segmented by recipient time zone; each recipient received a personalized message with increasingly urgent copy focused on the midnight deadline; and
A Dec. 31 landing page with a countdown clock tied to the viewer’s local time zone.

The campaign was sent to the full email file, including low-, mid- and high-level donors, activists and prospects (but excluding sustainers and previous 30-day donors, who each received customized versions of the Dec. 31 morning email only).

The campaign resulted in significant year-over-year gains, with clickthrough rates increasing by 41 percent, 37 percent more revenue and 30 percent higher average gift. And … the unsubscribe rate actually decreased by 18 percent — proving that your supporters really don’t mind hearing from you often, as long as you have something to say.

Email (less than $10 million)
October Belo Cipriani Appeal
Guide Dogs for the Blind
(Submitted by Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey)

The Numbers
Recipients: 62,952
Response rate: 0.17 percent
Total cost: $500
Income generated: $25,732
Average gift: $238.26
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.019

The first thing our judges liked about this year-end email campaign was the compelling and heartfelt story presented by guide-dog recipient Belo Cipriani. The message was crafted to tell the story of Belo and his guide dog, Madge, but it highlighted the donor as the true hero for making the pairing of guide-dog teams possible.

The second email in the two-email series kept the Belo connection. But rather than repeat his story, the second email featured Belo educating recipients about the importance of their year-end gifts and why it was so critical that they gave to Guide Dogs for the Blind specifically at that time.

But our judges really took notice when it came to the results — specifically a 99 percent larger average gift over the previous year.

“The uptick in revenue performance from last year’s year-end email efforts was eye-popping,” writes Lon Chapman, executive vice president at Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey. “The combine messages brought in $25,732, which was $10,502 and 68.96 percent higher than the prior year.

“Not only did this appeal out-gross those before it, but donors also gave at unprecedented levels,” he adds.

Additional Email (less than $10 million) Winners
SILVER: NARAL — Stand With Wendy Davis eAppeals (Submitted by CCAH)

The Numbers
Recipients: 2,876,866
Response rate: .079 percent
Total cost: $900
Income generated: $104,613.84
Average gift: $45.90
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.008

There’s nothing like email to allow a nonprofit to ride the coattails of a mission-related national new story. That’s what NARAL did in June 2013, when Texas State Rep. Wendy Davis was propelled into the national spotlight with a 13-hour filibuster stand against proposed anti-abortion legislation. NARAL immediately launched this email series in reaction to generate a public groundswell of awareness and motivate NARAL’s supporter base.

The emails offered a free bumper sticker featuring Davis’ famous pink sneakers and the words “I Stand with Wendy,” followed by a post-action landing page with donation option. NARAL and CCAH came out swinging, developing a “Stand Up” campaign encompassing national and state-level messaging targeting anti-choice legislation in key states and highlighting state legislators who were sneaking anti-abortion language into unrelated state bills. Using email allowed the organization to respond quickly and take advantage of a national news story.

This award-winning campaign was NARAL’s most successful campaign of 2013. Many of the eight emails focused on state-specific issues, but supporters responded to the “Stand Up” message, contributing 2,279 gifts for a total of more than $104,000, with an average gift of $45.90. The minimal $900 investment enabled more money to go directly to NARAL.

BRONZE: People for the American Way — Repeal Citizens United Campaign (Submitted by CCAH)

The Numbers
Recipients: 4,958,816
Response rate: 0.08 percent
Total cost: $8,163
Income generated: %156,189.49
Average gift: $38.99
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.05

This four-month campaign was a stellar exercise in testing that also brought in a significant amount of money. The audience for the campaign was People for the American Way’s entire list, including recent donors, lapsed donors, reinstate donors and non-donors. In addition to raising money, the goal for the campaign was to test PFAW’s Repeal Citizens United messaging against other possible topics to gauge supporters’ interest. Was the long-standing Citizens United messaging wearing thin?

Over the course of nine tests in the four-month period, the Citizens United messaging continually beat other issues (with the exception of one). In the end, the campaign generated 3,787 gifts worth $145,352.36. And while the money is vital, the campaign also ensured that PFAW was engaging its supporters on the best possible messaging and thus not leaving anything — opens, clicks, gifts or dollars — on the table.

Telefundraising ($10 million And Over)
Core Member Major Donor Series
Democratic National Committee
(Submitted by Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey)

The Numbers
Recipients: 25,860 contacts
Response rate: 7.13 percent
Total cost: $373,251
Income generated: $1,821,628
Average gift: $988.94
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.20

What’s a political fundraiser to do when an election ends and supporters had truly given until it hurt?

While the impulse might be to hang back and let the spent donors chill a while, the Democratic National Committee knew it couldn’t ease up too much; high-dollar donors are a cornerstone of the organization’s annual income. The goal of this campaign was “to communicate person to person with major donors about the DNC’s priorities in the coming months, using the importance of early money to build a foundation for election victory as a touchstone for multiple gifts,” writes Lon Chapman, executive vice president at Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey.

The series grossed more than $1.8 million from an audience of just more than 10,000 people — about $70 per conversation. More than 72 percent of that came in via credit card, providing an immediate and steady income and allowing funds to be directed as needed as soon as possible. The overall series had a 7.13 percent conversion rate.

“Our success was no accident,” Chapman writes. “Going into the cycle, we knew our donors felt weary and ready to rest. However, extensive caller training, highly refined and up-to-date messages, and strategic timing and data targeting kept this high-value track of donors ready to support Democrats in the critical months ahead.”

Additional Telefundraising ($10 million and over) Winner
SILVER: EMILY’S List — Majority Council Telemarketing Series (Submitted by Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey)

The Numbers
Recipients: 1,200
Response rate: 12.39 percent
Total cost: $69,294.38
Income generated: $233,790
Average gift: $604.11
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.29

In its 2012 cycle, EMILY’s List donors gave in unprecedented numbers. Going into 2013, CCAH recognized that midlevel donors would need a highly targeted, high-touch approach to get energized for the next giving cycle. This campaign was conducted by callers who were highly skilled at communicating with high-level donors and who dialed the leads by hand. While scripts varied throughout the year, the messaging consistently emphasized the “danger” of the GOP agenda and the importance of early giving to help elect pro-choice Democratic women to all levels of government.

Roughly 1,200 midlevel donors were solicited at least once a quarter, and over the course of 10 months, they generated $235,000 with a 12 percent conversion rate. More than $200,000 of the revenue was raised on credit card, so more than 80 percent of the dollars raised was available the next day. This campaign is an example of some of the most important components of any successful telefundraising campaign — meticulously tested messaging, intensive training for callers, and ongoing monitoring and feedback.

Telefundraising (Less than $10 million)
April 2013 Telefundraising Appeal
Democratic Governors Association
(Submitted by Nexus Direct)

The Numbers
Recipients: 15,100
Response rate: 16.92 percent
Total cost: $40,336.89
Income generated: $129,168.39
Average gift: $54.99
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.31

In 2013, the Democratic Governors Association found itself challenged to continue donor engagement through a non-election year.

“The objective of this particular telemarketing campaign was simple: mobilize previous donors to contribute by explaining how so many gubernatorial races are neck-and-neck,” writes Ashley Gundlach, group account director at Nexus Direct, adding that the scripts were no-nonsense in describing the dire consequences of Democratic losses.

The campaign featured three calls, each focusing on different talking points: specific Republican governors and the legislation they sponsor; a broader range of topics more likely to affect donors than those in the first round; and Democratic battles in crucial swing states.

Finally, callees were asked to provide email addresses in order to receive timely updates on key election events.

“This tactic proved powerful in not only keeping prospective donors aware of the election results, but to assemble a responsive list that can be used in future telemarketing endeavors,” Gundlach explains.

“This campaign was the highest-grossing of the 2013 telemarketing appeals, with a pledge rate of 16.92 percent and a $54.99 average gift,” she says, adding that those factors helped double the expected net revenue of $43,275 and brought in $88,831 total net by the end of fulfillments.

Additional Telefundraising (less than $10 million) Winner
SILVER: Charitable Resource Foundation — Kids Wish Network (Submitted by the Charitable Resource Foundation)

The Numbers
Response rate: 66 percent
Total cost: $482,944
Income generated: $1,058,480.09
Average gift: $23
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.53

The Kids Wish Network had a helping hand form the Charitable Resource Foundation in this telefundraising campaign brought in more than $1 million for the organization. The results alone made this a winner for a judges.

Special Events (less than $10 million)
MOSHAV Concert
Jewish Federation of Delaware
(Submitted by Jewish Federation of Delaware)

The Numbers
Attendees: More than 150
Corporate sponsorships: $5,000
Ticket sales: More than $5,000
Pre-concert VIP reception: $348,100 (in the form of donations to the organization’s Federated Annual Campaign)

Our judges were impressed with this unique take on a special event by the Jewish Federation of Delaware. MOSHAV is an Israeli-American Jewish rock band from MOSHAV Mevo Modi’im. JFD tapped the band to play a concert at a Wilmington venue, with proceeds going toward the organization.

Part of JFD’s vision is to “bring Jewish people together into a community coalition, grounded in Jewish teaching and heritage.” And as music is “one of the greatest connectors,” a concert was quite fitting, according to Seth Katzen, CEO of JFD.

“Music strengthens and creates connections between individuals. Leveraging the power of Jewish music and peer-to-peer networking was the strategy behind our MOSHAV concert concept,” he says.

Katzen provided a sample of a recruitment email that the organization used to invite locals to be on the concert committee. It was a unique approach: The only requirements for joining the committee were committing to attend the concert, letting the organization use your name for recruitment purposes, and inviting your friends to attend and also spread the word.

Tickets were $18 general admission or $50 for preferred seating with perks such as a pre-show open bar and a meet-and-greet with the band, etc. An interesting twist was that the preferred-seating option was available only to those donors who pledged to contribute $365 or more to JFD’s 2014 annual campaign.

The concert and the no-meeting committee membership, with its emphasis on peer-to-peer communication, helped the MOSHAV concert stand out and be a huge success for the organization.

Additional Special Events (less than $10 million) Winners
SILVER: Art Institute of Chicago — Cyber Monday 2013 Campaign (Submitted by The Lukens Co.)

The Numbers
Recipients: 17,085
Response rate: 6.16 percent
Total cost: $2,830
Income generated: $87,824
Average gift: $83.40
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.03

Just like retailers, the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013 wanted to take advantage of the buzz around Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving when online shoppers take advantage of special deals. To that end, it utilized a lightbox on its Web page for a 24-hour campaign to generate revenue by offering a 20 percent discount on gift memberships. The lightbox captured only the name and email required to redeem the discount. Once those fields were completed, the full e-commerce page appeared so the transaction could be completed.

The lightbox generated more than 17,000 unique visitors in the 24-hour period it was active, an increase in Web traffic by 25 percent compared to other years. It generated 1,053 additional memberships for a gross revenue of $87,824.

BRONZE: MSPCA-Angell — 2013 Walk for Animals (Submitted by DaVinci Direct)

The Numbers
Recipients: Public campaign
Response rate: 10 percent increase in participation
Total cost: $16,833.38
Income generated: $260,000

The goal for this campaign was to create as much media and public awareness as possible for MSPCA-Angell’s annual walk. A direct-mail piece to past walk participants and recent pet adopters reached out to a segment familiar with the organization. A brochure included in a mailer, distributed as handouts and in displays among various partners and was used to reach out to prospects at events and social gatherings, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority posters were focused on awareness among the general public.

MSPCA-Angell and DaVinci made sure messaging stayed consistent through all elements of the campaign, and that collateral was displayed or distributed in specifically targeted areas. The DM budget was cut in half and the number of brochure reduced to fund the MBTA element of the campaign.

Overall, the campaign resulted in an 18 percent increase in walk attendance and donations from the previous year. The walk also generated more interest in the organization, which led to an increase in Web visits and requests for information.

Social-Media Mastery
Putting the ‘Fun’ in Social Media Fundraising!
Human Rights Campaign
(Submitted by HRC)

The Numbers
Recipients: 1,355,848 average
Response rate: 0.35 percent over the year
Total cost: $9,846
Income generated: $60,200
Average gift: $12.64
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.16

If any organization’s social-media strategy has reached the mastery level, it’s the Human Rights Campaign. You do remember the HRC profile photos that turned Facebook red in March 2013 when two landmark marriage-equality cases reached the U.S. Supreme Court, don’t you?

In 2013, Facebook and Twitter were an integral part of HRC’s overall, multichannel fundraising program. To strengthen its ability to turn social-media “friends” into donors, the organization last year added two important elements to its social-media strategy.

The first was an emphasis on prospect recruitment by providing thoughtful and unique ways to engage (contacting legislators, for example), which led to prospects sharing their contact information with HRC. Those prospects then went into the mail and email appeal streams and, as of August, had donated $150,000 through HRC’s various fundraising channels.

The second upgrade was a dedicated direct-fundraising campaign strategy. HRC promoted eight fundraising campaigns in Facebook and Twitter (four in conjunction with email campaigns and four stand-alone social-media campaigns).

“Through previous testing, HRC found that social-media fundraising campaigns were most successful when they included a premium and the fundraising ask provided a low-dollar option,” writes Lindsey Twombly, deputy director of online strategy and social media for HRC.

Twombly adds that from those eight campaigns in 2013, more than 4,700 donations were received from HRC’s Facebook and Twitter followers, adding more than $60,000 to HRC’s multichannel fundraising program.

“And the best part?” Twombly says. “More than 60 percent of the donations were received from first-time HRC donors.”

Website
Milwaukee Rescue Mission
(Submitted by Grizzard Communications Group)

The Numbers
Response rate: 2,524 total responses
Total cost: $27,700
Income generated: $327,455.15
Average gift: $129.74

In 2013, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission realized its website wasn’t very user-friendly, and it lacked clear creative and strategic direction, as well as online, data-driven analytics.

The site was revised with cohesive branding, relevant content and original, local imagery. It also is more user-friendly, with refined colors schemes, borders and fonts.

“The new website was designed not only to be mobile-responsive, but also with a user-friendly CRM,” writes Erin Himes, account director at Grizzard Communications Group.

Some of the more striking features of the new site include an interactive online catalog that gives donors a more hands-on approach to their giving and an infographic-like page called “Understand the Problem” that uses a progression of images, video and statistics to explain the homeless situation in Milwaukee and MRM’s role in the solution.

Additional Website Winners
SILVER: The Wilderness Society — Year-End Lightbox (Submitted by ABD Direct)

The Numbers
Recipients: 5,587
Response rate: 13.64 percent
Total cost: $3,000
Income generated: $79,215
Average gift: $103.96
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.04

While year-end is typically the most important giving season of the year — both in mail and online — The Wilderness Society found that traffic to its site historically dropped off at that time because the number of people looking online for camping trips and other outdoor activities declines. So to generate more online income in the winter months, TWS needed to ramp up its site to really grab the attention of the visitors it did get.

In 2012, 45 percent of the people who donated via TWS’ lightbox were new donors, and the organization was looking to increase that number in 2013. The 2012 lightbox was “abrasive-looking,” with a bright yellow background and a link to a donation form. The first focus was streamlining the donation process by including the form directly within the lightbox. ABD Direct also created a clean, mission-relevant design and included short, compelling, year-end-specific copy. The lightbox appeared on the organization homepage Dec. 15 to 31.

As a result of the changes, the number of new donors increased by 92 percent. There was a decline in average gift, but the $103.96 average was still well above other acquisition efforts. Response rate increased by 35 percent, from 10.1 percent in 2012 to 13.6 percent. The increased response rate resulted in staying within 2 percent of the 2012’s total gross revenue, despite an 11 percent decrease in homepage traffic.

BRONZE: Union Rescue Mission Website (Submitted by Union Rescue Mission)

The Numbers
Recipients: 85,561
Response rate: 4.83 percent
Total cost: $28,800
Income generated: $752,987.60
Average gift: $182.10
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.04

The Union Rescue Mission website continues to exceed expectations, bringing in more revenue each year and holding an increasing wealth of information on homelessness in Los Angeles. In 2013, the site saw a 10.81 percent increase in average gift, a 19.82 percent increase in number of transactions and a massive 32.75 percent increase in total revenue raised through general giving on the site, for a total of $753,987.60.

On the Edge
Employee Campaign
Geisinger Health System
(Submitted by Geisinger Health System)

The Numbers
Recipients: 19,975
Response rate: 23 percent employee participation
Total cost: $56,013
Income generated: $3,071,000
Average gift: $1,909
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.02

Part of a long-running Centennial Campaign, the Geisinger Health System Employee Campaign took center stage in 2013 when Lucille Tarin, senior director of resource development at Geisinger, realized that many of the organization’s employees weren’t even aware that their workplace had a foundation, according to Heather Wiley Starankovic, associate vice president in Geisinger’s office of institutional advancement.

Tarin created multiple teams to address the wide range of Geisinger staff and potential donors. These included executive leadership, nursing, staff and physician campaigns, for example. Each group had its own co-chairs and volunteer base, and was trained to do solicitations and stewardship. Then each came up with strategies to entice its members to give.

While this campaign isn’t particularly edgy in terms of technology or risk, or wackiness, our judges were impressed that Geisinger took such a methodical and strategized approach to employee giving. And that it recognizes the importance of employee giving when so many organizations seem content to leave staff donation money on the table.

But what really earned the campaign this award are the incredible participation rates. Overall participation is 4,700 (23 percent), but executive leadership and physicians executives have 100 percent participation, and physicians have 60 percent. Our judges noted that buy-in has to come from the top, and Tarin and her team at Geisinger certainly seem to have that.