Non-Profit Fundraising

GOAL

Family Hope Foundation (FHF) is a non-profit in West Michigan that serves children with disabilities and their families. FHF strives to fill gaps, offering scholarships to help with expensive therapies as well as resources and events.

As a non-profit, FHF depends on the generosity of the community to provide its services. It has a dedicated donor base, but with pandemic anxiety causing people to tighten their purse strings, FHF wasn’t sure what to expect for its year-end fundraising. “Initially, when COVID-19 hit, I was very concerned,” said Jane Eppard, executive director. “After [spring fundraising], I had a feeling that our donors would be there for us. But there was still uneasiness.”

FHF traditionally relied on print mailers for its fundraising. The team brought 2 Fish Co. on board for marketing support in the fall of 2020, so it was the perfect opportunity to test adding digital channels to the mix for Giving Tuesday and year-end appeals. With the addition of digital tactics, FHF hoped to not only increase donations from its existing audience but reach new people and invite them to support the cause.

SOLUTION

We worked with FHF to execute its fundraising plan across channels, which included print, social media, email, and the website. We developed creative around FHF’s call-to-action “give the gift of ability” and emphasized impact stories that tug heartstrings.

“At that time of year, every non-profit organization is fundraising,” said 2 Fish Co. Relationship Manager Rachel Hindley. “We worked hard, and the Family Hope Foundation team worked hard, to create a campaign that stood out. We needed to make our appeal unique and have enough touchpoints to drive donations.”

For the Giving Tuesday campaign, we supported FHF’s print and organic efforts. We also developed an email drip campaign, a social advertising campaign, and added website elements (like banners and a pop-up).

FHF was keen to test out peer-to-peer fundraising on Facebook. Its team recruited a strong group of stakeholders to participate and kept them engaged on the day. This tactic was highly successful.

FHF wanted to follow the huge push on Giving Tuesday with a more understated year-end appeal. Tactics included social advertising, an email drip, and print.

RESULTS

Family Hope Foundation’s goal for Giving Tuesday was to raise $15,000 to meet a match and bring in a total of $30,000. Thanks to the success of its peer-to-peer fundraising and expanded outreach through other digital tactics, it blew past that goal three times! Between Giving Tuesday and the year-end appeal, FHF brought in $26,000 over its original goal for the year. Compared to 2019, that was a 35% increase in donations.

The addition of digital tactics was a huge success. “We’ve always done direct mail [fundraising],” said Jane Eppard. “2020 was our first year doing digital appeals. It went well—really well. It was a great enhancement, and it was how we gained a lot of our new donors.”

Digital drove a 68% increase in online giving during the year-end fundraising period compared to 2019. Donations from brand-new donors increased 72% in that time. Emails performed well, but the social advertisements were especially effective, pushing 2,177 visitors to the FHF website.

“It was really fun to see everything I’d dreamed of from a wish list standpoint come true,” said Eppard. “To be able to collaborate creatively, to give input and get back lots of options, was wonderful.”

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