One Campaign, Different Donor Experiences

Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation set an ambitious spring goal: raise $200,000 through direct response toward a new $8 million Endoscopy Suite. The campaign went broadly across the donor file, including active, lapsed and mid-level donors. It was one fundraising objective taken to several donor audiences, and not every one of those relationships was the same.

Our point of view was that one campaign can still treat different donors differently. Delta’s mid-level donors, its Circle of Friends, are several hundred supporters who have shown a significant level of commitment, and the Foundation already treats that relationship differently, with tailored letters, hand signatures, live postage stamps and invitations to special events. The role of the campaign was to keep that personal experience intact while bringing the Circle of Friends into the same organizational campaign as the wider donor base.

The campaign also gave every donor a compelling reason to act. The Jim Pattison Foundation offered a $1 million match, but only if the community raised the first $1 million by May 31. That is a tangible, credible proposition: help us get across the finish line and unlock another $1 million. For donors capable of a larger gift, it was especially powerful, because they could see the role their gift would play in reaching the goal.

Dr. Juan Mata, Delta Hospital’s Co-Head of Surgery, became the face of the campaign across every channel. Real patient stories made the need for better cancer screening personal, and the direct mail package included a handwritten-style note from Dr. Mata. Direct mail led, with email and social media reinforcing the same donor journey: the same need, the same $1 million goal, the same May 31 deadline and the same call to action, with each channel doing a different job. Out-of-home, newspaper coverage and major-gift activity then amplified the same community objective. Across every touchpoint, one fundraising idea held, while different donors were still treated differently.

Every channel pointed to one next step: give by May 31 to help unlock the Jim Pattison Foundation’s $1 million match.

Results

• Match: the community raised its first $1 million by May 31, unlocking the Jim Pattison Foundation’s $1 million match and putting $2 million toward the $8 million Endoscopy Suite.
• Revenue: more than $315,000 from direct mail alone against a $200,000 goal, 158% of goal.
• Year over year: nearly three times the previous year’s direct mail revenue.
• Response: current donors responded at 16.7%.