This document discusses the differences between clever and creative fundraising strategies. It provides examples of successful clever and creative campaigns from various non-profit organizations. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation created a personalized infographic campaign that engaged new donors. The Rubber Duck Regatta, run by Freestore Foodbank, uses rubber ducks and community events to raise hunger awareness and funds over 25 years. Boston Children's Hospital Trust combines marketing campaigns like a kids art calendar contest with traditional fundraising to acquire new donors. The document concludes with tips on managing "clever creep" in fundraising and leveraging marketing ideas while staying true to an organization's brand.

1. CLEVER VS. CREATIVE
WHICH TAKES THE FUNDRAISING CAKE?

2. Your Presenters
Dolores McDonagh
Principal Consultant, Charity Dynamics
2
Sarah Tatnall-Ferragamo
Associate Director, Leadership Gifts
Boston Children’s Hospital Trust
Rebecca Kaplan,
Public Affairs & Social Media Manager
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

3. What You’ll See & Hear Today
• What we mean by “clever” and “creative”
• Losers and winners in the clever/creative space
• Tips on how to successfully manage “clever creep…” – and keep your job
• Creative larceny, and leveraging failures for success
3

4. CLEVER VS. CREATIVE
Clever
1985
Creative
1999

5. Where are all the losers?
5

6. Beating a Historic Control
6
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Long Time Acquisition Pkg.

7. We tried everything…
7
nostalgia…
… fear patriotism…

8. travel…
travel AND
patriotism…
Really… Everything…

9. And the winner is…
9
… Look familiar?

10. Clever & Creative Winners

11. Awareness Week
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

12. Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

13. Empowering IBD Patients to Tell Their Story
13
Celebrity Base
Broader Base

14. Personalized Infographic
14
Simple 5-question
survey populates a
personal story that
people can share

15. Results
15
• Initial 2017 goal: 500 completed
infographics
• 2017: 2,919 created by
COMMITTED constituents
– 1,519 NEW to the organization
– 6% have become donors
• 2018: Additional 2,230 created
– 1,628 NEW to the organization
– 5% have become donors
2017
2018

16. Awareness Week Continues to Grow – Key Takeaways
20,622
30,314
45,510
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
2016 2017 2018
Website Pageviews During Awareness Week
+50%
Know your Audience
Use Surround Sound Marketing
Watch Out for Silos
16
+47%

17. Rubber Duck Regatta
Freestore Foodbank

18. America’s Largest Rubber Duck Regatta
For 25 years, Cincinnati’s Freestore
Foodbank has engaged community
members to raise awareness and funds
while having fun!
• Celebrity Ambassadors
• Community Engagement Events
• Promotions & Duck Sales with
Corporate Partners
• Direct Mail
• Email & Website Marketing
• Social Sharing
18

19. Fighting Hunger – 1 Duck at a Time
• Integrated messaging between direct mail & digital
• Marketing efforts focus on fun, prizes and “Buy a
duck, feed a child.”

20. Rubber Duck Marketing
20
Added social sharing, post-purchase, to
empower supporters to spread the word.
Site Marketing

21. Different Themes Over the Years
21

22. Rubber Duck Digital Revenue YOY
$41,655 $58,345 $57,341 $74,000 $86,455
$124,830
$138,883 $148,731
$162,896
$180,706
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
$300,000
FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19
Email Other

23. Rubber Duck Regatta Takeaways
• If you’ve got a great idea, communicate that it could take several years to hit your
stride.
• It’s possible to do fundraising with a flair, but it helps if it embodies a core element
of your brand.
• Significant investment in organization-wide collaboration and marketing is
important for success.
23

24. Creative Marketing Meets
Tried-and-True Fundraising
A Winning Combination at Boston Children’s Hospital Trust

25. Boston Children’s Hospital Trust

26. Filling the Pipeline and Calendar
through Marketing Campaigns
• February: Valentines Day Cards
• July: Puppy Pageant Voting
• August: Kids Art Calendar Voting
• October: Halloween Cards
26

27. Digital Marketing Starts the Fun
27
Email to entire
community, with
invitations to share.
Participants are
invited to share that
they took action.
Facebook posts engage
community to act.

28. Sending Well Wishes to Patients
28
Providing an easy eCard experience captures new
constituent contact info while empowering people to
make a sick child’s holiday a little brighter.

29. Voting
29
Experience is so easy, it’s not a tough lift to ask
voters to share as well.

30. Converting Engaged Constituents
to Donors
30
Thank you email
also reinforces
donating and
sharing.
Voters and Card senders’
immediate “thank you” is
conveniently located on a
donation form, with
opportunities to give and
share that they took action.

31. Educating New Constituents
Customized
Welcome Message
Trust eNewsletter

32. Results
Votes Per Year
FY17 FY18 FY19
Valentines
Day Cards
9,051 30,081 38,402
Puppy
Pageant
4,415 8,409 --
Kids Art
Calendar
-- 4,013 4,428
Halloween
Cards
10,237 12,928 16,453
Total 23,703 55,431 59,283
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Conversion to Donors Over Time
32

33. The Marriage of Marketing
& Fundraising

34. The Best Campaigns Work Both Ways!
• Calendars are a mainstay of
direct mail marketing
• While calendars can be fun,
don’t throw out your tried and
true fundraising principles
• And don’t forget who your
audience is…
34

35. Creating a New Calendar
• Email and Social to ask for art
• Used Wyng on Facebook for
submissions
• Two rounds of Voting
– Facebook (Round 1)
– Website (Final)
35

36. And the Winner Is…
• 4,000 voted in inaugural year
• Increased to 4,500 in our most
recent campaign
• Mailed new & improved
calendar in our acquisition and
appeal universes
• LOVE conquered COWS!
36

37. Planning for This and Next Year
• Rolling out expanded mail
quantities in July and October
– Including new voters
• For 2020 and 2021 exploring
expanded digital fundraising
opportunities
• Debriefing with Marketing to
capture new ideas
37

38. Integrating Marketing Names Into Ongoing Fundraising
• Marketing Campaigns are a great way to build warm prospect lists.
• Smart organizations don’t try to reinvent their tried-and-true fundraising
campaigns.
– Instead, after warming up new constituents, they use existing fundraising campaigns as
conversion vehicles.
• It’s okay to NOT convert 100% of names into donors.
38

39. Managing Clever Creep

40. Repeat after me…
“That’s a
great idea!
Let’s test it.”

41. If you must, be clever in engagement efforts
• Respond to “clever” demands and protect fundraising goals
by going outside the box in cultivation efforts.
• Focus demands to do something clever at low-impact times.
• Manage expectations and communicate results. When you
do, remember your audience (often not donors).
• Try out-of-the-box ideas online first. It can be less costly and
failures are easier to erase.
• Partner with Marketing to integrate name collection, or
fundraising asks, into their edgy campaigns.
41
The two recipe callouts
combined for 882 recipe
downloads.

42. Reactivation Campaign
• Designed to grab attention of
donors and constituents who
are at risk of falling out of your
email audience.
• Most constituents reactivated
simply by opening the email
• 14% reactivated by interacting
with the emails.

43. c
Reactivation Strategy Payoff
• Suppressing disengaged
constituents pays off.
• Open rates more than doubled
when this organization committed
to keeping names current AND
saying ‘bye-bye’ to unengaged
people.
• Higher Open Rates translate to
greater delivery with large inbox
providers.

44. If you must, have fun!
• Pressed into participating in a
first-ever “Vote Online to Win $”
campaign
• “No” was not an option, so we
went with it, partnering with
Communications to craft an email
blitz campaign featuring a
takeover of National Trust
Headquarters by Peeps
• And yes, we won the $200K!
44

45. One Last Piece of Advice
• Keep a list of creative
tactics & techniques that
you think might be a good
fit
• Beware ‘one-hit wonders’
that get covered in trade
publications
• Implement when you’ve
seen them endure for a
year or more.

46. Summing Up
• Know your audience
• Be true to your brand
• Be creative in testing tactics in tried and true campaigns
• Communicate your victories and failures in ways that create “buy-
in” for your program
• Mitigate risk when responding to requests to innovate
• Track others’ results and steal good, proven ideas
• If at first you don’t succeed with a good idea, work in partnership in
your organization to find a way to make it work!
46

47. Questions?
47

48. THANK
©2018 Charity Dynamics
YOU

49. Rebecca:
rkaplan@crohnscolitisfoundation.org
Sarah:
Sarah.Tatnall@chtrust.org
Dolores:
dmcdonagh@charitydynamics.org