Presentation from 2014 Nonprofit Technology Conference (#14ntc) describing some great holiday fundraising, engagement and acquisition campaigns throughout the year.

1. Mark Your Calendars: How to Create
Holiday Fundraising Digital
Campaigns… Not Just at Year-End
#14NTCholiday

2. Welcome!
Slide 2#14ntcholiday
Over 25
Awesom
e Ideas
Over 25
Awesom
e Ideas
#14ntcholiday

3. Presenters
Slide 3#14ntcholiday
Sue Anne Reed
The Engage Group
@Sue_Anne
Kerri Karvetski
Company K Media
@karvetski
Matt Seney
The Lukens Company
@mattseney

4. 2013 Holiday Campaign
Client Type: Art Museum
Campaign Tracks:
• Membership
• Gift Membership
• Cyber Monday (Gift Membership)
• Annual Fund
Campaigns ran from November through end of December:
Slide 4#14ntcholiday
Campaign Track
Week of
Nov. 4
Week of
Nov. 11
Week of
Nov. 18
Week of
Nov. 25
Cyber
Monday
Week of
Dec. 3
Week of
Dec. 9
Week of
Dec. 16
Week of
Dec. 23
Week of
Dec. 30
Membership Ads
Gift Membership Ads
Gift Membership Email
Gift Membership Lightbox
Cyber Monday Ads
Cyber Monday Lightbox
Cyber Monday Emails
Annual Fund Emails
Annual Fund Lightbox

5. 2013 Holiday Campaign
Special Offers – It is important to provide a discount to incentivize action
• Membership – 20% off
• Gift Membership – 20% from launch through Cyber Monday; no discount
after Cyber Monday through Christmas
• Cyber Monday – 20% off Gift Membership
• Annual Fund – tax deductable
Slide 5#14ntcholiday

6. 2013 Holiday Campaign
Creative – It is important for creative to have a cohesive look and feel
Slide 6#14ntcholiday

7. 2013 Holiday Campaign
Testing– It is important to test… but don’t over test!
Test #1: Cyber Monday “early-bird” special
We split randomly split our email list and the day before Cyber Monday half
of the email recipients received an email reminding them to look for the
Cyber Monday deal the next day. The other half received an email
promoting an “early-bird” opportunity to get their Cyber Monday savings
right then by clicking thru.
Goal: To determine if people would respond to “Cyber Monday” offer before
Cyber Monday.
Test #2: Lightbox A/B
From December 3 thru 25 we split tested the Gift Membership Lightbox and
the Annual Fund Lightbox.
Goal: To determine if organic visitors to the website would respond better
to a Gift Membership promotion or an Annual Fund ask.
Slide 7#14ntcholiday

8. 2013 Holiday Campaigns
Results
• 215 Memberships Purchases
• 521 Gift Membership Purchases
• 1,322 Cyber Monday Purchases
• 229 Annual Fund Donations
• Over $200,000 in gross revenue
Other Highlights
Cyber Monday “early-bird” special test nearly matched last year’s entire
Cyber Monday total
Cyber Monday campaign generated 4x gross revenue over 2012 campaign
Generated 88% of museum’s total online goal for the Fiscal Year
Slide 8#14ntcholiday

9. 2013 Holiday Campaigns
Lessons for Next Year’s Campaigns
• Black Friday thru Cyber Monday Special
Email, Digital Advertising, Landing Pages and Lightboxes
• Giving Tuesday
Target donors, and possibly test higher level members
• Annual Fund Lightbox Test
Test specific $ ask v. generic ask
Slide 9#14ntcholiday

10. World Toilet Day - November
Slide 10#14ntcholiday

11. October – Halloween
2013 Halloween Pinterest Board
Slide 11#14ntcholiday

12. September – Back to School
CAMPAIGN: Schools Not Slavery by Beyond Borders (w/Company K Media
consultant)
CONCEPT: Fundraising campaign
with a match
EXECUTION:
• 6 weeks, 7 emails (including
“thank you”)
• 1st
email with cultivation video
before Labor Day
• Complement to direct-mail campaign
RESULTS:
• Raised $30k total/$9.6k online
• 41% of donors were new
Slide 12#14ntcholiday

13. July+August – Summer
CAMPAIGN: “Healthy Summer” by American Diabetes Association
(courtesy of agency Red Engine Digital)
CONCEPT: Cultivation campaign to
engage online constituents during
summer months
EXECUTION:
• Healthy Summer Pledge
• 3-part email series with tips (recipes, skin care, travel tips, exercise)
• Website “ads” to entice visitors to sign the pledge
• Soft ask in emails
Slide 13#14ntcholiday

14. June: Father’s Day
Slide 14#14ntcholiday

15. June: Father’s Day
Slide 15#14ntcholiday

16. May: Memorial Day Special
Timely use of a Lightbox to promote special offer to website visitors
Slide 16#14ntcholiday

17. May: Mother’s Day
Gift Catalog (2013)
Slide 17#14ntcholiday

18. May: Mother’s Day
Slide 18#14ntcholiday

19. National Audubon Society Gift Catalog
Mother’s Day Promotions
• Two emails sent to 300,000 constituents each
• Email campaigns highlighted “motherly” birds
• Facebook posts also used to increase engagement
• Ads on National Audubon Society drove significant traffic to catalog
• Over 450 orders were placed in week before Mother’s Day
Slide 19#14ntcholiday

20. May: Mother’s Day
Slide 20#14ntcholiday

21. April: Earth Day
Slide 21#14ntcholiday

22. March – Oscars!
2014 Oscars Pinterest Board
Slide 22#14ntcholiday

23. March – Oscars!
CAMPAIGN: 2014 Honesty Oscars by
ONE + AccountabilityLab
CONCEPT: Awareness/engagement
campaign to spotlight creativity of NGOs
and individuals fighting global corruption
EXECUTION:
• Nominees chosen by AccountabilityLab
• Nominees sent social media kits to promote to their own networks
• ONE handled blogger outreach
• No media outreach – 100% social
RESULTS:
• More than 100,000 votes
• 14 million potential impressions on Twitter
Slide 23#14ntcholiday

24. February: National Audubon Society
Valentine’s Day Campaigns
• I ♥ Heart Birds (2013 & 2014)
• Gift Catalog (2013)
Slide 24#14ntcholiday

25. I ♥ Heart Birds (NAS)
Slide 25#14ntcholiday

26. I ♥ Heart Birds (NAS)
Results 2013 & 2014
• Premium used for both 2013 & 2014 campaigns (T-shirt in 2013 &
Bumper Sticker in 2014)
• 2014 campaign had 904 donors
• Bumper sticker was very successful at converting new donors and
over 70% were new donors
Slide 26#14ntcholiday

27. National Audubon Society Gift Catalog
Slide 27#14ntcholiday

28. National Audubon Society Gift Catalog
Valentine’s Day Promotions
• Gift Catalog had originally been launched for the 2012 Holiday season
• Holiday images were replaced with generic images
• “Penguins in love” were used as primary imagery for promotion
• Gift catalog promotions happened at same time as 2013 I ♥ Birds
• 160+ orders placed on 2/13 & 2/14
Slide 28#14ntcholiday

29. January: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Slide 29#14ntcholiday

30. January: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Slide 30#14ntcholiday

31. Key Takeaways - Matt
• Take advantage of Black Friday thru Cyber Monday / Giving Tuesday
• Integrate multiple channels (Email, Advertising, Lightboxes, etc.)
• Early-bird email offers – give people opportunity to get the deal
“before the deal”
• Plan your campaign early, then execute it
• Test… but don’t over test
Slide 31#14ntcholiday

32. Key Takeaways - Kerri
PLAN
•Lightbox
Collaborative’s 2014
Editorial Calendar
•Nonprofit Tech for
Good’s 2014 Nonprofit
Cause Awareness Days
BRAINSTORM
•What is the core
sentiment of the
holiday?
•What’s been done
before? (nonprofits &
businesses)
Slide 32#14ntcholiday

33. Key Takeaways – Sue Anne
• Be creative
• Be thoughtful … don’t target holidays that don’t match your mission
• Best examples are ones that take an integrated approach and
combine social & email (and even direct mail)
Slide 33#14ntcholiday

34. What did you think?
Evaluate this session!
Search by #14ntcholiday at www.nten.org/ntc/eval
When you evaluate a session, you will be entered to win a prize!