And the Winners Are ...
MULTICHANNEL
Tiger Matching Gift
Submitted by Schultz & Williams
• The Numbers
Recipients: 939,805
Total Income Generated: $25,692
Average Gift: $119.15
Cost to Raise a Dollar: $0.13
Total Out-of-Pocket Costs: $42,705
Response Rate: 3.71 percent
As much we hate to encourage this sort of thing, we have to say that Gold Awards judge Dave Stuart declared that this campaign, "has the tiger by the tail!" Exclamation point and all. But we don't hold it against him … a great fundraising effort can do that to a person, especially a fellow fundraiser.
Up until 2009, WCS raised its funds primarily by acquiring subscribers to its magazine. But then the magazine was discontinued, and the organization was forced to reposition its fundraising to focus more on, well, plain old giving rather than subscribing.
Our judges were impressed not only with the results of the campaign as they stand on their own, but even more so because of the huge redirect the organization was forced to take.
According to Schultz & Williams' Jessica Harrington, the Tiger Matching Gift Campaign was WCS' most successful fundraising campaign to date.
"It also began to change the relationship WCS has with its constituents, moving from a subscriber-based transaction to a philanthropic connection, which will only serve to increase donations in the years to come," she says.
It certainly didn't hurt that WCS was able to ease the transition with a matching-gift offer from a foundation to add a sense of urgency to the campaign.
This remarkably clean series of four e-mails and two mail pieces, along with a tie-in to the WCS website, centered on communications from Colin Poole, a prominent scientist and director of Asia programs for WCS.
