Growth Through New Donor Acquisition
For nearly two billion people living in extreme poverty in the developing world, access to even the simplest of medicines is simply unattainable. Since 1954, MAP International has been working tirelessly to fulfill its Christian mission to provide critically-needed medicines and health supplies for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Over the years, close to 40,000 people have partnered financially with MAP to mobilize donated and low-cost medicines and supplies for those most in need. A healthy major gift revenue stream generated steady organizational growth for a five-year period, despite a consistent and significant decline in the total number of donors annually as no concerted effort was made to acquire new donors.
The Opportunity
With a bold vision for growth under the leadership of a new CEO and marketing director, MAP established a strategic plan to expand the direct response fundraising channel, resulting in a commitment to invest a total of $1M in acquisition for fiscal year 2021. Meyer Partners was asked to give leadership to this critical strategy, deliver a record number of new donors, and ensure strong second gift conversion to create a sustainable pool of donors for long-term revenue growth.
The Solution
With years of experience fundraising for faith-based organizations, Meyer Partners applied proven techniques and strategies to acquire a large volume of high-value, mission-driven donors for MAP. For example:
· Leveraging and continuously optimizing several cooperative databases and a variety of different models, the largest volume of donors were acquired at a low cost. Traditional donor lists were also tested conservatively. Predictive modelling was applied to lapsed donors to reacquire the past supporters with the highest future revenue potential.
· A plethora of ask strategies and an offer test were conducted throughout the year, optimizing the strategy for each campaign based on test results from the previous one. This included increasing the second and third ask amounts and adding two higher amounts to the ask string for a total of five.
· A new creative package was tested that retained many strategic elements of MAP’s current acquisition control package, such as a world map insert showing where donor gifts are making an impact. It featured a dramatic story with a “need” photo on the outer envelope and used a clean, personal-feeling letter format to make a compelling case for support.
The second gift conversion strategy was also bolstered with the addition of a personal thank-you call, handwritten thank-you note, welcome package and real-time second gift appeal. An email welcome series was also incorporated for donors acquired online.
The Results
Fiscal year 2021 was a year growth for MAP International with nearly 9,000 new donors acquired, generating an increase of 85% in the total number of active donors.
New donors gave an average $70 first gift – including one for $30,000! By the end of the fiscal year, they had given a total of 1.4 gifts on average (with the majority being acquired in the second half of the year and therefore having relatively little time to do so).
With such a large number of high-value donors added to their support base this past year, MAP is poised to continue drawing value for many years through strong retention and upgrade efforts, a focus on monthly giving, cultivation of mid-level and major donors and securing an increasing number of planned gifts.