Pareto Fundraising's work with the Australian Conservation Foundation
How the Australian Conservation Foundation's climate change survey acquired new supporters and is helping to protect our children's futures
Background:
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has relied heavily on Face-to-Face (on-street) fundraising in order to recruit monthly, long-term supporters. While this is an effective method of acquiring loyal donors, ACF was keen to diversify and test other acquisition methods.
In 2007, ACF and Pareto Fundraising worked together to develop and test two direct mail (DM) donor-recruitment packs. One asked prospects for a single cash donation, the other asked prospects to immediately sign-up to make automated monthly gifts. The tests proved so successful that, early in 2008, the decision was made to launch a full-scale DM acquisition campaign.
In order to improve response rates and donation amounts even further, Pareto Fundraising employed advanced data analysis techniques to break down the results of the test packs and determine the geographical, economic and behavioural characteristics of those individuals who responded with support.
Armed with this information, ACF was able to identify which cold lists were likely to generate the greatest net income and the largest number of new committed donors. What's more, return on investment (ROI) was maximised by ensuring that only those prospects who were most likely to respond to a DM request for committed support were targeted for mailing.
Campaign Material:
Regular giving acquisition letter and survey
Cash donor acquisition letter and survey
Why did it work?
The success of the campaign was due to the strategic and creative execution of the pack, combined with the minutely detailed analysis of ACFs previous test packs. - The letter asked people to complete the enclosed Climate Change Survey, as well as make a donation (half of those mailed were asked for monthly gifts, the other half were asked for a single cash donation).
- Furthermore, by determining those who were most likely to respond positively to a request for committed support, the most cost-effective and best-performing mailing lists could be used.
What impact did this appeal have on the Australian Conservation Foundation work?
- The use of carefully targeted lists, combined with a strong banker pack, led to a doubling of response rate for regular givers and three times the return on investment (ROI) of the previous campaign.
- With the extra monthly income generated by the campaign, ACF can continue their work safe in the knowledge that they will have the long-term funds they need to secure the future of Australia's outstanding natural environment and the unique wildlife and people that depend on it.
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About the Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is committed to inspiring people to achieve a healthy environment for all Australians. For over 40 years ACF has been a strong voice for the environment, promoting solutions through research, consultation, education and partnerships. ACF works with the community, business and government to protect, restore and sustain our environment.
