Case Study: Telling impactful stories to re-engage donors
MEET THE CLIENT
DeafBlind Ontario Foundation raises, invests and directs funds to DeafBlind Ontario Services to provide the essential resources it needs to provide safe and enriching supportive living homes and community support services for people who are deafblind, as well as those who are Deaf, hard of hearing, use non-traditional forms of communication, or are non-verbal with a developmental disability.
THE CLIENT’S CHALLENGE
In early 2023, DeafBlind Ontario Foundation contracted Luminate to create three appeal letters throughout their fiscal year to increase engagement with lapsed donors, increase repeat donations, and maintain or increase their response rate. Appeal letters were something they had always written and designed in-house, but with the challenges of donor fatigue and increased competition for charitable contributions, they decided to try engaging expertise.
OUR SOLUTION
Our appeal letters pull on heartstrings and compel donors to act — they tell stories of people who have been positively impacted by our clients’ work.
We tell stories by first conducting really great interviews — interviews that capture all the information we need with compassion, kindness, and sensitivity.
Two of the three letters (the holiday letter sent to the regular mailing list and an acquisition letter sent to a targeted cold mailing list in early fall) were about a young man who recently moved into one of their homes in Sudbury. With support from an intervenor and assistance from his mother, he sat in a Zoom meeting and happily answered all of our questions about life growing up in his family home, life now that he lived independently in a DeafBlind Ontario Services home, and his plans for the future — all of which painted a compelling picture for the reader.
When it came time for design, we opted for the ‘design ugly’ school of thought that experts suggest bring in more dollars. In this case, we dubbed it ‘beautiful ugly’ — a serif font and a strategic mess of bold, underlining, and italics but with photos provided by the young man and design treatments to give the letter a family scrapbook feel. In all, it created a compelling read that drew the reader in almost immediately.
We also created a tear-off buck slip and an outgoing and return envelope that met Canada Post’s mail standards before turning the final product over to our client to work with their mailing house.
THE RESULTS
Upon completion of the third appeal campaign, DeafBlind Ontario Foundation reported the following:
Re-engagement of Lapsed Donors: Through the compelling content and strategic approach, the letter successfully re-engaged a significant portion of donors. The innovative interview techniques and engaging stories played a key role in this achievement.
Increase in Repeat Donations: The quality of the content and the professional presentation led to an increase in repeat donations. Donors who were previously engaged continued their support, demonstrating the effectiveness of our work in fostering long-term donor relationships.
Consistent Response Rates: The number of responses to the campaigns was on par with the previous year, which was their highest in several years. Maintaining this level of engagement was a significant success, particularly given the challenges of donor fatigue and increased competition for charitable contributions.
A less tangible outcome, but just as important, was the overwhelming positive feedback DeafBlind Ontario Foundation received on the stories — parents, caregivers, and staff praised the engaging and heartfelt nature of the content.
TESTIMONIAL
“The outcomes collectively demonstrate the significant progress and success achieved through [Luminate’s] expertise and support. The positive reception not only highlighted the success of the projects but also strengthened our community bonds and enhanced the impact of our communications.”
Laura Parsons
Fundraising and Project Manager