Fundraising strategy - from late bloomer to digital pioneer

In order to strengthen member loyalty and attract new patrons, the SPS decided to introduce an email marketing and marketing automation program in spring 2018. Thanks to the new communication options, existing and potential members and donors can now be reached in a more targeted manner. The particular challenge: well-functioning analog processes must not be disrupted by the new digital processes. One of the framework conditions of the new email marketing strategy was therefore the connection of the CRM database, which acts as a lead database for all measures, to the marketing automation solution. SPS did not send out any newsletters until the end of 2018. It was therefore completely inactive in this area. As a strategic partner, getunik helped step by step with the introduction and implementation of email marketing and the digitalization of fundraising. It is thanks to the professional and structured approach of SPS that this was a great success.

Objective: Expand member loyalty and digital reach

The SPS wanted to strengthen its relationship with existing members, attract new donors and systematically exploit its digital potential. Email marketing and marketing automation were to be used for targeted outreach. The connection to the CRM database was key to segmenting existing contacts and using them efficiently.

The combination of the Lifecycle Strategy and the Continuous Optimization Program provides a powerful foundation to continuously increase the effectiveness of fundraising activities and the growth of SPS while focusing on the needs of supporters.

Great digital potential

After the launch of the new website, there was no stopping SPS in the digital sense. This large institution was ready for further online marketing measures such as newsletters, email marketing and marketing automation, as well as data analysis and monitoring. With two million members, the potential in the digital sense is indeed huge. The result is comprehensive and effective online marketing through sound, professional and data-based planning and implementation.

Taking a close look at target groups with personas

Many digital channels and therefore many opportunities to address the SPS target groups. But what is the best way to reach the target groups? SPS and getunik developed personas to get to know their target group better. It was important that representatives from public and individual fundraising as well as online marketing and CRM were involved. Essential - the member perspective was always the focus of persona development.

Member journeys, a special kind of bonding tool

The number of members at SPS is impressive. Almost two million people support this institution. What can be done to ensure that even more members become members, remain members and perhaps become even more involved? Customized journeys can be designed based on the developed personas. The basis for this are sophisticated email series that are implemented as marketing automations with software ("ActiveCampaign") and, above all, with good storytelling.

A clear data structure is the be-all and end-all

Valuable resources are used to create digital content. To ensure that we don't just put in a lot, but also know where we have used how much and what has really made a difference in the end, we work with our customers to set up an efficient  monitoring system. Tailor-made and easy-to-understand dashboards enable data-based decisions and timely performance measurement.

August 2018: As a first step, SPS developed personas with getunik in order to clearly record and document the needs of its target groups. This enabled a better assessment of which members need to be addressed with which message on the various channels. Representatives from public and individual fundraising, CRM and online marketing were involved in the development of the personas in order to design from the members' perspective from the outset. In this way, the SPS ensured that all the knowledge about its target groups was taken into account.

September - December 2018: Based on the personas, getunik developed a newsletter and email marketing concept. The following goals were defined in advance by the SPS:

• Members should be retained.
• Existing members should be converted to permanent members.
• To attract new members.
• Donations should be generated.

The concept was then implemented with ActiveCampaign. A template specially designed for the SPS ensures that the newsletter and automated emails look good. As the existing CRM system was to be used as the lead database, it was necessary to implement an interface between the database and ActiveCampaign. This was done in collaboration with Creativ Software, RaiseNow and the CRM consultant Harry Graf. Thanks to the connection to the CRM and a sophisticated tagging process, contacts can be segmented in a targeted manner. Thanks to training and ongoing consultation, SPS employees are able to work independently with the software.

December 2018 - January 2019: In an analysis, the newly launched SPS website was reviewed in terms of design, content and product placement. The user-friendliness and conversion optimization of the most important journeys on paraplegie.ch were taken into account. A catalog of measures was then formulated for the responsible web agency and the SPS, which was used to optimize the fundraising elements on the website. 

January - April 2019: The next step was to create a good basis for data-based decisions. To this end, the Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics were reviewed and relaunched in places. Tracking for e-commerce and events was also configured. In the final step, the getunik dashboard was configured so that the insights gained could be operationalized into concrete measures. It automatically compiles the most important key figures from the digital channels and compares them with benchmarks from the NPO sector. 

August 2019 - December 2022: getunik also took over the marketing in Google Grants and Adwords for the SPS. Thanks to the strategy developed, the potential of free ads from Google Grants was to be better exploited and overall revenue from the paid search channel increased.  

January 2019 - today: An essential principle of the collaboration is that projects are not only successfully completed, but that they are also constantly reviewed and optimized afterwards. Regular meetings and video conferences ensure this. The ongoing consulting retainer also includes regular consulting for the SPS team and the assumption of tasks in the areas of email marketing, marketing and analytics. The retainer also includes support in the development and implementation of journeys.

September 2019 - today: Together, SPS and getunik have developed an automated journey to convert the leads gained into members. The journey uses the story of a person affected to illustrate the various stages from initial care after the accident to reintegration into the world of work. Readers learn in concrete terms how the Paraplegic Foundation's holistic approach helps people with spinal cord injury to lead a self-determined life.

2021: In collaboration, getunik and SPS have developed an inheritance calculator tailored to the organization. The calculator was implemented with the aim of positioning the Paraplegic Foundation as an expert in estates, wills and pensions, generating  website traffic and attracting estate leads. Gained leads are sent directly to ActiveCampaign, where they enter an automated follow-up journey in which important information on the topic is made available to interested parties. Interactions with the inheritance calculator are made measurable with the help of Google Analytics. Additional information obtained with the inheritance calculator also flows to ActiveCampaign to enable personalized communication.

2021: In order to increase retention and the renewal rate, getunik has developed an automated onboarding journey for new members in a workshop together with SPS. This journey provides personalized information and resources to engage new members from the start and retain them in the organization. Targeted communication promotes member engagement and long-term retention.

2021-2022: getunik also took on the development of a retargeting strategy to attract new SPS members through unused website traffic. The success of the strategy is based on retargeting visitors who have already shown an interest in SPS by visiting the website in order to persuade them to become members. In addition to developing the strategy, getunik also took on the setup and management of the campaign for SPS. The campaigns were continuously optimized to ensure maximum efficiency. The retargeting campaign is a complete success. The ROAS (return on ad spend) is over 1. The media budget used by SPS is therefore amortized after just one year, which means that all membership fees can be used in full for the work of SPS from the second year onwards. 

2022: The focus is on the development of a lifecycle strategy (LCS) by SPS and getunik. The aim is to automate lifecycle management and to identify and prioritize strategically relevant journeys. The lifecycle strategy enables organizations to reach all supporters with the right message at the right time on the preferred channel. Several workshops were held in close cooperation with SPS. The foundation of the lifecycle strategy was developed and success factors were defined. Subsequently, getunik developed the lifecycle strategy and visualized it in the form of a lifecycle map. The lifecycle strategy is a key tool for actively guiding   supporters through the lifecycle and retaining them at SPS in the long term - in an automated way.

2023: SPS and getunik jointly establish the Continuous Optimization Program (COP) in the organization. This program aims to generate systematic growth by driving donor-centric optimizations. The core of the COP is the introduction of an experimentation program. Through continuous experimentation, a gradual improvement of the donor experience and thus an increase in the performance of fundraising measures is achieved. To this end, new ideas and innovations are first underpinned with data and tested before they are fully implemented. Only through experimentation can we ensure that changes will definitely lead to an improvement in results. The COP also takes donor-centricity to a new level. This is because we use the experiments to give supporters the opportunity to decide which experience appeals to them the most. Supporters are thus actively involved in the design process. The COP not only contributes to the growth of the organization, but also strengthens the relationship and dialogue with the donors.

The results speak for themselves: in just eight months, revenue via the website rose from CHF 1,485,000 to CHF 1,750,000 - an increase of 18%. The effect of email marketing is even more impressive: from around 232,000 unused contacts, more than 200,000 became active newsletter recipients. Retention increased measurably: while 94.4 percent of non-subscribers renewed their membership, 95.9 percent of subscribers did so.

The fruits of automation can also be seen in the lead-to-member journey: 10.6% of leads were converted into members. The optimization of Google Ads led to 90 percent more conversions and 40 percent more clicks - made possible by a clear campaign structure and active monitoring.