The Humane Society is one of the nation's most respected animal welfare organizations, dedicated to creating a more humane and sustainable world for all animals through rescue, advocacy, and education. While they had established strong brand recognition and community support, they faced challenges in converting their digital audience into major donors, a critical funding source for their expanding programs and initiatives.

Despite having a passionate supporter base and compelling mission, the Humane Society encountered several obstacles in its digital fundraising efforts:

• Fragmented digital marketing approach without clear pathways to major gift cultivation

• Limited personalization in their donor journey for high-capacity prospects

• Inability to effectively identify and target potential major donors within their digital audience

• Low conversion rates from social media engagement to meaningful donor relationships

• Inconsistent messaging across platforms that didn't effectively communicate impact to potential major donors

• Rising acquisition costs and increased competition for philanthropic dollars

• Difficulty demonstrating ROI from digital marketing to major gift fundraising

The organization needed a strategic digital approach that could generate awareness and effectively nurture relationships with potential major donors and convert them into significant supporters.

We developed and implemented a comprehensive digital strategy explicitly focused on major gift acquisition:

Strategic Audience Segmentation

• Created detailed donor personas based on giving capacity, interests, and digital behavior

• Implemented advanced wealth screening integration with their CRM to identify high-capacity prospects

• Developed custom audience segments for targeted messaging based on affinity to specific programs

• Established lookalike modeling to identify prospects with similar profiles to existing major donors

• Implemented interest-based targeting to connect with prospective donors' specific animal welfare concerns

Social Media Engagement Strategy

• Developed a content ecosystem focused on impact storytelling and transparency

• Created exclusive "behind-the-scenes" content showcasing the direct impact of major gifts

• Implemented a "digital cultivation" approach with personalized touchpoints for high-value prospects

• Leveraged user-generated content from volunteers and beneficiaries to create authentic connections

• Established a social ambassador program featuring major donors sharing their giving stories

Paid Search Campaign Optimization

• Implemented a sophisticated keyword strategy targeting major gift-related search terms

• Created dedicated landing pages with compelling impact stories and clear giving pathways

• Developed retargeting campaigns specifically designed to nurture high-capacity prospects

• Optimized campaign tracking to attribute major gifts to specific digital touchpoints

• Implemented A/B testing for donation messaging focused on major gift motivations

Digital-to-Personal Conversion Process

• Created a seamless handoff process between digital engagement and major gift officers

• Developed a triggered notification system alerting gift officers to digital engagement from prospects

• Implemented digital "warm-up" sequences before personal outreach

• Created personalized digital content packages for gift officers to share with prospects

• Established clear protocols for moving relationships from digital to personal cultivation

Major Gift Growth

• 106% increase in the number of major gifts ($10,000+) received within 12 months

• $2.1 million in new major gift revenue directly attributed to digital campaigns

• 37% decrease in acquisition cost per major donor

• 18 first-time major donors converted directly from social media engagement

• 42 previous mid-level donors upgraded to major gifts through targeted campaigns

Digital Engagement Metrics

• 284% increase in meaningful interactions with high-capacity prospects

• 4.2x higher click-through rates on targeted impact stories than previous campaigns

• 67% open rate on personalized email communications to major gift prospects

• 23-minute average time spent on major donor cultivation landing pages

• 79% of major gift prospects engaged with at least three pieces of digital content before giving

Long-term Impact

• 74% retention rate among digitally-acquired major donors (22% higher than the organizational average)

• 31% increase in average gift size from digitally-cultivated donors

• Established a sustainable pipeline of qualified major gift prospects for future growth

• Created replicable digital cultivation process adapted for national and regional campaigns

• Developed a comprehensive attribution model demonstrating clear ROI for digital investments

Phase 1: Discovery & Strategy Development (Weeks 1-4)

• Conducted a comprehensive audit of existing digital channels and donor journey

• Analyzed historical major gift data to identify patterns and opportunities

• Developed an integrated strategy connecting digital engagement to major gift cultivation

• Established clear KPIs and tracking methodology for campaign evaluation

Phase 2: Audience & Content Development (Weeks 5-8)

• Implemented wealth screening integration and prospect identification system

• Created segmented content strategy tailored to different donor personas

• Developed impact storytelling framework focusing on tangible outcomes

• Produced multimedia content assets showcasing the impact of major gifts

Phase 3: Campaign Launch & Optimization (Weeks 9-20)

• Launched coordinated social media and paid search campaigns

• Implemented A/B testing and continuous optimization protocols

• Trained major gift officers on digital engagement alerts and follow-up process

• Developed a real-time reporting dashboard for campaign performance

Phase 4: Relationship Management & Stewardship (Ongoing)

• Established digital stewardship journeys for new major donors

• Created personalized impact reporting for existing donors

• Implemented peer-to-peer sharing tools for donor advocacy

• Developed a continuous feedback loop to refine the digital-to-personal approach