The Challenge:
Faced with the fundraising challenges of a weak economy, CRPF needed to find
ways to improve the ROI on their multi-channel communication programs and fundraising
activities.
The Context:
As a nonprofit organization, the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation conducts
large-scale mailings each year to increase the size of their donor universe and
to solicit contributions from their established donor base. The Foundation relies
on these funds to subsidize critical research and quality of life programs.
Another major source of funding is a gala dinner held each year in New York. This
gala event has become the showcase event for the Foundation and serves as a public
forum for reporting on progress being made in research and for hearing appeals
directly from Chris for help in continuing the search for a cure.
The challenge was to develop direct
response vehicles for all marketing programs that would cost
effectively "break through the clutter" and generate
increased revenues.
Crossbow Solution:
A marketing assessment conducted by Crossbow Group showed that the Foundation
could benefit from a new marketing approach that leveraged the power of advanced
segmentation techniques to better target mailings. In addition, the assessment
showed that brand equity could be reinforced with improved integration of branding
and messaging across all channels of communication.
Crossbow Group developed new test campaigns that sustained or improved results
at significantly lower cost. Better-targeted, high impact messaging replaced the
need for premium items while a consistent use of branding contributed to increased
awareness of and affinity for the cause.
Results: Crossbow Group initiatives contributed to a 15% decrease in marketing
expenses, a 32% increase in donors and a 245% increase in annual funding.
