The Full Story
Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Fall Kickoff Appeal is the first appeal in their fundraising calendar and serves as a lead-in to their annual million-dollar day of giving. Given the appeal’s wide audience, personalization is of utmost importance. This year, the decision was made to overhaul the approach by fully leveraging Pledgemine’s ability to produce highly segmented direct mail without additional costs.
Segmentation Strategy:
Each donor segment received a mailer featuring a relevant student story, complete with a photo and quote. A student story is a great way for universities to show the impact donations can have, but they are even more impactful when a donor can relate to the student. SigEp matched each donor with a student who shared a part of their identity, whether that be an interest, chapter affiliation, region, or other factor. For example, donors from Virginia received stories about University of Virginia scholars, creating a personal and emotional connection that underscored the impact of their contributions.
This level of personalization was made possible by SigEp’s strategy, which involved sending out 15,200 personalized pieces of mail, each tailored to specific segments within their donor base. The campaign featured 15 distinct segments and 70 unique student stories, resulting in 1,050 versions of the mailer through Pledgemine’s Featured Profiles. These student quotes and headshots were gathered at the fraternity’s annual Ruck Leadership Institute, which teaches students from around the country personal leadership skills each summer.
Impact:
The results of the Fall Kickoff Appeal were impressive. SigEp saw a 26 percent increase in dollars raised compared to the previous year, with total donations reaching $63,000 and an increased average gift size. The personalized approach not only boosted donations but also garnered proactive positive feedback from donors. Many donors expressed appreciation for the relatable and direct examples of student impact, which reinforced their decision to contribute. By providing clear and tangible examples of how their donations were making a difference, SigEp successfully strengthened donor relationships and set the stage for continued support.
Furthermore, the campaign helped prime donors for the upcoming annual giving day, as donations gathered from this campaign were counted towards the competition between chapters for funds raised on the giving day.
Takeaways:
The success of the Fall Kickoff Appeal highlights the value of personalized communication in fundraising. Ben Ford noted the significant impact of segmenting by school and state, emphasizing that donors responded more positively when they could see the direct impact of their contributions on familiar institutions and regions. Ben also shared that he and the rest of the SigEp team is looking forward to utilizing Pledgemine by EverTrue to create effective and impactful segmented campaigns in the future.
