Email Marketing Campaign
Nazareth Farm
Background
Nazareth Farm is a nonprofit in rural West Virginia. Their donor audience is located nationwide, and is typically introduced to the Farm’s mission in one of two ways:
-
As a week-long volunteer experience as a high school or college student
-
As a chaperone or parent of a volunteer
A small subset of their audience becomes even more connected through leadership positions such as:
-
Board of Directors
-
Staff members
-
Repeat chaperones or service trip coordinators
Years ago, I was the Director of this organization. Now as a copywriter, I get to support their goal of increasing revenue through donations and service-retreat fees.
The Problem
As for most businesses and nonprofits around the world, the pandemic was a scary time for Nazareth Farm. Their volunteer participation numbers dropped to zero and then struggled to recover even when the Farm reopened.
To further complicate matters, the small staff had trouble keeping up with necessary donor relationship activities. Their revenue across the board was in danger.
Project Strategy
I now lead a robust and ongoing donor engagement strategy which kicked off in August 2022. Each month, supporters receive a mission-focused update on the Farm and the people served.
Since we segmented the email list according to the supporter’s experience of the Farm (past volunteers, chaperones, board/coordinators), we are able to tailor the recipient’s experience specifically, logically, and effectively. These monthly campaigns incorporate different calls to action depending on the audience and the message of the month. Recipients might be encouraged to donate, register for a volunteer week, invite a friend to give, or share their experience on social media.
While our average click-through rate for the general donor audience hovers around 1.7% (slightly less than the industry standard), our chaperone audience has an industry-busting CTR of 7.8%!
