Approach
With the goal of reactivating lapsed donors, we mapped out a test that sought to use tailored cultivation messaging to drive increased engagement from this audience. We were seeking a statically significant lift in the conversion rate, which was our key performance indicator for this test.
Before select fundraising campaigns during the final months of the year, the test audience received a cultivation message asking if they recalled when they first made a gift to Second Harvest. The message invited them to take a survey about what first motivated them to support the food bank and included a soft donate ask.
Pictured below is an example of what the lapsed test segment received. This message was sent before the kick-off of our Thanksgiving campaign, and once again prior our Holiday meals appeal campaign. The timing of this wasvery intentional; Thanksgiving is a huge fundraising holiday for food banks, and Second Harvest’s Holiday Meals campaign led right into the Year-End campaign and the December 31st tax deadline.
Following the cultivation messaging, lapsed donors in the test audience received the same fundraising appeals as the control throughout the remaining November and December campaigns.
Once the campaigns were complete, we analyzed the change in conversion rate, as well as average gift, and overall revenue.
This test reached statistical significance with regard to both response rate and average gift, demonstrating that this approach offered a low-lift way to reactivate lapsed donors.
Even against the backdrop of a high-volume year-end season featuring multiple smaller campaigns, the addition of a single message aimed at engaging and cultivating lapsed donors resulted in this lapsed donor test audience being more responsive to subsequent fundraising appeals.
After seeing success with this test, we have continued to implement regular cultivation and engagement messages prior to other tentpole campaigns: including short surveys, one-click polls, and explainers about Second Harvest’s programs.