Case Studies

Reimagining Pi Day with Museum of Science Boston

Prior to working with M+R, the Museum of Science had been running annual giving campaigns on Pi Day for about five years — but the campaigns felt disconnected from the Museum’s mission. The M+R team helped center the Museum on Pi Day and balance the campaign presence across channels.

Client

Museum of Science

Issue(s)

Cultural Institutions

Services

Audience Insights
Email
Message Research & Development
Multichannel Fundraising
Social Media

Challenge

The Museum’s Pi Day giving campaigns felt more focused on the Penny Pi plush (a branded character) and Pi itself, rather than the Museum and their mission.

Opportunity

Through message testing, the M+R team was able to determine which images and statements resonated most with potential donors, which helped inform a reimagination of the Museum’s campaign.

Results

5 email appeals raised $35,753, compared to $14,602 raised by 10 appeals in the previous year.

Web promotions raised $32,925, compared to $16,326 raised in the previous year.

Offline promotion raised $100,081, compared to $91,597 raised in the previous year.

Facebook ads raised $1,258 from 23 gifts.

Approach

We conducted message testing utilizing the tool Usability Hub to test images, taglines and mission statements to a variety of groups – including a lookalike audience, museum ticket buyers and email sign-ups, and Museum board members – which allowed us to get more specific about what activities would be possible in which channels.

Then, the M+R team began executing on our secondary goal of expanding the presence of the campaign across channels in partnership with different departments. To account for the challenges of securing cross-department buy-in, we held a dedicated kickoff meeting with all Museum departments and created a campaign plan with activities across channels, so staff could weigh in.

Once message testing was completed and all departments had gotten aligned on the campaign plan, M+R moved forward with creative development and production, culminating in the launch of the new Pi Day campaign.