Case Study:
CancerCare

Case Study: This national health charity turned falling revenue and a declining file around after it turned to Huntsinger & Jeffer

Direct response fundraising at CancerCare, a leading national healthcare nonprofit, faced declining response rates and average gift amounts, from both appeals and acquisition.

To build a more productive program that would cost-effectively generate new donors and revenue, H&J recommended:

• Extensive package and list testing to find the right combinations for growth, while keeping costs low.

• More compelling and substantive creative with a wider variety of package formats and appeal themes.

• Appeal segmentation strategy that included offers for specific segments such as new donors and lapsed segments.

• Expanding mid-level and sustaining donor programs.

• More integrated online communications.

Results:

In the first year, H&J achieved higher response rates and reduced the cost to raise a dollar for the overall program. Within a few years, net revenue from direct response rose to more than 3X higher than the previous year and the cost to raise a dollar decreased by 68%.

And thanks to improved package and list combinations, the program’s overall response rate and average gift almost doubled.