The Client
Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides (LFCDG) provide Dog Guides in 7 distinct Dog Guide programs. They raise and train Dog Guides for Canadians who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, for people who have seizures or diabetes, or another medical or physical disability that restricts their independence. Dog Guides are also provided to children on the autism spectrum and to agencies working with people in traumatic situations. Dog Guides are provided at no cost to Canadians.The Challenge
One of LFCDG’s goals when they hired HMA was to increase revenue by reaching out to their current donor base, volunteers, walk donors, clients, and foster families. Another goal was to increase the number of new donors and monthly donors. Before that, LFCDG had only mailed their donors twice a year: once at the end of the year and once in the spring to invite them to join the Pet Valu Walk.The Solution
HMA created a strategy that included adding a newsletter mailing to steward LFCDG’s donors and increase net revenue. We recommended creating integrated summer, fall and holiday direct mail and email campaigns, along with testing direct mail acquisition in year two. We worked together to develop and mail a legacy survey direct mail. HMA also helped to create a monthly donor logo and worked on a monthly donor acquisition campaign that launched through direct mail and social media. While HMA and LFCDG worked together to build their program and steward their donors, LFCDG was working hard to modernize their website and implement a new donor base.The Results
In the first 2 years HMA worked with LFCDG, together we exceeded the projected gross revenue for house donors by 140%. The donor base increased by 76% through reactivating long lapsed donors, reaching out to internal lists such as volunteers and past walk donors, as well as renting best performing lists. Donors are being stewarded more often through print newsletters, e-mail, and special notes in the mail, which builds stronger donor relationships. The legacy survey mailing was highly successful with future gifts reaching well over $1M. Many donors have also reached out for more information about leaving a gift in their Will. Both HMA and LFCDG are very happy with the results they have seen thus far and will continue working collaboratively to build a strong and robust program.
Client: Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides
Services: Monthly Giving, Digital, Integrated Fundraising, Direct Mail
