The Salvation Army Marches towards Victory as Holiday Revenue Increases Two Years in a Row

THE CLIENT: The Salvation Army

THEIR CHALLENGE: Improve holiday fundraising efforts
Various Salvation Army commands in the U.S. needed to strengthen their existing holiday direct mail campaigns and increase holiday giving.

THE STRATEGY: Compliment direct mail with additional communication channels
Rather than tweaking the actual direct mail pieces, Grizzard recommended a voice broadcast strategy to compliment the direct mail pieces and add a more personal element to the holiday campaign.  This voice broadcast featured a short audio message from a spokesperson at each command.  The message was then delivered to the target audience by phone a few days before the mailing was set to arrive. The message focused on thanking the donors for their support, highlighting the importance of The Salvation Army’s work, and encouraging donors to give.

THE RESULTS: Increased holiday revenue
The audio messages were delivered to over 60,000 donors in 22 different U.S. commands. The results were outstanding.

• 61% increase in net revenue for small donor segments
• 25% increase in net revenue for large donor segments
• $0.58 in net revenue per piece for lapsed donor segments that received the voice broadcast (segments that did not receive the voice broadcast broke even)

The initiative was so successful that it was implemented the following year as well by an even larger number of commands with equally remarkable results.  Voice broadcasting has become a proven strategy for The Salvation Army across a growing number of commands.

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MORE ABOUT THE CLIENT:
With commands across the nation, The Salvation Army provides a wide variety of services to assist those in need, including: youth camps, disaster relief, rehabilitation, elderly services, programs to combat human trafficking, community care ministries, recreation, and more.