Leveraging omnichannel strategy to amplify direct mail campaigns

Data Axle Nonprofit and Operation Smile partner for a groundbreaking Q4 campaign

Background

Operation Smile, a global nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to safe surgery and comprehensive cleft care, sought to assess the impact of enhanced calendar year-end acquisition with additional digital communications to a cold audience, running from October to December. It ran concurrently with three direct mail acquisition campaigns expanding audience reach by incorporating an Apogee digital model.

As a partner of Operation Smile, Data Axle Nonprofit leveraged its data modeling and digital strategy expertise to drive this initiative. The focus was on creating a digital audience that would complement and reinforce direct mail efforts, while testing the effectiveness of digital outreach in driving donor acquisition and revenue.

Challenge

Operation Smile’s main challenge was to engage a cold audience through digital channels while maintaining the momentum of its direct mail efforts. With no suppression of the direct mail audience, the key objective was to understand how digital marketing could add value and boost donor engagement without dismantling the traditional direct mail approach.
Additionally, the organization wanted to measure the impact of multiple touchpoints—direct mail and digital—on donor behavior and the overall return on investment (ROI). Understanding which audience segments were most responsive to digital outreach and how this impacted new donor acquisition and revenue was critical for future campaign planning.

Creative strategy

An upper funnel marketing strategy including simple, consistent mission messaging was utilized to reinforce the brand when engaging prospects for the first time.

Mission-focused creative was served across 3 different platforms, Meta, programmatic display, and email. All platforms saw above average CTR and engagement.

• META ADS: Video, static, and carousel ads were tested. All ads outperformed the Meta CTR benchmark goal by two-to-one, with an average CTR of 2.72%.
• PROGRAMMATIC DISPLAY: Starting with a more qualified donor audience led to ads with better engagement, outperforming industry benchmarks with a CTR of .28%.
• EMAIL CAMPAIGNS: Consistent brand messaging drove 7,298 visits to the Operation Smile website.

Execution

Data Axle developed a modeled audience for Operation Smile using donor data from Apogee, their established omnichannel donor cooperative. The Apogee model integrated Operation Smile’s current direct mail models with high-affinity audiences and likely digital donors. This model universe consisted of 1,700,200 individuals. The digital campaign was deployed across Meta (Facebook and Instagram), programmatic display ads, and email.

Measuring success

Success was measured by evaluating channel and audience performance independently and together to assess ROI. Channel KPIs guided media spend decisions, while audience reporting provided directional insights on the return on investment. After analyzing media performance by identifying the most valuable KPIs in alignment with overall campaign objectives, Data Axle Nonprofit conducted rigorous tracking and match back analysis. Match back analysis is the process that connects all transaction activity to the model audience within the attribution window across all channels – online and offline. The match back report identified which model prospects were eligible for digital advertising.

Results

• NEW DONOR ACQUISITION: The campaign brought in new donors and generated a 1:1 ratio return on investment for new online donor revenue.
• HIGHER AVERAGE GIFTS: The Data Axle model audience had a 9% higher average gift, demonstrating that digital promotion reinforced the brand message and highlighted the need for support.
• MULTI-TOUCHPOINT IMPACT: Donors who were exposed to both digital and direct mail touchpoints donated 10% more than those who were only exposed to direct mail
• HIGHER RETURN: The match back analysis highlighted the value of integrated campaigns. For an additional investment of just $1 per donor to reach online prospects, Operation Smile saw a return of $11.50, underscoring the effectiveness of combining digital and direct mail efforts for enhanced donor engagement & revenue growth.

Takeaways

This case study illustrates how Data Axle’s strategic use of data-driven digital marketing coupled with omnichannel cooperative modeled audiences can amplify traditional direct mail campaigns.

Data Axle Nonprofit’s robust omnichannel cooperatives, Apogee and DonorBase, are the first in the industry to deliver email addresses that are directly connected to known donation activity. By leveraging confirmed donation history, combined with best-in-class modeling and the use of exhaust data, Apogee and DonorBase deliver audiences that are more likely to engage and donate. The development is unique in the industry and transformative for donor acquisition programs.

With Data Axle’s expertise, nonprofits can design and execute successful omnichannel campaigns that deliver superior results and a greater return on investment.

Connect with our team to learn more about our work with agency partners and nonprofits, and how the experts at Data Axle can get you started on a digital journey.