24-Hour Donation Drive Raises 2x Original Goal
At midnight on May 15, 2014, Cedarville University launched a 24-hour donation drive designed to raise $51,500 in a single day. The campaign was kept secret prior to launch. On May 15, alumni and friends were contacted via email, promoted and organic Facebook posts, and a university-run call center. A simple campaign website contained a mobile-friendly donation form, as well as photos and text for quick social sharing. Within 24 hours, Cedarville had raised $129,212.03.
A month earlier, MSM designed and executed a 30-day AlumniReconnect campaign to capture attention of Cedarville University alumni on Facebook, encouraging them to connect to the alumni association Facebook page and provide updated email addresses. In exchange for liking the Facebook page and updating their contact information, alumni and friends were entered to win university-branded gear.
The Alumni Reconnect campaign laid the groundwork for the success of the 5.15 Challenge, boosting the university’s data set by 11%. With positive social engagement from 12,879 Cedarville alumni and friends during the reconnect, the audience was fresh and ready to receive the 5.15 Challenge.
MSM email reporting shows that 63% of contactable alumni were reached during the day-long 5.15 Challenge, resulting in 686 donors giving a total of $129,212.03 to Cedarville — double the university’s intended goal.
In addition to building a receptive audience through the Alumni Reconnect, MSM was responsible for planning and writing all 5.15 Challenge Facebook posts, carefully managing the Facebook advertising budget, and writing, building, and sending three mobile optimized emails over the course of the 24-hour campaign.