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RSPCA Case Study

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Client Name RSPCA The Organisation
The RSPCA is the oldest and best-known animal welfare organisation in the UK responding to and campaigning for animals in need since 1824.
 
The Challenge In the summer of 2007 RSPCA was facing a long-term decline in response rates and, as a consequence, it was recruiting fewer regular givers.

mc&c was set three key challenges:

  • How can we reverse this long term decline in response and return on investment?
  • How can we recruit younger and more affluent donors so as to future proof the organisation?
  • How can we recruit regular givers so as to have dependable income streams?
The Insight The team identified four new audiences, all younger and more affluent than core RSPCA supporters, but all motivated to support animal welfare causes.

New thinking underpinned our approach to these new audiences:

  • First, that they were motivated by animals, in the same way our traditional audience was
  • Second, that current recruitment activity wasn't reaching them
  • Third, that the audience were being confused by the number of different campaigns with a range of messages
  • Fourth, that by asking immediately for a regular gift response was being depressed
  • And finally, that these new audiences wanted to respond via new channels
Our Solution

We created "The Biggest Animal Rescue" campaign showing the increasing numbers of animals coming into rescue centres, and the increasing need for support.

This launched with an integrated media campaign using a combination of television, media inserts, door drops, direct mail, search and online display activity. The total schedule was planned to reach audiences not reached by the RSPCA for several years.

The creative message was integrated across all channels, all singing in harmony rather than carrying separate messages.

We made a radical leap for a charity campaign by not asking for money – rather, we just asked the audience to respond and "support us".

·And finally we added new response channels. Traditionally we had asked donors to call or write to us. We recognised that these new donors are more at home with digital media, and we moved to text and online as the primary response channels.

 

The Results We launched the campaign in the week that Lehman's collapsed, the height of the credit crisis; however the campaign reached more potential supporters than in the previous 12 months:
  • Response rates to core media quadrupled compared with the average response for prior campaigns in 2008
  • ROI doubled, with donors giving higher average gifts
  • Two additional impacts were seen:
    • non integrated activity (door drops and direct mail) response rates were uplifted by more than 25%
    • spontaneous awareness of RSPCA rose from 23% pre campaign to 28% post campaign
  • The campaign was immediately rolled out, and has seen sustained activity through 2009
What we did Reversed a long-term decline in response rates and ROI
Client View "The RSPCA has worked with mc&c for more than six years as both a strategic partner and media buyer. At all times, we have found the service to be of high quality and the insight delivered into our fundraising programme first rate. I would have no hesitation recommending mc&c as a partner ready to challenge your fundraising programme, and offer up the opportunities to make it perform better."

Louise Mwanza
Marketing Manager Donor Recruitment
RSPCA

 

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