Preserving a natural icon in the PNW
Client
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Year
2014-2015
Industry
Nonprofit
Forestry
Fundraising
Format
Fundraising
Social Media
Marketing
External Communications
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
The Gifford Pinchot Task Force, rebranded to the Cascade Forest Conservancy, is a local nonprofit that protects the streams, forest, and wildlife in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, including famous monuments like Mount St. Helens.
The Task Force needed someone marketing and communications chops to boost their social media presence, create email newsletters, and design print collateral to increase memberships and donations, as well as audit website content for the rebrand. Working alongside the Executive Director, and program and membership staff, I increased the non-profit’s visibility to fulfill their goal of increasing funds and conservation awareness to protect the Cascades.
Social Media
The Task Force needed to enhance their social media presence to boost fundraising, member interaction and event participation. I managed the Task Force’s social media accounts and collaborated alongside the program staff to develop social media posts.
To promote the Task Force’s upcoming fundraising event, “Restoring Volcano Country” I launched a Facebook pay per click campaign, which allowed the Task Force to maintain a budget. In total, the ads ran for over a month before the event date.
Results:
• Increased our Facebook visibility by over 70% within three months
• The Facebook PPC Campaign for “Restoring Volcano Country” increased Facebook engagement by 5%
Email Marketing
I developed email marketing for action alert emails and newsletters, boosting the opening rate to 22.71% for October newsletter, 2014. In collaboration with the program staff, I developed an action alert email to encourage members to participate in a local meeting with the U.S. Forest Service. While many members are active in forest politics, we included sample talking points to prepare new as well as seasoned supporters on what points to advocate.
Print Collateral
I developed the annual appeal campaign for 2014, which introduced the new executive director, next year goals, and appealed for donations to fund programs. My major role in the development was editing and creating a layout for the appeal (a personal letter from the executive director) and presenting a proposal to the executive director.
In order to achieve the highest return rate and maintain the budget, I researched cost-efficient printing and mailing services. In addition, the accountant and I analyzed member’s donations over approximately the last four years. Based on this data, I wrote up a proposal and presented it to the executive director.
Results:
• The appeal raised an average gift size of $109 per person
Note: The Gifford Pinchot Task Force renamed to Cascade Forest Conservancy