Case Study: Event Marketing for Nonprofit's Annual Fundraiser

Updated: Jan 11

Introduction

The Mighty Texas Dog Walk is an iconic annual Austin event. Known for setting Guinness World Records, it has drawn thousands of participants annually for over 2 decades.

Challenge

Service Dogs, Inc. sought to grow its 23 year old annual festival and fundraiser amidst stringent competition in a fast growing, saturated market.

What We Did

1. Research & Plan

Competitive analysis, audience research, & SWOT
Media mix & budget
Communications Strategy
Campaign Plan

2. Implement, Measure, & Optimize

Creative Production

Event logo & brand style guide
Web Design & Development
Photo & video production
Ad creative for all channels
Graphic design for print & digital

Paid Media

Ad placement & management (search, social, programmatic)
Audience segmentation & retargeting
Direct mail (targeting, creative, mailing)

Earned, Shared, & Owned Media

Email marketing (strategy & implementation)
Social media management
User generated content campaign
PR strategy & support
Website content & SEO
Outreach to local community calendars & media outlets

Marketing Management

Delivered weekly reports on performance and strategy
Created internal systems to ensure smooth communications and execution of marketing projects between agency and client
Built custom integrations and automations between software to provide access to realtime data and insights
Conducted attendee and sponsor survey and analysis
Developed comprehensive post-mortem to capitalize on successes and improve future campaigns

Results

Attendance surged by 40%.
Ticket sales and fundraising increased by 55%.
Year-over-year participant retention rose by 95%
Earned media coverage on 5 different local and national outlets

Now we're setting even higher goals for future years, backed by data. See our work here

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