The Challenge

In November 2023, the Minnesota Zoo Foundation (MZF) participated in GiveMN’s “Give to the Max Day,” an annual, state-wide giving day dedicated to connecting Minnesotans with over 6,500 local organizations making a big impact. While MZF had participated in “Give to the Max Day” previously, they came to Allegiance Group + Pursuant asking for help in making the most of the 2023 campaign.

The Solution

Our Direct Response Team reviewed the opportunity and recommended a series of nine emails and a website popup on MNZoo.org.

Eight of the recommended emails were fundraising asks launching between November 1 and November 16, five of which deployed throughout Give to the Max Day on November 16. The ninth email was a thank you email, versioned for Give to the Max Day donors and for those who didn’t respond (and who were invited to still make their gift a day late).

MZF’s Give to the Max Day campaign goal was $100,000, and not only did the emails feature five matching gift challenges and compelling Zoo insights, but the emails were visually engaging and formatted for email best practices, accessibility, and ease of donation.

The Results

Our email efforts helped MZF exceed their $100K campaign goal by over 37%, totaling $137,317! They also surpassed their 2022 total by 11%. The average gift was a very generous $290.31, and the overall response rate for this large fundraising campaign exceeded M+R benchmarks by 77%.