Nonprofit animal-rights group SPCA International is using the November 15 premiere of a documentary about Operation Baghdad Pups, a program that reunites members of the US Armed Forces with pets they befriended overseas, to connect with donors via e-mail blasts.
The four-person nonprofit group, which conducts a number of animal-protection projects, provides veterinary care and coordinates logistics and transportation requirements to reunite US enlisted men and women with pets they found while stationed overseas.
SPCA International also recently centralized its databases into one hub.
“We wanted to market in a distinct way, and having our data in one place has really helped us do that,” said Stephanie Scott, director of communications at SPCA International. “Dog owners can be marketed to differently than cat people. A lot of donors are not pet owners, and we’ve learned to be effective with them with personalized messaging.”
By working with interactive marketing agency ClickSquared, SPCA International is executing multichannel campaigns to donors.
“Previously were only able to look at fundraising as a metric,” Scott said. “Now we are going to look at engagement and how many people are going to forward an e-card and download a holiday screensaver; we recognize that everyone isn’t able to donate, but they can still lend support.”
The partnership has also enabled the company to send out direct mail pieces, which include personalized URLs, or targeted e-mail blasts to donors.
“One of the things that we realized was that we should be engaging with donors on multiple levels,” she continued. “There are donors who contribute through direct mail and then go online and volunteer”
