Girlstart: EOY 2024 Campaign

Introduction:

Our Annual Giving service revolves around story-based, deadline-driven campaigns designed to engage supporters year-round. By emphasizing frequency, consistency, and personalization, we develop and execute four annual campaigns, creating tailored creative assets across digital and print media. Our commitment is to activate donor relationships, inspire broad audiences, and provide the strategic support needed to reinforce these relationships through personalized communication.

Campaign objective:

The primary objective of Girlstart’s 2024 End of Year campaign was to leverage storytelling across multiple channels to increase awareness and secure funding for its STEM programs. By incorporating digital outreach—emails, social media posts, and online ads—alongside a direct mail letter, the campaign focused on the impact of Girlstart on alumnae’s lives like Audrey and Kathryn and highlighted the HEB challenge gift.

The campaign was divided into a cultivation phase followed by a solicitation phase and included the direct mail piece that both celebrated Girlstart’s 2024 achievements and introduced the organization’s vision for 2025. This approach underscored Girlstart’s commitment to providing transformative STEM opportunities for girls and emphasized the critical role of donor support in furthering the organization’s mission.

Campaign timeline:

• November 21st - December 10th: Cultivation Emails

• December 3, December 12th - December 31st: Solicitation Emails

CAMPAIGN STORY:

We shared the story of sisters who discovered their passion for programming and chemistry through Girlstart’s programs, demonstrating how hands-on STEM experiences, mentorship, and community support foster confidence and career exploration. By focusing on their journeys, the campaign showcased Girlstart’s broader impact in empowering girls to pursue dreams they might not have considered before. Through real-life testimonials and examples, the message highlighted the critical role donor support plays in sustaining and expanding Girlstart’s programming, providing clear opportunities for the community to invest in the future of women in STEM.

Cultivation emails/ Social Posts

We used cultivation emails and social posts to tell people about Audrey and Kathryn’s experience at Girlstart and the impact it had on their future careers in STEM.

solicitation email/Social posts

These emails transitioned from storytelling to direct appeals for donations, including impact messages and examples of how donations ensure the continued impact Girlstart’s programs have on girls.

Campaign Results:

• Email Open Rates: The highest open rate was 24.3% for the second to last solicitation email sent on 12/27. Overall the open rates for this campaign were lower than the average of the NTXGD/Fall campaign average (22% from 24%)

  • This may suggest that segmenting these campaigns to specific email lists may create higher engagement

• Email Click-Through Rates: The highest click rate was 4.5% for the same email on 12/27. This campaign's average CTR was 1.6%, effectively half of the last campaign’s average CTR of 3.8%.

  • Again, this campaign’s average was lower than the prior two, suggesting that segmentation of your large subscriber base might increase these numbers.

Audience Growth: The total audience growth during the campaign was 2.31%.

• Instagram followers saw an increase of 3.97% suggesting an active and engaged audience on the platform.

• These numbers could be due to the many activities and programs you all had going on in December and the countless marketing efforts you had towards them.

Key takeaways:

1. Open rates and CTRs were highest in emails sent in the evening (9:00 PM) which suggests that your audience might be more active at these times. An excellent way to test this would be to have A/B tests for the next campaign with further segmentation.

2. You all have a large list in Mailchimp, but when we send to the entire list, we have low engagement (open, click, etc.) It’s worth considering a massive overhaul/only sending our campaign emails to semi-recent donors and current volunteers. 

3. If the peer-to-peer aspect of Classy is not being used effectively, it might be worth considering nixing it for future campaigns. Right now, when we send a solicitation, we drive people to the main classy campaign page so they have the option to sign up for peer-to-peer fundraising.

   • For future campaigns, creating a standard giving page and sending people there would reduce the number of clicks and/or distractions available for people. 

4. Find enticing ways to engage board members, committee members, volunteers, etc., to get them excited about the campaigns and more involved.

Girlstart: Spring 2024 Campaign (Amplify Austin + SAGTC)

introduction:

Our Annual Giving service revolves around story-based, deadline-driven campaigns designed to engage supporters year-round. By emphasizing frequency, consistency, and personalization, we develop and execute four annual campaigns, creating tailored creative assets across digital and print media. Our commitment is to activate donor relationships, inspire broad audiences, and provide the strategic support needed to reinforce these relationships through personalized communication.

campaign objective:

The primary objective of Girlstart's spring campaigns (Amplify Austin + Send a Girl to Camp) was to leverage storytelling to gain support for our Summer Camp programs. We shared a story of Rika, a previous camp participant who now serves as a Camp Counselor. The campaign illustrated the long-lasting impact that summer camp can have on a girl’s life. We also showed the program’s comprehensive nature, describing the different activities girls participate in, as well as showing that this is a nation-wide program, available to girls from California to Massachusettes and everywhere in between.

campaign timeline:

• Amplify Austin:

  • Cultivation: March 1 - March 5

  • Solicitation: March 6-7

• Send a Girl to Camp:

  • Cultivation: March 28 - April 11

  • Solicitation - April 11 - April 30

CAMPAIGN STORY:

We highlighted Girlstart’s Send a Girl to Camp campaign in two ways: a dedicated landing page that shared Rika’s story (SAGTC campaign) and through Girlstart’s page on the Amplify Austin portal, which also shared Rika’s story. Both pages included a video from Rika.

Cultivation emails/ Social Posts

We used cultivation emails and social posts to tell people about Summer Camp and Rika’s experience and engage our audience, fostering deeper connections and driving support.

solicitation email/Social posts

These emails transitioned from storytelling to direct appeals for donations, including impact messages and examples of how donations ensure the continuation of the Summer Camp and highlighted the impact it has had on their lives.

Campaign Results*:

• Email Open Rates: The average email open rate was 46%

• Email Click Rates: The average email click rate was 4%

Audience Growth: The total audience growth during the campaign was 1.05%.

Key takeaways:

1. Amplify Austin and Send a Girl to Camp were the first campaigns that Track15 ran for Girlstart. These provided us with many insights for future campaigns, largely related to data. For example, both of these campaigns were highly segmented by location and type of donor (recurring), and the data did not support that type of segmentation. We advised - and then did - make changes to the data in Mailchimp for the next campaign.

Girlstart: Fall 2024 Campaign

introduction:

Our Annual Giving service revolves around story-based, deadline-driven campaigns designed to engage supporters year-round. By emphasizing frequency, consistency, and personalization, we develop and execute four annual campaigns, creating tailored creative assets across digital and print media. Our commitment is to activate donor relationships, inspire broad audiences, and provide the strategic support needed to reinforce these relationships through personalized communication.

campaign objective:

The primary objective of Girlstart's fall campaign was to harness the power of storytelling to garner community support for our "Back to After School" initiative. By sharing real-life examples of the program's benefits, we aimed to inspire the community to invest in the futures of these young learners. The campaign emphasized the program’s comprehensive nature, from fostering a love for science and technology to building critical thinking and teamwork skills. Contributions to this campaign were essential to ensuring that Girlstart continued to provide life-changing STEM opportunities to students across the region.

campaign timeline:

• August 19-September 9th: Cultivation Emails

• September 16- October 7th: Solicitation Emails

CAMPAIGN STORY:

We shared the story of Girlstart’s After School program through a dedicated landing page that highlighted its transformative impact on girls like Abi. The campaign showcased real-life examples and testimonials, illustrating how the program empowers girls to explore STEM through hands-on activities that build confidence and curiosity. By focusing on the personal growth and enthusiasm these students experience, we emphasized the critical role donor support plays in sustaining and expanding the program, providing clear opportunities for the community to contribute to Girlstart’s mission.

Cultivation emails/ Social Posts

We used cultivation emails and social posts to tell people about After School and Abi’s experience and engage our audience, fostering deeper connections and driving support.

solicitation email/Social posts

These emails transitioned from storytelling to direct appeals for donations, including impact messages and examples of how donations ensure the continuation of the After School Program and highlighted the impact it has had on their lives. It also included individual appeals to donors in video form from Jaylynn

Campaign Results*:

• Email Open Rates: The highest open rate was 21% for the second solicitation email sent on 9/23.

• Email Click-Through Rates: The highest click rate was 5% for the last cultivation email that was the quiz email, asking folks to engage to find out the answer.

• *Average open and click are the numbers for October 2023 - October 2024. Typically, we use the previous year's campaign average open/click, but since this was the first year we've sent emails and we made so many changes to your list, I used the yearly stats.

  • The Mailchimp clean up that also happened this year could have affected these data points as well.

Audience Growth: The total audience growth during the campaign was 1.05%.

Key takeaways:

1. The average open rate for the campaign was slightly lower than the average from Oct 2023 - Sept 2024, but the average click rate was higher.

2. The email with the highest click rate was the same as NTXGD with the highest click rate -- the quiz. The subject line was "Friend, can you solve this?".

3. The social ad had high click rate, but similar to NTXGD, I think we can continue to tweak the audience in Meta.

4. NTXGD and Fall campaigns: I think it's critical that any peer-to-peer or individual asks that happened last year continue to happen this year. These campaigns do not work without other development work.

Girlstart: NTXGD 2024 Campaign

introduction:

Our Annual Giving service revolves around story-based, deadline-driven campaigns designed to engage supporters year-round. By emphasizing frequency, consistency, and personalization, we develop and execute four annual campaigns, creating tailored creative assets across digital and print media. Our commitment is to activate donor relationships, inspire broad audiences, and provide the strategic support needed to reinforce these relationships through personalized communication.

campaign objective:

The primary objective of Girlstart's North Texas Giving Day campaign was to harness the power of storytelling to garner community support for our "Back to After School" initiative. By sharing real-life examples of the program's benefits, we aimed to inspire the North Texas community to invest in the futures of these young learners. The campaign emphasized the program’s comprehensive nature, from fostering a love for science and technology to building critical thinking and teamwork skills. Contributions to this campaign were essential to ensuring that Girlstart continued to provide life-changing STEM opportunities to students across the region.

campaign timeline:

• August 19-September 18th: Cultivation Emails

• September 1, September 19th: Solicitation Emails

CAMPAIGN STORY:

We shared the story of Girlstart’s After School program through a dedicated landing page that highlighted its transformative impact on girls like Abi. The campaign showcased real-life examples and testimonials, illustrating how the program empowers girls to explore STEM through hands-on activities that build confidence and curiosity. By focusing on the personal growth and enthusiasm these students experience, we emphasized the critical role donor support plays in sustaining and expanding the program, providing clear opportunities for the community to contribute to Girlstart’s mission.

Cultivation emails/ Social Posts

We used cultivation emails and social posts to tell people about After School and Abi’s experience and engage our audience, fostering deeper connections and driving support.

solicitation email/Social posts

These emails transitioned from storytelling to direct appeals for donations, including impact messages and examples of how donations ensure the continuation of the After School Program and highlighted the impact its had on their lives. It also included individual appeals to donors in video form from Jaylynn

Campaign Results*:

• Email Open Rates: The highest open rate was 37% for the very first solicitation email in the morning of NTXGD.

• Email Click-Through Rates: The highest click rate was 6% for the very first save the date email.

• **Average open and click are the numbers for October 2023 - October 2024. Typically, we use the previous year's campaign average open/click, but since this was the first year we've sent NTXGD + we made so many changes to your list, I used the yearly stats.

  • The Mailchimp clean up that also happened this year could have affected these data points as well.

Audience Growth: The total audience growth during the campaign was 1.05%.

Key takeaways:

1. The open and click rates (click/open) for this campaign were higher than the average of October 2023 - September 2024.

2. The highest open rate had Jaylynn's name and title in the subject line. If many of the people in Mailchimp are added due to programs, this will be important to keep in mind for future campaigns.

3. The highest click rate was the story email that had a quiz in it. We will plan to incorporate more elements like this in future emails, and teasing them in the subject lines.

4. Even with a smaller audience size (only NTXGD tag), there is still room for improvement on open rates.

5. NTXGD Traffic Ad -- 1.11% click rate; not terrible but I think we can adjust the audience for better results. This was a bit of a trial run since we needed to run two of the same ad (B2AS) but with different CTAs.

6. NTXGD and Fall campaigns: I think it's critical that any peer-to-peer or individual asks that happened last year continue to happen this year. These campaigns do not work without other development work.