Our client is a leading international relief organization that helps support people in need all around the world.

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The Challenge:

There are more than 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States. With so many organizations competing for attention across an increasingly diverse set of channels, an international relief organization has to have a plan to get to market quickly when disaster strikes. For humanitarian and international relief organizations, rapid response is paramount. So much can be gained or lost, if you are not visible before the news cycle takes a different direction. Most disaster giving takes place in the immediate 3 to 6 months that follow, depending on coverage, it is a critical time for both donor renewal and new donor acquisition. Our data shows that disaster donors perform up to 47% worse in subsequent years. According to The Center For Disaster Philanthropy, just 5% of those who gave to disaster campaigns in 2017, offered continuing support in 2018.

Is your organization ready to respond to a disaster, the news cycle or world events? We can help.

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The Solution:

THD designs a set of processes, procedures, creative templates, and execution plans to respond to disaster situations rapidly. All team members were prepared to give direction and manage deployment, regardless of title or responsibility. We prepared detailed documentation and did extensive cross-training, so any available team member could execute new social posts, route new display creative for trafficking, or activate a new search program. Team leadership has a communication strategy (email, text, phone) and “on-call” rotation in place to reach out in the event of an unexpected disaster or, as part of account management responsibilities, monitor the news cycle for events that are forecasted. Large scale disasters also tend to bring an influx of new donors, reactivated donors, and gifts from active donors, so strategies are in place that recognizes their status and messaging is tailored based on their engagement history.

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The Results:

Through the use of tailored messaging to disaster donors, we have been able to maintain a 20%+ response rate in the year following a disaster, well above the 5% number published by The Center For Disaster Philanthropy.