Empowering African Parks Team to Fundraise with Confidence.
Client: African Parks
Project: Digital Fundraising Workshop
Impact: After the workshop, the team went on to design and execute a record-breaking World Ranger Day campaign. In the first two days of the campaign, they raised more online than what they raised online the year before.
IMPACT
After the workshop, the team went on to design and execute a record-breaking World Ranger Day campaign. In the first two days of the campaign, they raised more online than what they raised online the year before.
The Challenge
African Parks manages 23 protected areas across Africa. Whilst doing the most incredible work on the ground, they wanted to diversify their gifts portfolio to include more mid-level donors. Previous digital campaigns had underperformed, including a recent campaign, built around the Netflix film Pangolin: Kulu's Journey. This became our starting point for discussion.
In the lead-up to World Ranger Day, African Parks reached out for strategic support on how to strengthen their online fundraising. Their goal was clear: to better equip their marketing team with the tools and confidence needed to raise critical funds for ranger teams across Africa. They needed "more $50 donors". But a $50 donor isn't a smaller version of a $500,000 donor. They find you differently and give for different reasons.
Approach
I designed and delivered a workshop for African Parks’ marketing team, focused on demystifying online fundraising and providing practical tools to design and execute campaigns with confidence. The goal was to give the team a repeatable system they could apply to all future campaigns.
Then we worked through:
Why people give online. What moves someone to give $50, and what brings them back.
How to tell a story online. Developing compelling donor journeys that combine storytelling, transparency, and a sense of community via copy, visuals, emails and landing pages
Removing friction points. We used the pangolin appeal as our live example and audited the landing page, donor journey, and storytelling approach.
Building trust. Highlighted the importance of specificity and trust signals to increase conversion. We also discussed the pacing of campaigns: when to deliver big campaigns and how often to ask for gifts.
How to test and learn. Launch, see what works, build on it. You can't turn a big ship sharply, but you can steer it a with every campaign.
Their next campaign. We spent the last part of the day planning it together.
SLIDES FROM THE WORKSHOP
Results
Five weeks later, the team put these strategies into practice for their World Ranger Day campaign. The ask was simple: every $10 removes a snare; first-time donor can say yes to that.
In two days, they raised more online than what they raised online the year before.
Their website had its busiest traffic in three years.
Proof of the potential of online fundraising to diversify revenue and appeal to a new and wider audience.
Takeaway
Even the most dedicated, world-class conservation teams need the right tools and frameworks to unlock digital fundraising potential. With the right support, it’s possible to turn an underperforming campaign history into record-breaking results.
If you’re a nonprofit marketing team struggling to raise the funds your work deserves, let’s talk.