3 Healthcare Campaigns to Inspire Any Nonprofit

When it comes to successful fundraising campaigns, the healthcare industry is filled with examples that span a diverse array of fields, audiences, and fundraising models. Any organization can learn from analyzing the creation, implementation, and execution of these healthcare campaigns, whether they’re in the healthcare field or not.

Below, we analyze three different healthcare campaigns, each that uses a different tactic and angle for success. Consider implementing the best practices and tips from each example the next time you’re building a campaign at your organization.

1. “Breast Cancer Crusade” by Avon

New Avon LLC (Avon) launched a fundraising initiative for their Breast Cancer Crusade effort, but instead of just one campaign, they designed two. They did this because the fundraising effort speaks to two distinct groups of supporters.

One campaign spoke to the general public, which supports the company by buying beauty products or donating to their various philanthropic campaigns. The second campaign targeted the Avon Representatives, who actively sell products for the company to the general public.

While the two campaigns stood apart form each other, they were unified by the goals of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade: provide breast cancer care to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. The two campaigns are also similar when it comes to how they’re built. Both incorporate peer-to-peer and DIY fundraising to activate fundraisers.

Still, there are a few differences between the campaigns that help each resonate with its intended target audience.

For example, each campaign makes strong use of the hero image block, but each image is fine-tuned for different supporters. Align your imagery with your audiences to mitigate confusion if you’re creating different campaigns for the same cause.

The photo for the general campaign features a real-life photo—likely taken at an event—of women supporting the breast cancer initiative:

… While the Avon Representative campaign features a studio-produced beauty product image that aligns more with their day-to-day job of selling products:

Both images grab people’s attention, and then lead them into the impact blocks section of the campaign. While the impact blocks on both campaigns are visually similar, they’re once again slightly tweaked to offer a stronger value for each different supporter segment.

From left to right, the three impact blocks on both campaigns offer fundraising options for people to host:

• A DIY fundraising campaign where supporters control their fundraising event
• A fundraising event idea provided by Avon
• A campaign in honor or memory of someone

The difference is the middle block, where Avon supplies the fundraising event idea. For the general campaign, the suggested idea is to host a wine and cheese party:

On the Avon Representative campaign, the idea is to host an Avon Beauty Party:

These differences reflect how each group of supporters uniquely activates their community. The wine and cheese party may appeal to the majority of people who support Avon as consumers.

The Avon Beauty Party hits closer to home for Avon Representatives because it aligns with their goals to sell beauty products. However, it’s also a way for the campaign to tap into a big group of supporters at the grassroots level as these Representatives move through their community.

Takeaway for Your Organization

Tailor Your Campaign for Different Segments

When building your own campaign, it’s important to identify the different segments of supporters that will raise money for your cause. If you have a few segments that are closely aligned on fundraising goals but stand apart when it comes to how they work with your organization, it might be smart to build multiple campaigns like Avon did.

This way, you can still keep the campaigns under the same banner of your cause or specific initiative, while subtly gearing each one to resonate with different segments.

Consider all the ways you can creatively make each campaign speak to these segments. For example, New Avon used their “About” section in each campaign differently. For the general public, it calls out all the information about the cause:

When you look at the “About” section on the Avon Representative campaign, you’ll see that it was written as a letter from the President of Social Selling and the CEO of the company:

Keep the visual elements the same across both campaigns: color, font, and certain images. But make them stand apart where you can. Speak directly to your different audiences to bring in more donations and new cohorts of support.

2. “Race for Research 5K” by the UW Carbone Cancer Center

When the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center hosted their Race for Research 5K, they used Classy Events to build a registration with fundraising event page to display all relevant information in one centralized place. At the top of the page, you’re immediately greeted with a hero image of their past event and an immediate snapshot of the event details.

Notice how it includes basic event information followed immediately by the “register” and “donate” buttons, encouraging supporters to take immediate action.

You also need to think through your page’s design elements so that it makes a stellar first impression with site visitors. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center’s event incorporates:

• Bold and coordinated colors
• Imagery that aligns with the event
• Text colors that make the important information pop

Aside from the design elements, strengthen your campaign by making the most of the information blocks throughout the page. For example, it’s crucial that everyone participating in this 5K event signs a waiver. The organization used one of their blocks to link out to this form four times in one paragraph:

It might seem like overkill, but if the success of your event depends on getting something like a waiver filled out on time it can’t hurt to give people plenty of opportunities to get to that form. Beyond that, the event page guides supporters through other important parts of the race, like:

• Fundraising progress
• The event’s schedule
• Location details and map
• Event sponsors

When the race had officially ended, the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center kept the donation button active. This provided an opportunity for people who may have missed the first go-around to still support the cause.

It also opens the doors for your race participants, who have already supported the campaign, to come back and give again. At the end of the day, these strategies helped the organization raise 110 percent of their initial fundraising goal.

Takeaway for Your Organization

Communicate the Essential Details First

When you build the page for your next event, remember to start strong by clearly displaying all information about date, time, and location.

There will be plenty of room for your creativity and wit to shine as visitors move down the page, with text that pops, matching colors, and good storytelling with quality photos.

Get Creative With How You Encourage Registrations

Consider offering a special incentive, like a pre-race t-shirt, if people sign up earlier rather than later.

You can also provide a special incentive for all participants after the event is over. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center posted special food coupons on their page after their 5K ended:

Keep the Donations Coming

If you want to keep the donations rolling in, is to keep the donation button turned on after the event is over. Just because it ended doesn’t mean the spirit of giving you cultivate has to end as well.

3. “KIDNEYNATION” by the American Kidney Fund

The American Kidney Fund launched a year-round fundraising campaign that gives their supporters the option to either fundraise or donate to the cause. Aside from the strong hero image and call to action buttons, the organization makes creative use of both the “about” section and impact blocks on their page.

The “about” section doesn’t necessarily need to detail the nuances of the campaign since it’s not on a clock and the cause is somewhat self-explanatory. Instead, they use this space to talk about what happens when you choose to support the American Kidney Fund: you’re immediately part of KIDNEYNATION. This is a nationwide community of people committed to fighting back against kidney disease.

This section is less of a description, and more of an invitation that calls on supporters to join something bigger than a one-time fundraising effort or donation. This, unified community helps the American Kidney Fund continue the fight against kidney disease year-round, just like their fundraising campaign.

Further, a community can encourage supporters to come back and re-engage with fundraising efforts again. It can also help supporters evangelize your cause to their personal networks—at any point—and invite others to join in the community.

The organization’s ingenuity carries down into the impact blocks section as well. Not only do the pictures convey the specific impact of support, they also detail different ways people can get involved.

For example, notice the two on the left are focused on kidney medication and essential medical care for kidney patients. However, the two on the right focus on providing emergency funds for people who are displaced by natural disasters and can’t get to their care, and for kids on dialysis to attend summer camp.

The impact blocks run the gamut from practical, through eye-opening, and all the way to heartfelt:

Diversifying the impact blocks like this can help draw in a wider range of supporters. Some might care about providing access to medication, while others primarily care about helping children live their lives to the fullest.

Takeaway for Your Organization

Grow a Community

If you launch a year-round fundraising campaign, consider integrating it with a community that might already exist, or launch one with your campaign. Show your supporters that their gift doesn’t need to end when the transaction is complete, because they’re participating in something bigger than themselves.

This type of campaign allows supporters to fundraise on behalf of your cause at any time throughout the year.

Get Creative With Impact Blocks

Classy’s impact blocks are strong tools to communicate the measure of each dollar raised or donated. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box with how you tell this story. Get creative, like the American Kidney Fund did here, to attract a wider range of supporters who care about multiple facets of your cause.

Aside from what’s discussed here, there are a lot of tactics you can use to make sure your campaign cuts through the noise and gets its due time in the spotlight. If you’re interested in learning what makes a strong campaign, be sure to download our guide below and dig into the nitty gritty.