Human Rights Watch
When we kick off a new partnership with a nonprofit, we’re always eager to hit the ground running – and when we began working with Human Rights Watch on Sept. 1 last year, with Giving Tuesday just around the corner, we had all the more reason to move quickly to dial in on the strategies that would drive their strongest possible return.
Collaborating with the incredible Human Rights Watch team, we started optimizing immediately, leveraging every best practice across email and ads to ensure they were connecting with their supporters and presenting clear, urgent reasons to give right now. And the results speak for themselves.
The Results
At Giving Tuesday last year, Human Rights Watch achieved:
4%
increase in year-over-year Giving Tuesday email revenue – even while decreasing email volume by about 50%
39%
increase in year-over-year Giving Tuesday digital revenue
101%
increase in year-over-year Giving Tuesday digital ads revenue
The Strategy
From optimizing ads for direct-to-donate giving to making email campaigns irresistibly clickable, three top fundraising strategies helped Human Rights Watch achieve their goal-smashing results:
Clear, Direct Calls to Action
A key tactic to driving explosive growth over digital ads was to make sure that every call to action was a direct donation request – and that every website link brought supporters to a donation page.
Strong Visuals
Compelling graphics, like this direct-to-camera GIF from Human Rights Watch President Tirana Hassan, helped supporters feel connected to the urgency of their work – and made fewer Giving Tuesday emails drive higher engagement and revenue than in 2022.
Personal Touches
On Giving Tuesday, one of the top email appeals of the day came from actress and advocate Alyssa Milano. Sharing what uniquely motivates her support of Human Rights Watch, announcing a match, and making her appeal direct and personal, this email drove the highest response from supporters.
“It was nerve-racking to switch digital vendors shortly before end of year, but the MissionWired team jumped to work immediately to deliver year-over-year gains that put our program on track to exceed annual projections. We are so glad we hired them!”
– Vincent Wishrad, Managing Director, Human Rights Watch
With our first major campaign with Human Rights Watch now in the rear-view mirror, we couldn’t be more excited to continue onward, taking these learnings into our end-of-year campaigns and driving even more growth in 2024.