Case Study: Baker University
Custom Crowdfunding That Engaged Donors to Give 95% More
Baker University in Baldwin City, KS had never done a 24-hour online higher ed fundraising campaign before approaching KDG in 2017. The teams’ first campaign together built a community of engaged donors around the country. In 2019, Baker and KDG sought to repeat their previous success and expand on what’s now become an annual tradition.
Record-Breaking
The amount raised increased by over 70% compared to the school’s first campaign. The average donation also grew by 95%.
Special Sneak Peek
A custom “Coming Soon” page announced the campaign, gave a sneak peek of the challenges, and offered the Baker community the chance to sign up early. This helped build excitement and anticipation for the big day.
Mobile Capabilities
Over half of the donations were made via a mobile device. Thanks to UI/UX designed with mobile in mind, users had no issues submitting their donations.
One Baker, One Goal
The campaign in 2017 capitalized on the excitement surrounding Homecoming and the upcoming Homecoming football game. The theme truly captured the spirit of the Baker community forming one united team. The gamified giving platform featured the school’s mascot running down the field, gaining yardage with every donation. The campus community came together during the campaign, something KDG and Baker sought to replicate once more with 2019’s “One Baker, One Goal.”
- User experience research & personas
- Custom theme development
- Custom "Coming Soon" page
- Donor challenges
- Admin panel with real-time statistics
- Donor management
- Peak-hour support
- Social media integration
- Mobile optimization
- 70% increase in amount raised & 95% increase in the average donation.
A New Way to Build Engagement
"We just knew that we needed to be doing something different...[KDG] really made us feel comfortable every single step of the way."
Rachel Hawkins Shuck, Annual Fund Officer
Solutions
Score for Baker
The campaign in 2019 asked donors to help “score for Baker.” Momentum was built using social media and email marketing and 11 different challenges throughout the day. Challenges, which included Best Photo and Farthest Donor, created immersive experiences and proved to be successful, with the most donations coming in during those time slots. Winners of these challenges were awarded additional funds to gift to campus organizations or schools of their choice.
Real-Time Data
A custom admin panel was built for the university’s advancement team. In the panel, administrators could watch donations accumulate in real-time, control challenges, and view donor data. The data gathered in the admin panel was used immediately for volunteers to make follow up phone calls to donors. Data was also reported on and will be used to plan future campaigns and fundraisers
Strong Support
KDG provided peak-hour support during the campaign. Support tickets were submitted via Zoho Desk and delivered to KDG instantly. This support allowed the team at Baker to rest easy and handle on-campus events and activities that accompanied the online day of giving.
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