Case Study: Mid-Level Audience Launch & Optimization

Fueling Your Mission: Mid-Level Audience Strategic Plan and Launch

Orbis International

Orbis is an international nonprofit that believes in a world where everyone can access the eye care they need to lead a productive life and thrive. A staggering 90% of all vision loss is treatable or preventable. And nine out of ten people with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of loss of vision falls hardest on women and girls.  That’s why Orbis is working to build strong eye care systems that cover the full range of eye care services in the communities that need it most, putting vision loss treatment and prevention within reach.

“Multiply Strategies has been pivotal in establishing our approach to Mid-Level giving at Orbis. Their thorough assessment and strategic insights have enabled us to create a robust Mid-Level Audience program that bridges the gap between mass market donors and major gifts. With their guidance, we’ve launched the Orbis Visionary Champions program, which establishes a strong donor experience and is driving significant revenue growth. Multiply Strategies’ expertise and dedication have been instrumental in positioning Orbis for long-term success and ensuring we can continue our mission to provide essential eye care to those who need it most.”

Kasia Biezychudek, Vice President, Philanthropy

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The Challenge

Orbis recognized that to build a healthy fundraising program required a new approach to Mid-Level giving. Multiply Strategies was brought onboard to conduct an assessment and provide recommendations for the design and implementation of a Mid-Level Audience Strategy.

When Multiply Strategies conducted an assessment of the overall health of the Orbis fundraising program, there were multiple opportunity areas. There was a gap in the pipeline to Major Gifts, as the fundraising program did not have a Mid-Level Audience strategy in place and lacked internal expertise in Mid-Level giving. Recent revenue successes were being driven by a small number of high value donors, creating a significant risk for Orbis. This Mid-Level Audience gap placed an even greater stress on the current revenue stream.

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The Solution

Orbis and Multiply Strategies partnered to complete a full audit of the current Mid-Level program and protocols that would inform the strategic recommendations. Working with the Orbis team and partners the audit reviewed:

• Mid-Level file health, based on the new definition of a Mid-Level donor
• Key revenue streams
• Current state of touchpoints across all mass and major donor communication plans
• Offers and initiatives for upgrading the value of Mid-Level donors
• Process and protocols for pipeline management across audiences

Multiply Strategies designed a Mid-Level Audience Strategic Plan with recommendations for the Mid-Level Audience that is informed by best practices, focuses on the donor journey, optimizes the donor experience and creates a pathway to higher value giving.

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The Road Map

During the assessment, Multiply Strategies identified that Orbis was missing a comprehensive program focused on the Mid-Level audience that delivered a strategically planned donor experience. The lack of a specific brand and tangible benefits linked to the program resulted in the absence of a clear upgrade strategy from Mass to Mid-Level to Major Gift.  Poor retention patterns emerged due to the inconsistent approach and investment in donors giving at the Mid-Level. And the overall donor journey lacked omni-channel coordination with gaps in high engagement channels.

The new Mid-Level Audience Strategic Plan deliverables included:

• Mid-Level Program Strategy Matrix by segment and channel utilizing audience best practices
• Channel specific Journey Touchpoint Map for the Mid-Level Audience
• Annual Program Calendar for at a glance Mid-Level program management
• Build out of a branded Mid-Level Program with benefits
• Mid-Level Audience budget and forecasting
• KPI’s for Mid-Level retention, upgrades within Mid-Level and pipeline moves from Mass to Mid and Mid to Major

Upon review and approval of the plan, Multiply Strategies began work in three areas of immediate impact:

1. Optimization of existing Mid-Level multi-channel touchpoints within the Mass and Major Gift communication plans
2. Conducting market research in partnership with the internal Orbis Research and Analytics team, to create a new, branded Mid-Level Program with benefits
3. Design and launch of custom Mid-Level Audience stewardship and upgrade touchpoints

The optimization started with a review of mass market direct response performance and a shift to include the Mid-Level Audience in only the highest performing direct response campaigns throughout the year. This reduced the total number of solicitations and opened up space in the program calendar for inclusion of dedicated stewardship touchpoints and two new proposal style appeals. In addition, optimization focused on the messaging and ask strings being used across channels. The Mid-Level segment had been receiving email and direct mail intended for the mass audience, and the lower-value ask strings reflected this approach. Prospecting for Major Gifts was based on capacity research and often incorporated asks well above current giving levels creating wild swings in value and appearance of Orbis not knowing their donors. In collaboration with both internal Orbis staff and vendor partners all Mid-Level versions had new, revised ask strings with appropriate stretch asks, dedicated Mid-Level landing pages and versioning that amped up the gratitude and impact of giving while still communicating the need for the donor’s generous gift.

In parallel to the optimization work, internal brainstorming took place to identify proposed names and a set of recommended benefits for the new Mid-Level program. Once several names had been identified along with benefits that would enhance the donor experience, external market research was conducted with a set of prospective, non-donors. The objective was to determine which name best reflected the organization and program most effectively. Based on this research, the Mid-Level program now has a name, Orbis Visionary Champions and with it, a dedicated landing page on the website.

To help drive improved performance across existing solicitation efforts, several dedicated stewardship touchpoints were added to the annual plan during the year and leading up to peak end of year fundraising. In August, an impact report was sent to all mid and major donors. A gratitude notecard with a photo and story of impact was sent to all active Mid-Level Audience donors in early September with a thank you gift inserted, a wallet size magnifier card which ties to the Orbis mission. In October an organizational newsletter optimized for Mid-Level with updates on the Flying Eye Hospital and global missions landed in homes, plus Orbis mailed a specially designed Annual Report postcard with a QR code linking to the digital version. Outside of the planned newsletters, all of these stewardship touchpoints were new.

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The Multiply Effect

Orbis has already begun to see the direct effect of utilizing best practices, appropriate stewardship communication and optimized solicitations on the Mid-Level Audience.  2024 Mid-Level revenue doubled the prior year, exceeding projection by 40%.  Several first time 5-figure gifts have been established allowing Orbis International to set an even higher growth goal for 2025.

The implementation of the new Mid-Level Audience strategy continues with a full Orbis Visionary Champions brand launch, the addition of new channels (TM and Text), a welcome and onboarding series for new to program Visionary Champions and expansion of retention and reactivation strategies. Optimization of other touchpoints is ongoing.