If there is one thing that I’ve learned in my time working in supporter experience, it’s that people love talking about themselves. And if there’s one thing they love to talk about even more than themselves. It’s their pets!

Of course, this includes me. I love to talk about my cat Murphy – just look at him… 

He’s a furry little assassin and I absolutely love him to bits. Now, looking at that picture of Murphy, you’re probably thinking I’m a cat person. After all, I’m writing all about how much I love him in spite of all his murderous tendencies. But if you took the time to ask me ‘what type of person I am’, you might find out a surprising answer. 

And that’s precisely what Battersea did. 

For those who may not know, Battersea was founded way back in 1860 to care for lost and starving dogs. Since then, they’ve grown to be one of the UK’s leading animal welfare charities – rescuing and rehoming over three million dogs and cats. Their mission is to help every dog and cat in need, providing shelter, medical care and love until the animal is permanently rehomed.

When working on a new welcome journey for their supporters, the fundraising team at Battersea knew that if they discovered more about their audience, they could provide tailored and relevant content. They hoped this would, in turn, lead to increased engagement and a higher likelihood of securing a repeat or ongoing gift. 

But how could they learn more about their supporters, in a natural way that didn’t feel forced? Well, they asked a very simple question: 

‘Are you a dog person, or a cat person?’ 

And that one simple question led to a whole treasure trove of information. 

Below you’ll find the email that you receive when first you sign up to Battersea’s mailing list. It’s simple and to the point. Your main focus goes on THAT question. And it’s worded to make it all about you, not the charity. 

For reference, when I received this email, I replied and told Battersea that I love BOTH dogs and cats. 

Did you know that research into neuroscience has shown that you’re more likely to engage in content and conversation, if you have the opportunity to talk about yourself? Studies have shown that talking about yourself triggers activity in the same regions of your brain as food and money – or things that show pleasure.

And the results from Battersea’s supporter welcome journey back that up. 80 per cent of the people who opened the email above went on to make a choice. They let Battersea know if they were a dog person or a cat person. 

That’s an incredible level of engagement. But not only that, 30 per cent of the 80 per cent above, then went on to open EVERY SINGLE EMAIL in their welcome journey from Battersea. Yes, every single one. 

And when you look at the results of this email journey as a whole, they are similarly impressive. Battersea found that there was a much higher, consistent level of engagement among people who made their dog vs cat choice, compared to those who didn’t. 

In terms of open rates, people who made a choice and let Battersea know if they were a dog person or a cat person were 70 per cent more likely to open an email – compared to 46 per cent who didn’t share their preference. 

And the click rates revealed even more good news. The average click rate amongst people who made a choice of dog vs cat was 27 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for those who hadn’t told Battersea which animal they preferred. That’s more than double! And it’s a lot higher than the industry average too. 

In terms of unsubscribes, the unsubscribe rate was notably lower for those who gave their dog or cat preference.

Now I don’t know about you, but these levels are engagement are ones that I can only dream of. In fact, digital mobilisation agency, More Onion, described this as one of the best performing email welcome journeys they had ever seen. That’s high praise indeed!

But why did these emails engage with supporters? Why did people keep opening them?

The answer is simple. Battersea asked supporters what they wanted to hear about. And then they delivered. You like dogs? Okay. We won’t send you emails about cats. It just made sense. The emails and their results show that they were perfectly tailored to the supporters’ choices. 

Like I said earlier, I chose both dogs and cats. And the following emails displayed a perfect mix of both.

Of course, it’s not all about open rates and click throughs. This simple question didn’t just lead to incredible engagement. It provided Battersea with priceless insight that would help them tailor their future fundraising asks. 

By tracking supporter engagement and activity following their original dog or cat choice, Battersea were able to uncover some golden nuggets. For example: 

• Cat people, for the most part, absolutely did NOT want to hear about dogs. 
• Dog people, however, were usually happy to receive some sporadic cat content.

I will leave it up to you to decide who you think was most likely to unsubscribe altogether, but if you do want to know, drop a comment below and I’ll reveal all!

Earlier I mentioned that neuroscience shows people are more likely to engage if they talk about themselves. Well, it gets even better. 

A study at Harvard University revealed that people were actually willing to give up money in exchange for an opportunity to share personal information (add link to study – ask Laura). And the same principles can apply here.

As we know, segmenting your communications increases the likelihood of engagement. Well, it’s been proven time and time again that increased engagement then increases a donor’s likelihood of making a donation. In fact, various marketing platforms have found that by segmenting your communications, a donor is three times more likely to give a gift.

Imagine that. Trebling your income simply by taking the time to find out more about your supporters.

In this case, Battersea knows that if a donor is die-hard fan of cats, they are not very likely to donate to their beautiful appeal about an adorable puppy – and they can tailor their future fundraising asks accordingly. 

But what you can learn from all this? 

Well, the key thing is this – don’t make assumptions about your supporters. Ask them, one way or another, what they want to hear from you about. Chances are this will lead to increased engagement, improved retention and more income. 

It can’t always be as simple as dog vs cat. But there’s always something you can ask your supporters that will prove to be relevant and help you personalise their experience. 

Oh, and one last thing!

I know you might have thought I’m a cat person as I love my adorable cat Murphy. Well, I’m definitely also a dog person, as this cute little puppy recently joined our family too. Sorry Murphy!

IMAGES©: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and Laura Fallon 

Watch Laura Fallon celebrate Battersea’s email welcome journey at SOFII’s I Wish I’d Thought of That (IWITOT) 2025 here: