Summary / objectives

Our objectives were to find reliable and financially viable ways of recruiting new regular givers – all while giving Australian’s the tools to help save their pet’s lives. 

Creator / originator

RSPCA NSW (New South Wales) and QLD (Queensland) and creative agency flat earth direct

Background

The RSPCA in Australia is federated; however each state and territory has an RSPCA body which provides services to animals in need. In 2014, RSPCA NSW and QLD decided to join forces in an effort to grow their regular giving programmes.

Our challenge was how to best acquire a large volume of new phone numbers from members of the public, who would then be called and asked to give a monthly gift. The question we needed to answer was, how do we effectively pre-qualify leads to give us the best chance of turning them into regular supporters? 

Around 70 per cent of Australian households own a pet. Many of those households aren’t as well prepared as they could be to adequately provide emergency first aid in the event of a health scare with their furry friends, such as if their dog is bitten by a snake or chokes on something. 

Using this insight, we developed a ‘value exchange’ campaign. We offered something of value in exchange for a pet owner’s phone number. The intention was to then call the prospect and send them an RSPCA-approved ‘Pet First Aid Guide’. 

The guide was a handy, pocket-sized free booklet that contained first aid information to overcome that fear of being unprepared. 

At the point of sign up, only a mobile number was captured so that when the fundraiser spoke to the prospect on the phone, they immediately engaged in conversation about why the contact had requested to get a copy of the guide, which helped build rapport. Their name and address details were then captured so we could send their free guide in the post. Following that, there was an ask to become a monthly donor, which felt like a natural extension of that conversation.

We presented the offer across a variety of sources: out-of-home advertising in public bathrooms and on public transport (trains, buses, trams), direct response television, Facebook advertising, as well as sending emails and SMS (text) offers to other RSPCA prospect sources who’d had a previous connection to the organisation.

Special characteristics

A ‘value exchange’ campaign occurs when someone gives their mobile number in return for an item of value – such as a pet safety kit.

Results

The initial trial exceeded expectations, generating over 600 new monthly supporters. This was followed by rollout activity from not only those two states but other RSPCA member states as well.

In 2017, NSW developed a fresh offer that focused on prevention as opposed to emergency response, the ‘Pet Safety Kit’, which featured a number of items – a magnetic info booklet for the fridge, a key ring, a window sticker and a wallet card.

Over the last six years, the Pet First Aid Guide and Pet Safety Kit value exchange campaigns have recruited more than 22,000 new regular givers across Australia to help protect animals from cruelty.

Here is a detailed breakdown of the campaign’s exceptional results.

The campaign has also provided over a quarter of a million Australian households with vital pet safety tips that have saved lives. We received feedback from people saying that because of the guide, they knew exactly what to do when their pet was having a medical emergency. 

Merits

Of course, we are delighted that RSPCA has achieved such great results and built a solid foundation of monthly givers for their organisation. But the thing that makes us so proud is that it has actually saved pets’ lives. We have had Australians write letters and let us know on Facebook that they have actually used the guide in a critical moment. And that is priceless.