Plan International UK and Wood for Trees part of the Salocin group
Using Apteco software to provide a platform to improve donor conversion rates and a reduction in time required for data selections
Background
Plan International UK is a global children’s charity striving for an equal world. One where every child can reach their full potential and every girl can choose her own future. Poverty, violence, and discrimination still hold back millions of children around the world, and it’s often girls that are most affected. Plan International UK works across more than 80 countries to build a future where every child is safe and receives an education. A world where all girls are free from violence, in control of their own body, know their rights and have their voices heard.
The challenge
Plan International UK collaborated with Wood for Trees to assist them in their mission to create a compelling "Campaigner Email Welcome" journey for donors, whilst recognising the critical importance of engaging newly recruited campaigners and donors at the outset of their involvement. With no existing welcome journey in place, Plan International UK asked Wood for Trees to craft a strategy to achieve three primary objectives: Think, Feel, and Do. They wanted to ensure supporters felt aligned with Plan International UK's values, welcomed into their community, informed about their work, and empowered to take action.
The main challenge faced was that there was no holistic view of the supporter base, as campaign and donor data were sat across different databases, meaning a lot of time consuming manual data exports were needed. Therefore, there was no existing personalised welcome journey for supporters who take an advocacy action. This meant that supporters lapsed, weren't making repeat donations and weren't connecting to the charity.
Watch the full customer story
Watch our video which covers the full impact of Apteco marketing software on Plan International UK, presented by Laura Humphries and Nick Cook.
The Apteco Solution
As Plan International UK had no existing welcome journey as a starting point, workshops were held with users to define the required solution and benchmark. As performance data on the new journey was gathered (using the power of Apteco PeopleStage reports, FastStats analysis and Orbit dashboards) the journey could then be optimised based on this new data. The journey consisted of nine emails, where each email is sent a number of days after the supporter has taken their initial action. From here the data then enters Plan International UK’s CRM system and subsequently enters an Apteco PeopleStage journey the following day.
To simplify audience selection, Plan International UK calculated the days since each supporter's first action, using the power of Apteco's "On the Fly Aggregations" to create a virtual variable for future use. Innovatively, Wood for Trees employed a "Global Skip" mechanism, controlled by an Apteco virtual variable, to bypass sending certain emails, giving Plan International UK flexibility in content delivery.
Since launch the results from the journey have been remarkable, with 13% of participants becoming highly engaged, taking multiple actions within 6-12 months. The journey significantly increased the pool of active campaigners, accounting for 56% of supporters taking campaign actions in the past year, with 21% of multi-action supporters having participated in the Campaigner Email Welcome journey.
The programme's success lies in nurturing committed campaigners, evident in the high number of supporters completing multiple actions, including writing to MPs and participating in campaigns. The engagement has also been impressive, boasting over 30% open rates and less than a 2% unsubscribe rate. These statistics indicate strong engagement among new campaigners.
The journey has not only fostered engagement but also expanded the pool of active campaigners, driving meaningful actions and promoting Plan International UK's mission. This journey will help Plan International UK foster a community of dedicated supporters, aligned with their values and ready to make a difference in the lives of girls worldwide.
Apteco has revolutionised the way Plan International UK is able to access data and gain insight through using FastStats and Orbit. Adding PeopleStage to our toolkit has transformed our automated journeys, enabling us to improve supporter experience. Wood for Trees and Apteco have been fantastic partners throughout all stages of implementation.
Laura Humphries, Senior Database Marketing and Insight Manager, Plan International UK
Laura Humphries, Senior Database Marketing and Insight Manager, Plan International UK
The impact on the business
As a result of designing and implementing their first welcome journey using Apteco software, Plan International UK have seen the true power of the toolset that they have invested in. This is evident in the results that have been seen off the back of this journey.
The journey has significantly increased the pool of active Campaigners, accounting for 56% of supporters that have taken campaign actions in the past 12 months.
There's now a benchmark for future supporter journeys, with potential to optimise and test more journeys to improve donor conversion rates and engagement.
Efficient data selections are now possible in FastStats allowing for personalised and timely communications in PeopleStage.
21% of all supporters that have taken multiple actions in the past 12 months have been on the Campaigner Email Welcome Journey.
The power of Apteco has allowed us to design and build a multi-stage journey with several complexities, all with great ease and speed, utilising many functions of the suite from expressions to audience segments. This journey is already delivering results for Plan International UK.
Nick Cook, Principal Solutions Consultant, Wood for Trees part of the Salocin group
Nick Cook, Principal Solutions Consultant, Wood for Trees part of the Salocin group