CUNY School of Medicine | Awareness Campaign
Listening
To the client
The CUNY School of medicine’s ask was to craft a way to attract long-term donors, especially those interested in medical schools. For this, the CUNY School of Medicine needed to leverage its legacy of diversity and equity in healthcare to increase its public recognition and reputation among new and existing donors.
To data
Ivy League medical schools such as Columbia and Harvard have longer standing legacies and high brand recognition, which have helped them secure significant annual funding for many years. In Columbia’s latest fundraising campaign, they raised $1.4 billion to support students with financial needs. However, they still lack representation of students from underserved communities.
To consumers
Some folks donate to continue their family legacy and tax reductions. Some others donate to advance society on different causes such as racial equity, health, education, and climate change.
But who are these “philanthropists“?
Deliberate Donors
• Slow decision-makers with significant contributions that strive for results rather than feel-good donor experiences.
•Primary reasons to donate are to continue their legacy and tax reduction
•Barrier: ‘unease about determining an organization’s credibility or trustworthiness’ and ‘frustrations that some non-profits do not always explain how a charitable donation will be used.’
Impulsive Donors
•Quick-decision makers based on positive emotional feedback produced by the feeling of helping a cause.
•Known to be powerful when it comes to raising money for causes they support.
•Like to donate to organizations on special occasions such as birthdays and Giving Tuesday, via donation apps such as GoFundMe
•Barrier: don’t feel like their help contributes to the advancement of society on different causes such as racial equity, health, climate change
Selected sources: Pew Research | AAMC | Mintel | AMA-ASSN | Diversity Education
Engaging
The questions
-Why do they donate?
-Do they read the organization’s mission statement before donating?
-Do they believe that they’re advancing a cause when making a contribution?
-What influenced their last donation?
-What similarities do these two groups have when it comes to donating?
•A clear mission statement that emphasizes diversity and social change are major influencers in donors (Believe in advancing a cause)
•93% of respondents read the organization mission statement before making a donation.
•Most recent donation was prompted by word-of-mouth, social media, and emergency response
•Like to receive information about donations’ impact every month and end of the year, primarily via email (50%) followed by social media updates (47.6%)
in8 Studio Fall 2021 Survey: Donor Behavior
Decoding
Key findings
Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Zs are incredibly motivated to change the world. There may be a significant the difference in disposable income, but they all believe that their contribution, even if it’s only $1, can positively impact the change they want to see in the world.
Key findings
The only thing they need, though, is the organization to be transparent and concise about where their money goes.
Key findings
The CUNY School of Medicine can potentially increase its donor network by establishing a trust bridge built on strong transparent foundations. We need to look beyond what donors do and begin catering to how they feel.
Insight: Donors often feel like an ATM. They want “giving” to be a commitment to
a long-term relationship, rather than a one-time financial transaction.
Responding
Strategic Message: Donors feel great when they see the progress their dollars are making.
Being transparent and communicative with them can transform them into permanent donors.
The Campaign
Your Impact. Their Future. Our Legacy
Work by:
Strategists
Amy Perez and Eqbal Anwari
Project Manager
Miriam Prever
PR Strategist
Oyinda Amu
Creative
Jack Yu and Juan Ortiz
Comms Planner
Ayanna Camara
Management
Karrah Goldberg