Digital
Digital
Challenge
For years, SDRM’s digital fundraising leaned heavily on urgency-driven creative focused on “meals” and “emergency need.” While effective for short-term results, this approach limited brand differentiation and long-term donor value. SDRM wanted to evolve and to become known as the organization truly solving San Diego’s #1 issue: homelessness.
Strategy
Masterworks and SDRM partnered to build a balanced digital ecosystem that could support both immediate giving and long-term awareness. The team:
- Refined the creative mix: pairing proven “meals” and “hope” messaging with new brand-forward angles like “Solving San Diego’s #1 Issue” and “Homeless Doesn’t Equal Hopeless.”
- Invested in storytelling: leveraging resident and Mission Academy graduate interviews, and a high-performing selfie video from President Donnie Dee to drive authenticity and emotional resonance.
- Expanded the channel mix: success in traditional digital channels like Meta and Display, gave the client confidence to test into new areas like CTV, and now we are moving into new frontiers like Twitter, Zillow, and YouTube, with podcast ads coming soon.
- Built a strong feedback loop: SDRM’s internal team consistently shares organic content, testimonials, and volunteer stories, empowering Masterworks to move fast in ad development and keep the content relevant and fresh.
This creative partnership allowed the team to take smart risks—testing brand awareness campaigns without sacrificing acquisition efficiency—and continue to test new program expansions.
Results
Sustained Creative Wins
- “Homeless Doesn’t Equal Hopeless” has been running since January and continues to perform for both active and prospecting audiences, with a 3.8 return on ad spend (ROAS) through October to cold audiences.
- The San Diego Padres creative ran for months without fatigue, generating conversions from both existing and new donors.
Record Prospecting Performance
- The last two and a half months have seen SDRM’s best prospecting performance outside of year-end 2024.
- Cost per gift dropped from $88.89 (Oct 2024) to $24.98, the lowest on record.
- Prospecting ROAS hit 8.93 with an average gift of $189, exceeding projections by $50,000 in September alone.
Cultivation Strength
- Active donor cost per gift (CPG) has remained low at $27 while average gift has stayed strong at over $215.
- The CTV program maintains positive ROAS with four winning creative variations that continue to perform.
Momentum for Growth
- SDRM enters the Thanksgiving and Christmas season with its strongest brand awareness to date.
- Continued testing and multichannel expansion are setting the stage for even higher impact in 2026.
Key Takeaway
By building trust, embracing creative testing, and balancing brand storytelling with performance strategy, SDRM transformed its digital program from urgent fundraising to sustainable growth.
Their success demonstrates what’s possible when agency and client work as one team and where a shared vision and innovation turn brand awareness into measurable results.
