UNICEF helps turn one-time givers into repeat donors through campaign designs based on AMC insights

Improving the lives of children worldwide is a noble cause, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a nonprofit organisation operating in 190 countries and territories, has taken up the mantle to do just that. Securing recurring donations makes this worthwhile initiative possible. To raise funds to support their humanitarian missions, their digital campaigns must reach potential online donors as well as those who contribute through analogue methods, such as over the phone or by cheque.

As a national committee within UNICEF, UNICEF USA connects with the American public, raising funds that make up 30% of the parent organisation’s operating budget. UNICEF had mainly been using Amazon DSP to reach brand-new donors or to re-engage with existing frequent donors.

In the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, UNICEF wanted to quickly raise funds to help children in need in Ukraine. The organisation turned to Amazon Ads partner DELVE, a technology-first digital consultancy, to help advise on advertising strategy.

After assessing UNICEF’s needs, DELVE believed that a high-profile crisis could effectively draw the attention of donors other than those who regularly donate to the charity.

To support the campaign, DELVE then analysed its pseudonymised donor information and uploaded it to AMC to understand the cohort: their lifestyle and interest segments, their device engagement patterns and their messaging preferences.

Based on insights from segment attributes and past ad-engagement patterns, the agency hypothesised that messaging around cold-weather gear and the urgent plight of refugees was most likely to deliver UNICEF’s message across to the one-time donors that they wished to reach. Additionally, they deployed tailored engagement tactics for different sub-audience segments within the same Amazon DSP campaign.

With the help of AMC, UNICEF USA’s new campaign advised by DELVE allowed the organisation to raise total contributions that surpassed their initial fundraising goal, helping the organisation supply critical assistance to Ukrainian children in need.¹ The contribution value from the donors who were previously categorised as less likely to repeat donations averaged 71% higher than that from high-value donors, although the latter had been the subject of other UNICEF campaigns for much longer.²

After the campaign, DELVE again used AMC to connect the dots between funds raised and ad engagement information. They quantified ad-attributed donations across donors using digital and non-digital methods, such as phone calls and cheques. This allowed UNICEF USA to clearly understand the impact of their advertising investments; they measured 366% direct ROAS for this campaign effort.³