Featured Services: Donor Journey Assessment // Campaign Planning // Copywriting // Digital Advertising
Holistic Digital Support for Humanity & Inclusion
Humanity & Inclusion is a big name in Europe. Most Americans haven’t heard of them—yet.
I first started working with Humanity & Inclusion U.S. (HI) in 2019. HI is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning international humanitarian organization committed to prioritizing people with disabilities during and after disasters, wars, and other crises. My journey with HI started back in 2019, when I worked agency-side as the marketing strategist at Mighty Citizen. We launched the “Mighty Big Grant” to award one nonprofit $25,000 in free marketing services. Hundreds applied. Humanity & Inclusion was chosen. Together with Mighty Citizen’s brilliant creative director, I created an award-winning awareness campaign for HI. Soon after, we teamed up again on a Landmine Petition campaign that brought in signatures at an impressively low cost and influenced federal policy change.
Two years later, when I branched out to start my own business, I was delighted to reconnect with the HI team. We rebooted our work together, starting with their 2022 year-end campaign.
Always There
It was the fall of 2022, six months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The conflict was on everyone’s minds and hearts as giving season approached. HI came to me for a year-end campaign that would stand out from other humanitarian aid organizations. Their biggest point of difference is longevity; while other nonprofits were parachuting into Ukraine, handing out food or blankets and leaving in a matter of months, that was not the HI way. Humanity & Inclusion had local staff working in Ukraine for years before the invasion, and they would be there for years to come—deeply rooted in communities with the greatest need.
I presented the campaign concept “Always There” in partnership with graphic designer Brianna de Moll. We knew this campaign theme would serve HI well. Sometimes, it only takes two words to communicate everything you want to say.
The slogan was simple, clear, emotive, and gave us plenty of space for message testing. “Always There” also carried a dual meaning; HI could use this phrase to talk about their unwavering presence in the countries they serve and celebrate their donors, who are always there for marginalized people around the world.
We used a classic “fill-in-the-blank” approach to the campaign’s creative, testing messages like “Always There for Ukraine” and “Always There when it’s needed most.” Running a mix of country-specific and service-oriented language across Meta and display ads, we targeted HI’s existing supporters and Lookalike audiences generated from their donor list. This approach to ads brought in a wealth of data and leveraged the season of generosity to grow HI’s donor base.
Before the campaign kicked off, I installed Fundraise Up for the HI team. We made the most of the platform’s range of fundraising elements, including AI-informed suggested donation amounts, to maximize results. This campaign exceeded our $30K online fundraising goal and welcomed 78 new donors to the HI family!
Always There campaign results
$35,000
Dollars raised November 15th - December 31st
78
New donors welcomed during the campaign
$159
Campaign average gift size
In 2023, we did it again—with a fresh twist.
Building on the previous year’s success, we developed the “For as Long as it Takes” campaign in 2023, staying true to HI’s key differentiator: enduring, inclusive aid. We wanted to visually represent the idea that when the news headlines quickly move on after a natural disaster or outbreak of violence, HI holds those survivors in focus for as long as it takes to help them restore their quality of life.
Back again, our favorite designer Brianna introduced a Polaroid frame as a visual tool to center HI program participants and blur their backgrounds. This treatment tied all our campaign assets together and made them stand out during the most crowded time of year.
For this year-end campaign, I encouraged HI to step up their video game. I scripted a simple video template for their program staff and they gathered four high-quality video updates from staff around the world. We made the most of these videos, hosting them on the campaign landing page, featuring them in emails, posting them on social media, and running them as Meta ads. These videos from the field helped foster a stronger connection with donors and immediately built trust with new folks seeing our ads. Unsurprisingly, video ads consistently outperformed still image ads.
Again in 2023, we surpassed our $30k online fundraising goal and raised awareness with hundreds of thousands of prospective supporters at the same time.
In the new year, it was time to look at the big picture.
The Donor Journey Assessment:
In early 2024, I conducted a comprehensive Donor Journey Assessment for HI—a deep dive into all their digital channels, from email to ads, social media, and key web pages. After years of growth in the U.S. market, we needed to identify what was working and smooth out a few bumps in their donor acquisition and retention strategies.
I began by examining each step a Humanity & Inclusion donor takes, from the moment of first awareness through to becoming a long-term fan. I mapped out the existing journey visually, breaking down what HI’s donors were seeing, feeling, and doing at each stage.
The map uncovered three key areas for improvement:
Website storytelling: While HI’s website shared detailed information about programs, the homepage lacked the full story and donor-centricity required for a great first date.
Value-based messaging: HI’s commitment to donor surveys and persona development provided an invaluable foundation here. Equipped with this research, I pointed out the most opportune places to update copy and better align with donor values, specifically around disability rights.
Channel diversification: Like many nonprofits, HI was leaning too heavily on email for retention. I recommended (slowly) expanding into SMS, directing donors to organic social media content more frequently, and running a steady cadence of gratitude-focused ads to keep supporters in the loop.
These bigger recommendations and many more specific tips in the Donor Journey Assessment gave HI’s team a clear, actionable roadmap they can follow over time. As their team grows, this document has allowed new members to understand their starting point and chart their priorities easily.
Creating a Rapid Response System:
Also in early 2024, as HI continued to respond to climate disasters and conflicts, they needed a fast, adaptable process to reach existing and prospective donors in times of crisis. Together, we developed an Emergency Response Playbook with detailed checklists. The playbook includes:
A two-tier response plan: Depending on the scale of an emergency, HI now has templates and workflows for both large-scale and smaller, localized events.
Social media and email templates: We designed quick, easy-to-update templates for emergency emails, social posts, and ad campaigns. These can be quickly updated and shared to start fundraising immediately after an emergency.
The HI team first used this Emergency Playbook for the escalating conflict in Lebanon. They responded fast and launched a custom new donor email journey with context-specific updates. HI’s Lebanon donors are now hearing about the impact of their contributions in real time, and no one had to work overtime to develop the content.
Our partnership continues.
Just like HI’s long-term, holistic approach makes their work extra effective, our long-term, holistic partnership has enabled us to iterate and innovate across communications, digital marketing, and fundraising. Over the last six years, HI has grown its email list, donor base, and internal team steadily and thoughtfully. Our work together has helped them respond quickly to emergencies, communicate the organization’s unique value proposition at year-end, and consistently attract, inform, and celebrate donors year-round. This partnership has been a HI-light of my career and showcases the power of combining all of my services: audience research, messaging and copywriting, campaign strategy, and digital advertising.
Elizabeth Johnson Sellers, Director of Communications & Development, Humanity & Inclusion U.S.
“It's really important to have consultants and partners you can trust and who can learn your organization. It makes it so much easier to do this work. We're grateful for the success Caroline has set us up for!"
Brianna Johns de Moll, Creative Director, BDemm Design
“I've had the privilege of partnering with Caroline on numerous campaigns for Humanity & Inclusion and other nonprofit clients. Each time, I find myself in awe of her exceptional talent. Caroline has an incredible ability to conceptualize and weave together impactful narratives that truly resonate and compel action.
Her boundless creativity and strategic thinking elevate every project we collaborate on. Beyond her professional skills, Caroline is an absolute joy to work with - especially for collaborations with designers like myself, and other creatives. Her glowing positivity and genuine kindness make every interaction a pleasure. I highly recommend Caroline to create meaningful and impactful marketing campaigns with heart.”
More of an audiovisual learner?
Elizabeth and I walked through this case study live on LinkedIn. Check out the recording!