Every event feels personal while it’s happening. Keeping that feeling alive once the thank-you goes out to a whole list is the hard part.
Who
St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation hosts a full calendar of donor events each year, each bringing its own people, traditions, and opportunities to connect.
Two events offered different ways to put that personal touch into practice: a new Kentucky Derby-themed party at a local country club and the Joe Buck Golf Classic, a longstanding event led by broadcaster Joe Buck and a volunteer golf committee.
The Challenge
A brand-new event has no track record to prove it’s worth repeating, so a generic recap risks making a well-attended first year feel like business as usual. An established event has the opposite problem: years of donor expectation built up around it, and a thank-you that starts to feel templated as the event grows reads like the event has outgrown its own personal touch. Two different events, two different ways the same risk could show up.
Why EverTrue
For the Derby event, the foundation brought in a professional video crew to capture moments from the day. Using ThankView by EverTrue, the team turned that footage into a personalized follow-up, with separate messages for attendees and sponsors. Each message also included a clear call to action to view event photos, giving recipients another way to revisit the experience.
For the Joe Buck Golf Classic, personalization started right with the video invitation. ThankView displayed each recipient’s name as the envelope opened, while the video was designed to feel like a direct message from Joe Buck and the golf committee rather than a general thank-you from the foundation.
Though the approaches differed, both gave the team a way to make its communication feel more connected to the people receiving it.
The Results
Kentucky Derby-themed event, sent to 365 attendees and sponsors:
- 76% open rate, compared with the foundation’s 48.6% account average
- 24% click-through rate, compared with its 9.6% account average
- 71% average video view percentage
- 13% full video completion rate
Joe Buck Golf Classic:
- 43% click-through rate, nearly double the healthcare industry average of 23.2%
- 87% of viewers who pressed play watched to the end (45 of 52 viewers)
- 24 direct clicks and 63 total opens and clicks
“We don’t often have a video crew come to do this kind of wrap-up video, but seeing the results, I’d definitely recommend it for some of our future events.” — Katie Tracy, Donor Marketing Manager, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation
A first-year event and a decade-old tradition don’t need the same playbook, but they need the same instinct: a thank-you built for the people receiving it, not just the list they’re on. As the foundation looks ahead to its November gala, the team is already planning to bring the same video crew and segmented approach through ThankView to its next event.