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See how our products have helped 15,000+ organizations
See how our products have helped 15,000+ organizations
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Customer Stories:

From Broad Outreach to Intentional Donor Segmentation: How West Chester University Foundation Rebuilt Its Annual Giving Strategy

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WHO:

Wealth gets you in the door. Understanding why people give gets the gift. West Chester University Foundation is the advancement organization supporting West Chester University, with a team focused on marketing, communications, and annual giving strategy. As they looked to strengthen donor connection across campaigns, the team recognized the need for a more structured approach to segmentation and donor progression.

THE CHALLENGE:

The foundation’s annual giving outreach lacked a consistent segmentation strategy. Appeals were based on broad, inconsistent lists rather than a structured approach to donor targeting or progression through the giving pipeline.

WHY EVERTRUE:

-Pledgemine by EverTrue enabled more personalized direct mail by allowing the team to segment audiences and tailor messaging, visuals, ask amounts, and headings within the same campaign.

-ThankView by EverTrue supported a flexible video strategy used across campaigns, including athletic friends and family outreach, thank you messages, and solicitation efforts. Coaches and student athletes created personalized videos that made donor communication more engaging and easy to scale across the university.

The Results:

-Cyclical donor re-engagement increased from about 8 percent to 12 percent

-A second ask became the strongest performing segment of fiscal year end

-Calendar year end strategy generated an additional $80,000 versus the prior year

-Stronger, more consistent donor segmentation across campaigns

The Full Story:

West Chester University Foundation rebuilt its annual giving approach by shifting from broad, inconsistent outreach lists to structured donor segmentation.


The team created annual giving pools to organize outreach across key moments like fall appeals, calendar year end, day of giving, and fiscal year end, allowing for more consistent targeting throughout the year.


A key breakthrough came when they introduced a second ask in fiscal year end for the first time. That segment became the strongest performing part of that appeal cycle, despite fiscal year end typically being one of their lower-performing campaigns.


They also refined their calendar year end strategy into a simpler appeal that generated an additional $80,000 compared to the prior year.


Using Pledgemine, the team added deeper personalization to direct mail by adjusting messaging, visuals, and ask amounts within the same campaign based on donor segments.


Through ThankView, they expanded video engagement, including an athletic friends and family campaign where coaches and student athletes sent personalized messages to supporters. The campaign was especially well received by families, who responded positively to seeing students featured in video updates.


Across these efforts, the foundation strengthened segmentation, personalization, and engagement across its annual giving program.

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