The Fellowship Campaign: Giving Donors a Real Connection to Research

Success story from a senior staff role at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (now part of the Canadian Cancer Society).

The challenge

Research fellows are a critical part of breast cancer research. But their funding often depended on donations that weren’t secured in advance, with little structure behind it and little for donors to connect to.

We saw an opportunity to change that.

The campaign

We built a recurring, capital-style campaign that raised money directly for research fellows. It gave the fellowships clear structure, detail and outcomes, and told the fellows’ stories in a real way.

Experts, researchers and oncology leaders became the campaign’s voices and storytellers. Their credibility earned donors’ trust and invited both current donors and new prospects to be part of the work.

We reached people across several channels:

1. Email and direct mail.
2. Phone conversations.
3. In-person engagement – large gatherings, small groups and one-on-one meetings.

The outcome

Every result exceeded expectations, from participation to revenue.

The most telling sign in year one was new donor acquisition at the mid-level and major gift levels, which came in higher than we expected. The campaign was helping people connect with the research – and stay connected to it. Donor satisfaction and retention stayed above both sector averages and the organization’s own.

Try this

Pick one part of your work that donors fund but rarely hear about. Who could tell its story best, in their own words? Invite them to.

Be well.