2024-2025 annual campaign marketing rfp

United Way of Buffalo & Erie County (UWBEC) is seeking agency support to create and execute aspects of the 2024-2025 annual fundraising campaign. The primary objective is for UWBEC Marketing & Communications staff to effectively collaborate with a marketing agency to provide professional messaging, marketing, advertising and communications strategy for the annual fundraising campaign, which runs from late August - March 31st and will have a goal of $8.5-10 million.

You can download a full copy of the 2024-2025 Annual Campaign Marketing RFP here. 

Historically, who donates? 

Historically, we have several different donor groups. The largest group in terms of size is individuals donating via their workplace campaign. The next largest in terms of size are our giving community members, which significantly overlap with the individuals donating via the workplace campaign. We also have many corporate and foundation partners that donate and individuals not associated with a workplace campaign. 

How are donations received? 

Donations from individuals are received primarily online or via payroll deduction, depending on whether their workplace runs a campaign or they are individual contributors. 

Is there a resource we can turn to with historical data that includes donor demographics, average donation, spending, etc.. 

We have historical data on individual donors who have contributed over time that is associated with limited demographic data. However, much of our data is dependent upon what individuals allow their workplace to share with us. 

If there are multiple channels people can use to donate what is currently the most effective one?

The largest donation channel is the workplace campaign. However, we also accept donations via our website as well as events and fundraisers. 

If this budget is supplemental to existing efforts can you tell us what is already in place or ongoing outside of the marketing dollars set aside for this fundraising campaign? (outside of the website revamp and national rebranding efforts)

We have a dedicated Resource Development team that manages all of our workplace campaign relationships. They are primarily responsible for in-person campaign presentations to encourage donations via the workplace campaign and work closely with volunteer campaign coordinators at each workplace to deliver materials and messaging related to UWBEC's annual campaign and our work. Additionally, our Giving Communities will continue to host fundraising events such as our Women United Gateway to Golf - A Ladies Only Golf Outing in September, as well as our Next Generation United's (NGU) Pitch10 in October, and our Tocqueville Society Philanthropist of the Year Celebration (date tbd). We also participate in Giving Tuesday and run an end-of-year donation micro campaign in alignment with United Way Worldwide. All of this is also coupled with targeted direct mail solicitations to certain segments of our donor pool and lapsed donors. Please note this is not a complete listing of all revenue generation, but it gives a high-level overview of activities that will occur in tandem with this marketing campaign; more detail can be provided to the final selected agency. 

What was the goal for 2023 and was it met? 

The goal for the 2023-2024 campaign was $10 Million. The campaign just ended on March 31st, so we do not yet have the total raised. 

Is this goal achieved solely through this campaign's efforts during this time or are they met in congruence with your already existing efforts during this time? 

As previously noted, the campaign is the primary revenue driver for UWBEC. There are additional revenue-generation efforts that are coupled with this but the bulk of the money raised will come from this campaign. 

Are we able to promote any of the events/activations/initiatives planned during the campaign via local PR outreach? Would PR be more focused on more of an “always-on”, news bureau-style program?

You will certainly be able to leverage existing work and initiatives as part of this campaign. However, we do have an internal team that will be primarily responsible for coordinating most earned media PR surrounding events. This will be done in conjunction with the campaign. 

What KPIs do you have in mind?

Increase in number of donors, increase in existing donor giving, community awareness, and overall campaign success. These can be discussed more in-depth with agencies that make the interview stage of the RFP process. 

How is success measured (i.e. earned media impressions)? 

Overall success will be primarily measured by achieving the monetary goal of the campaign. 

Are you looking for a partner to help with social content strategy, content development/execution,  influencer management, etc.?

We do have internal team members who are currently responsible for social content strategy and digital content development. It is the goal of UWBEC to have our internal team work collaboratively with the chosen agency to ensure digital messaging is aligned with overall campaign messaging. But please feel free to include whatever you think is necessary into your proposal. 

Are there any current assets to be utilized for the video, or would we be capturing all new content?

We do have a modest library of videos that can be used in a B-roll capacity.

What has UWBEC historically done for traditional media placement?  

Traditionally UWBEC has done very little in traditional media placement. Our most recent March to a Million micro campaign did leverage some traditional media, primarily digital and print ads with local news publications and tv stations. This campaign just ended recently and we do not yet have measures of success. 

Does UWBEC have any partnerships in place that have allowed them to leverage traditional media placement at no charge? 

UWBEC has some partnerships that allow us to leverage traditional media at low or no cost. Historically these relationships have been leveraged most for media sponsorship opportunities of large UWBEC events. 

What, if any, are the previous media campaigns, and is there data on performance?

We have run some limited traditional media campaigns and have leveraged PPC type ads in the past. The limited data we have can be shared with the final selected agency. 

Are we able to acquire access to UWBEC’s current donor list for strategic research purposes? 

Upon signing a nondisclosure agreement, UWBEC can share some donor data with the chosen agency.

Does United Way Worldwide have existing local or national research on giving trends and habits organized by demographics? 

We do not have local data, Worldwide has some data available on trends and data on the brand health and reception. 

Beyond the Resource Development team’s workplace campaign efforts and fundraising events,  are there any other marketing initiatives in place that we should consider in the planning process? 

During the campaign, there are a few things that marketing takes a lead role in that will be facilitated by internal staff but run in tandem with agency efforts. One is Giving Tuesday, and the other is a giving micro campaign that is traditionally run between Thanksgiving and New Years. The EOY efforts are run in tandem with and primarily guided by United Way Worldwide. However, there could be an opportunity to fold EOY communications with the overall campaign effort. 

Should this strategy include elements to support corporate giving, or will that be handled by internal team members? 

The corporate giving strategy will primarily be handled by our Resource Development department but some campaign collateral may be shared with them to further their efforts. 

Should media relations be incorporated into this proposal, or does UWBEC have an internal team tasked with this? 

We have an internal team primarily tasked with media relations from an earned media & PR standpoint. We would be looking to the selected agency to leverage their contacts and buying power to provide us with the best cost ad placements. 

What internal tactics and initiatives will UWBEC be undertaking to meet the fundraising goal? 

We have a dedicated Resource Development team that manages all of our workplace campaign relationships. They are primarily responsible for in-person campaign presentations to encourage donations via the workplace campaign and work closely with volunteer campaign coordinators at each workplace to deliver materials and messaging related to UWBEC's annual campaign and our work. Additionally, our Giving Communities will continue to host fundraising events such as our Women United Gateway to Golf - A Ladies Only Golf Outing in September, as well as our Next Generation United's (NGU) Pitch10 in October, and our Tocqueville Society Philanthropist of the Year Celebration (date tbd). We also participate in Giving Tuesday and run an end-of-year donation micro campaign in alignment with United Way Worldwide. All of this is also coupled with targeted direct mail solicitations to certain segments of our donor pool and lapsed donors. Please note this is not a complete listing of all revenue generation, but it gives a high-level overview of activities that will occur in tandem with this marketing campaign; more detail can be provided to the final selected agency. 

Historically, what zip codes have yielded the highest amount of donations?

Because the bulk of our fundraising dollars come from workplace contributions we don't have our data broken down like this. 

What are the personas of your top donors? 

At this time we do not have formal personas of our top donors. 

Who are the existing community groups the fundraising video will be shared to?

Our annual fundraising video is shared with our nonprofit partners, leveraged in parts on social media and used during campaign presentations. This is not an exhaustive list. 

Will talent be provided for the fundraising video by UWBEC? 

Depending on the vision for the fundraising video we may be able to provide talent. 

What is your target ROAS? What is your target ROI from this marketing investment?

The overal target ROAS/ROI would be achieving the campaign goal. 

Which current tactics (can be paid, unpaid, traditional, or digital) currently yield the highest monetary return?

Currently we see high monetary return on our fundraising events hosted by our Giving Communities, workplace campaign, and social media advertising.