A highly targeted door drop sent results soaring

Background

Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) is a world-leading charity that swoops in with a team of highly skilled lifesavers to over 3,300 incidents annually across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. Their helicopters are flying emergency rooms, equipped to perform critical procedures almost anywhere. They fly 24/7, 365 days a year and they’re almost entirely funded by donations. So, without fundraising they can’t fly, and they can’t save lives.

In December 2023, KSS hit turbulence when their aviation partner faced administration, risking grounding their fleet. Fortunately, a new partner came to the rescue, offering them the opportunity to buy a helicopter, a lifeline but with a clause – a tight three-month deadline. With some money already in their ‘helicopter kitty,’ KSS needed to raise the final £1M, urgently.

Solution

Working with their partners Join the Dots and Open Creates KSS launched their most ambitious fundraising drive to date: “Buy it for Life”. The message was clear and powerful: help secure the helicopter and save lives. Utilising radio, door drops, press, and inserts, the campaign targeted Kent, Surrey, and Sussex with precision, avoiding encroaching on other air ambulance territories.

Door drop played a vital role in the success of the campaign. The initial launch came via press and radio channels that broadcast the story to a broad audience across Kent, Surrey & Sussex. The door drop followed a couple of weeks later once the initial brand awareness had built, with a drive to donate via a detachable bangtail BRE, online or via a QR code.

Join the Dots started by taking a deep dive into KSS’s typical donors.  Analysis of their donor base enabled them to build a profile: using this information they could overlay key demographics that aligned with their audience to find lookalikes and target postal sectors that indexed highly against their audience. Data was further refined to target within the strictly specified areas of Kent, Surrey & Sussex where the bold fundraising message would be more locally relevant. Using JICMAIL to analyse the MOSIAC targeting applied by other charities revealed groups that were less likely to be targeted by other air ambulance charities but had high door drop interaction rates. Additionally, JICMAIL insight was used to refine forecast response rates by analysing the impressions and interaction rates of the planned door drop volume, ensuring more accurate predictions and better campaign performance.

The recommended format was an 8-page leaflet with a detachable bangtail BRE—something KSS had never tested before, but had been highly effective for other charities in door drop campaigns.

This format offered significant cost savings for KSS, using less paper, eliminating enclosing costs, and streamlining production overall. Additionally, it could be produced quickly and in large quantities, making it the perfect solution to meet the short turnaround time for printing, delivery, and launching the campaign.

The core creative concept was simple but ambitious: to help KSS raise £1 million in 8 weeks so that they could purchase one of their helicopters. The door drop packs were personalised so that they were specific to each region with the aim of driving a higher response. KSS also introduced a compelling incentive: anybody who donated £100+ or more could have their name featured on the helicopter once purchased; a great initiative that proved strong in the results analysis.

KSS also secured a Royal Mail ‘Incentive for Growth’ as this was the largest campaign they had done at this time of year. The savings on postage not only improved the campaign ROI but also allowed KSS to reach a wider audience by mailing more sectors at a lower cost, increasing campaign efficiency.

Additionally, the off to online journey via the QR Code or URL was seamless. This was evident in the results, with a large chunk of door drop responders choosing to donate online.

Results

Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex soared, reaching its target in just six weeks and raising an astonishing £1.98M – the most successful campaign in KSS’ history, and nearly doubling its target!

Over 14,000 donations came in with over 2,100 of them donating £100 or more to get their names on the helicopter. The campaign’s reach extended globally, touching millions and igniting a wave of emotional support and community solidarity.

This success story is a testament to the power of community and the importance of timely, integrated action. With their helicopter secured, KSS can fly high, saving even more lives. 

Source: SMP Awards 2024