On Agency and DBS Data Deliver Fundraising Campaign Success for The Christie’s New Cancer Centre

When The Christie Charitable Fund needed a Christmas campaign to help raise money for the construction of  a world-leading centre of excellence cancer research, it turned to the On Agency in Brighton, for its reputation in helping third sector organisations to smash their fundraising targets.

The Christie charity provides enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. It is one of the largest hospital charities in the UK treating around 44,000 people each year. However, tragedy struck in 2017, when the Paterson cancer research facility in Manchester was ravaged by fire. A new multi-million pound building was proposed to enable these talented scientists and clinical teams to work side-by-side, using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. In doing so patients would benefit from the best cutting-edge treatment and care, including access to the latest clinical trials.

Working together the On Agency and The Christie charity developed a creative direct marketing campaign that would resonate with the hugely supportive local community, asking them to give a special Christmas gift of £25, £50 or £100 for the development of the new centre.

To ensure the maximum volume of the right people within the local community were targeted, the Account Manager at the On Agency, Jak Cooper, worked with Simon Lamb and his team of marketing data experts at DBS Data – a company also boasting an impressive track record in the third sector. Simon comments: “We took the existing donor database and applied advanced profiling, statistical modelling and analytics to identify characteristics, enabling us to expand the target audience with look-a-like members of the community, most likely to be willing to donate.”

The mail shot was sent to approximately 60,000 people. “The Christie project to build a global cancer care centre in the heart of Manchester has really resonated with the local community.” Jak adds: “Running a campaign in the giving season, backed by a compelling creative and responsive insight-led data, has seen this campaign return an impressive average donation value of £29.57.”  As a result of the success of the initial campaign, Christie, On Agency and DBS are already planning their next campaign.