When it comes to successful fundraising campaigns, the healthcare sector is filled with examples that span a diverse array of fields, audiences, and models. Health organizations can learn from analyzing the creation, implementation, and execution of these healthcare fundraising campaigns.

Below, we analyze four different healthcare campaigns that each use different tactics and angles for success. Consider implementing the best practices and tips from each example the next time you’re building a campaign for your nonprofit healthcare organization.

1. Baptist Health Foundation Community Fundraising

In 2021, Baptist Health Foundation started a community fundraising program¹ with two powerful goals in mind:

Support the philanthropic mission of the entire health systemStrenghten community engagement

The campaign encourages individuals and healthcare organizations to create their own fundraising campaigns with customized giving goals.

One of the most notable and impactful visual elements of the campaign is its website banner image, which features three key points of interest:

Heart graphics – The line of five graphics with a heart motif encourages fundraisers to connect their campaign with something personally significant outside of Baptist Health’s mission. It’s an opportunity to make giving personal.The status bar – As soon as visitors open the community fundraising website, they’re met with a graphic of funds raised toward Baptist Health’s overall goal. It sends a transparent and salient message to fundraisers that this campaign works.Two buttons – The “Start a Fundraiser” and “Donate Now” buttons give potential supporters two ways to give. They can participate in the community fundraising campaign with their own fundraiser, or simply contribute to the cause. These buttons have the potential to convert two distinct types of donors: those who want to become engaged, and those who simply want to contribute to the mission.

Immediately after the banner image, potential fundraisers and donors encounter a block of text detailing why they should consider joining a community fundraising “Giving Circle.” The text is succinct and carefully constructed:

“From cancer care to mental health awareness” – The first few words connect readers to the mission by calling attention to healthcare topics.“Our fundraisers have been inspired by their experience at Baptist Health” – This phrase connects fundraisers with the nonprofit healthcare organization and gives donors a reason to get invested: Baptist Health inspires them.“And are motivated to take action.” – The parting words in the text block are a subtle encouragement to get engaged. The phrase “take action” is a clear call to action.

Site visitors can also view current Giving Circles and each individual group’s progress toward their fundraising goal. It’s visual proof to potential fundraisers and donors that other contributors are already making a difference.

Takeaways for Your Organization

Get Personal

Baptist Health Foundation’s campaign imagery encourages fundraisers to connect their efforts with something that matters to them—whether they raise money to pay tribute to a loved one or organize a philanthropic event.

Connecting giving to something outside of the nonprofit organization’s mission sends a clear message to fundraisers and donors: There are countless ways you can make a difference. The campaign empowers fundraisers to get involved in any way they choose.

Embrace Simplicity

Baptist Health Foundation donors have many ways to give. They can donate to a Giving Circle campaign, donate to the nonprofit organization as a whole, or start a fundraising campaign themselves.

But this nuanced strategy is paired with simple, powerful systems:

The campaign website imagery is sleek, streamlined, and straightforward. Their most complex visual area, the banner image, is digestible but impactful.The campaign landing page only has four sections: the banner, a text box, a list of current fundraisers, and recent campaign activity. Fundraisers and donors are met with the content they’re looking for right away.The message is simple, too. If you’re motivated to take action, you can make a difference.

As you build your next campaign, consider how a minimalist design approach could attract motivated donors.

2. “Breast Cancer Crusade” by Avon

One of many successful cancer charities, New Avon LLC (Avon) launched a fundraising initiative for their Breast Cancer Crusade effort. But instead of just one campaign, they designed two. This dual campaign did more than double their efforts—it allowed their fundraising messaging to speak to two distinct groups of supporters.

One campaign spoke to the general public, which supports the company by purchasing beauty products or donating to their various philanthropic campaigns. The second campaign appealed to the Avon Representatives, who actively sell products for the company to the general public.

While the two campaigns stood apart from each other, they were unified by the goals of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade: to provide breast cancer care to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. The two campaigns were also constructed in similar ways. Both incorporate peer-to-peer fundraising and DIY fundraising initiatives to activate fundraisers.

Still, there are a few differences between the campaigns that help each resonate with its intended target audience.

For example, both campaigns strongly use the hero image block, but each image is tailored to different supporters. Align your imagery with your audiences to mitigate confusion if you create multiple campaigns for the same cause.

The hero block image for the general campaign features a photo of women supporting the breast cancer initiative, likely taken at an event:

Meanwhile, the Avon Representative campaign features a studio-produced beauty product image that aligns more with their day-to-day job of selling products:

Both images grab people’s attention and lead them into the impact blocks section of the campaign. While the impact blocks on both campaigns are visually similar, they’re once again slightly tweaked to offer a stronger value for each different supporter segment.

From left to right, the three impact blocks on both campaigns offer fundraising options for people to host:

The difference is the middle block, where Avon supplies the fundraising event idea. For the general campaign, the suggested idea is to host a wine and cheese party:

For the Avon Representative campaign, the idea is to host an Avon Beauty Party:

These differences reflect how each group of supporters can uniquely activate their community. The wine and cheese party may appeal to the majority of people who support Avon as consumers. The Avon Beauty Party hits closer to home for Avon Representatives because it aligns with their goals to sell beauty products.

However, these variations also create a way for the campaign to tap into a substantial group of supporters at the grassroots level as these Representatives move through their community.

Takeaways for Your Organization

Tailor Your Campaign for Different Segments

As you learn how to run a successful fundraising campaign, it will become increasingly important to identify the different segments of supporters who will raise money for your cause. If you have a few segments that are closely aligned on fundraising goals but stand apart when it comes to how they work with your organization, it might be smart to build multiple campaigns as Avon did.

This way, you can still keep the campaigns under the same banner of your cause or specific initiative while subtly positioning each one to resonate with different segments.

As you determine how to segment your nonprofit emails and other communications, consider how you can creatively make each campaign speak to these segments. For example, New Avon used their “About” section in each campaign differently. For the general public, it calls out all the information about the cause:

When you look at the “About” section on the Avon Representative campaign, you’ll see that it was written as a letter from the President of Social Selling and the CEO of the company:

Keep the visual elements the same across both campaigns—color, font, and certain images—but make them stand apart where you can. Speak directly to your different audiences to bring in more recurring donations as well as new cohorts of support discover your organization.

3. “Race for Research 5K” by the UW Carbone Cancer Center

When the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center hosted its Race for Research 5K, they used Classy Live to build a registration with fundraising event page to display all relevant information in one centralized place. At the top of the page, you’re immediately greeted with a hero image of their past event and a snapshot of the event details.

Notice how it includes basic event information followed by the “Register” and “Donate” buttons, encouraging supporters to take immediate action:

Also consider how certain well-structured design elements can help you distinguish your campaign and make a stellar first impression on visitors to your donation site. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center’s event incorporates:

Bold and coordinated colorsImagery that aligns with the eventText colors that make the important information pop

Aside from the design elements, strengthen your campaign by making the most of the information blocks throughout the page. For example, it’s crucial that everyone participating in this 5K event signs a waiver. The organization used one of its blocks to link out to this form four times in one paragraph:

It might seem like overkill, but if the success of your event depends on having something like a waiver filled out on time, it can’t hurt to give people plenty of opportunities to locate that form. Beyond that, the event page guides supporters through other important parts of the race, like:

Fundraising progressThe event’s scheduleLocation details and mapEvent sponsors

When the race had officially ended, the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center kept the donation button active. This provided an opportunity for people who may have missed the first go-around to still support the cause.

Such an action also opens the doors for your race participants, who have already supported the campaign, to come back and give again. At the end of the day, these strategies helped the organization raise 110 percent of their initial fundraising goal.

Takeaways for Your Organization

Communicate the Essential Details First

When you build the page for your next event, remember to start strong by clearly displaying all relevant information, including the date, time, and location.

There will be plenty of room for creativity as visitors move down the page. Let your personality shine and draw visitors in with text that pops, matching colors, and compelling nonprofit storytelling with quality photos.

Get Creative With How You Encourage Registrations

Consider offering a special incentive, like a pre-race t-shirt, if people sign up earlier rather than later.

You can also provide a special incentive for all participants after the event is over. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center posted special food coupons on their page after their 5K ended:

Keep the Donations Coming

If you want to keep the donations rolling in, one avenue is to keep the donation button turned on after the event is over. Just because the event ended doesn’t mean the spirit of giving you cultivated has to end as well. If you are interested in learning how to gather donations following your event, simply keep the donation form open for participants to give.

4. “KIDNEYNATION” by the American Kidney Fund

One of United States most prominent healthcare charities, the American Kidney Fund, launched a year-round fundraising campaign that gives their supporters the option to either fundraise or donate to the cause. Aside from the strong hero image and call to action buttons, the organization makes creative use of both the “About” section and the impact blocks on their page.

The “About” section doesn’t necessarily need to detail the nuances of the campaign since it’s an ongoing campaign and the cause is somewhat self-explanatory. Instead, they use this space to talk about what happens when you choose to support the American Kidney Fund—you’re immediately part of KIDNEYNATION. This is a nationwide community of people committed to fighting back against kidney disease.

This section is less of a description and more of an invitation that calls on supporters to join something bigger than a one-time fundraising effort or donation. This unified community helps the American Kidney Fund continue the fight against kidney disease year-round, just like their fundraising campaign.

Further, healthcare nonprofits can encourage supporters to come back and re-engage with fundraising efforts again. Ongoing campaigns like this one can also help supporters evangelize your cause to their personal networks—at any point—and invite others to join.

The organization’s ingenuity carries down into the impact blocks section as well. Not only do the pictures convey the specific impact of support, but they also detail different ways people can get involved.

For example, notice the two on the left are focused on kidney medication and essential medical care for kidney patients. The two on the right focus on providing emergency funds for people who are displaced by natural disasters and can’t get to their medical providers and for kids on dialysis to attend summer camp.

The impact blocks run the gamut, from practical to eye-opening and all the way to heartfelt:

Diversifying your impact blocks like this can help draw in a wider range of supporters. Some might feel more passionately about providing access to medication, while others are more interested in helping children live their lives to the fullest.

Takeaways for Your Organization

Grow a Community

If you launch a year-round fundraising campaign, consider integrating it with a community that might already exist or establishing one with your campaign. Show your supporters that their gift doesn’t need to end when the transaction is complete. They’re participating in something bigger than themselves.

This type of campaign allows supporters to fundraise on behalf of your cause at any time throughout the year.

Get Creative With Impact Blocks

Classy’s impact blocks are strong tools to communicate the measure of each dollar raised or donated. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box with how you tell this story. Get creative, like the American Kidney Fund did here, to attract a wider range of supporters who care about multiple facets of your cause.

Aside from what’s discussed here, there are many tactics you can use to make sure your campaign cuts through the noise and claims its due time in the spotlight. If you’re interested in learning what makes a strong campaign, be sure to download our guide below and dig into the nitty gritty.

Amplify Your Impact With Classy

If your nonprofit is preparing to launch a new campaign, you need a robust platform that unlocks generosity.

That’s why so many nonprofit health organizations partner with Classy. We power high-impact, successful campaigns that keep donors coming back.

Request a demo of our nonprofit campaign engine today.

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