cbm - cbmi - formerly Christoffel Blindenmission International

For a charity aiming to double its income Black developed a regular-giving product with the intense engagement of a personalised sponsorship programme, but without the overwhelming admin burden.

Results:

  • Black strategised, created and developed a completely integrated Acquisition and multi-year Retention programme.
  • Rolling out first in Germany, Canada and New Zealand - now worldwide.
  • Supporters feel intimately connected to the improvement of a specific child’s life, while helping many of the world’s most vulnerable children.
  • This new model has sustained giving power. Supporter drop- off is almost negligible.

The Story:

Over the last 100 years, cbmi has become the world’s largest charity focusing on the double disadvantage of poverty and disability. Worldwide, their single-gift donation programmes are solid, but the strategic goal is to double income. The answer has to be regular giving.

However, a personalised one-to-one programme like Child Sponsorship consumes huge amounts of cost and logistics. Our Black Zone solution is a programme that connects all supporters to one specific featured child. Over the course of 12 months each supporter gets to see how this child’s life is changed - in far more detail than is possible with one-to-one sponsorship.

To create a product with international appeal, we conducted conjoint choice-modeling research in Canada, Germany and New Zealand. This was used to define product name, price point and messaging.

Launch material was then produced in these pilot countries: direct response TVCs in NZ; long-form television in Canada; media inserts in Germany.

Black also produced brand guidelines; a yearly communication plan; and 12 months of communication materials.

Retention is key to regular giving. Supporters all receive the same materials, yet the level of intimate engagement is intense and very personal. As a result, supporter attrition or drop-off has been almost negligible.

With the new product matching cbmi development priorities and brand positioning, the decision has been made to roll it out across all cbmi’s entire worldwide partnership

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