Fundraising campaign for Minnesota Ronald McDonald House makes an emotional impact

Encore Public Relations and Red Couch Stories teamed up to connect people emotionally with the mission of the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester, Minnesota and its families while educating audiences about the unique needs of Mayo Clinic’s pediatric patients. The campaign raised extensive awareness, engagement and funds making them our first place winner in the “Fundraising” category of PR Daily’s 2017 Nonprofit PR Awards.

The team crafted a consistent theme across its media outreach, microsite, community relations and social media activities. The tactics employed included press conferences, three short films, two public service announcements and five 30-second social media spots. 

The results the team achieved are enviable: Forty-one media placements (delivering 3 million impressions), and on Facebook, more than 46,000+ views of the campaign videos, along with more than 21,000 shares. Email blasts that included links to the campaign videos achieved a remarkable 30 percent open rate.

 The most important metric in any fundraising effort, though, is the funds raised, which continues rise and represents significant ROI over the meager amount spent to bring the $16M campaign to life.

Congratulations to the team of Laurie Archbold, Shawn Fagan, Tom Flessland and Marit Williams.