Growing Year-End Donations Nearly 80% Year Over Year: A Digital-First Campaign
A new brand, a new donation platform, and a national postal strike, all landing in the most important fundraising season of the year. That was the moment Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon (RMHBCY) partnered with Anchor Marketing for the first time. Building on the new “Family Stays” brand, we created “When Family Stays, Joy Finds a Way,” one digital-first campaign that ran from the lead-up to Giving Tuesday through December 31 to deepen donor engagement, make giving effortless, and maximize return.
Services Provided
- Campaign Messaging & Strategy
- Creative & Content Production
- Email Marketing
- Social Media
- Digital Advertising
- Digital Out-of-Home
- Direct Mail
- Landing Page Design & Development
- Donation Platform Integration (Fundraise Up)
- Fundraising Consulting
- Performance Reporting & Insights
RMHBCY keeps families together when a seriously ill child needs specialized care far from home. Steps from BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, with a Family Room at Surrey Memorial Hospital, they supports families from communities across BC and the Yukon with a place to stay, nourishing meals, wellness programs, and a community of care.RMHBCY keeps families together when a seriously ill child needs specialized care far from home. Steps from BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, with a Family Room at Surrey Memorial Hospital, they supports families from communities across BC and the Yukon with a place to stay, nourishing meals, wellness programs, and a community of care.
The Challenge
This was the first campaign RMHBCY and Anchor built together, and it arrived in a season of change. RMHBCY was introducing a new brand direction, moving to a new donation platform and adapting to a national postal disruption that affected direct mail. With ambitious targets and many moving parts, the campaign needed one clear, human message that could carry across every channel and make giving feel effortless from the first touch to the final gift.
The Approach
Anchor built one rolling campaign that carried a consistent message from the lead-up to Giving Tuesday through December 31, with each deliverable timed to its moment. Real family stories anchored the storytelling, keeping families and their moments of normalcy at the heart of every message. Two limited-time matching gifts, from Coca-Cola and Canaccord Genuity, gave donors a reason to act, framed as bringing twice the stability, love, and hope to families.
A dedicated campaign microsite, whenfamilystays.ca, gave the campaign a home, and a rebuilt donation experience on Fundraise Up reduced friction with personalized suggested amounts, adaptive cost covering, and abandoned donation recovery. The channel mix spanned email, social, digital advertising across Meta, Google, and Reddit, digital out-of-home billboards, direct mail, and a community activation through the Glow Langley toy drive.
The Results
+$415K
raised across the campaign
~880
donors at a $470 average gift
+100%
year-over-year growth in Giving Tuesday donations compared to 2024
$80K
in matching gifts fully unlocked, with the Coca-Cola match met in just 7 days
4.5M
social content views and email click rates well above the industry benchmark (roughly 6% vs 3%, and top emails near 14%)
+50%
of donors chose to cover their transaction costs, stretching every gift further
The Foundation
Beyond the dollars raised, the campaign gave RMHBCY a repeatable, digital-first model and a clean, newly branded baseline to build on with a more engaged donor list, a donation experience proven to convert, and early proof of what strong matching partnerships and community activations can do. It set the stage for a monthly giving push and continued growth in the seasons ahead, so more families can stay together when it matters most.
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