24 lessons from our best-performing digital campaigns in 2024

Every year brings about a certain degree of change, and 2024 was no exception. It was a transformative year marked by industry-wide shifts, economic pressures, and a rapidly evolving landscape for not-for-profits. 

In reflecting on the past year, we wanted to share 24 key lessons gleaned from some of the campaigns we had the privilege to work on in 2024. 

From empowering individuals through employment support, to raising much-needed funding, to challenging perceptions of overhead costs in the not-for-profit sector, every campaign offered valuable insights. Let’s dive in.

WISE Employment – Diversifying to combat rising costs

As digital advertising costs soared in 2024, we tackled the challenge with long-term partner WISE Employment — one of Australia’s leading providers of employment services for individuals with disabilities and disadvantages. Here’s what we learned from their ongoing campaign this year:

Lesson 1: By diversifying digital channels we were able to combat increased advertising cost.

Lesson 2: Adjusting media budgets to seasonal trends can improve ROI.

Lesson 3: Invest in high-performing acquisition channels.

The results spoke for themselves: over 7,000 new leads were acquired, with a 3% decrease in CPL from the previous year. Even more impressively, the campaign achieved a 10% reduction in CPM, showing the potential of experimenting with different platforms and budget allocations.

Vision Australia, Puppy Carers – Educating your audience

Vision Australia aimed to recruit volunteer Puppy Carers to nurture Seeing Eye Dogs-in-training. But, low awareness of the puppy caring program and the high commitment required presented obstacles to volunteer sign-ups. But any obstacle is just another chance to learn.

Lesson 4: Raise awareness and educate people first to boost conversions.

Lesson 5: Shift from direct conversion to lead generation for high-commitment actions.

By focusing on the core insight that not many people know what puppy caring is, and so educating them through lead generation activity we reduced our CPL to $7.11 and achieved a 41% year-on-year increase in puppy carer sign-ups.

Vision Australia, 100k Your Way - Keep testing and learning

Another Vision Australia campaign that taught us a lot this year was 100K Your Way, Vision's annual peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. What did we learn? 

Lesson 6: Teams raise more than individuals on some P2P, in this instance 229% more revenue came through teams versus individuals, with a 57% high activation rate. 

Lesson 7: Tailoring messaging based on audience type can improve performance — we focused on team messaging and drove conversions. 

Lesson 8: Using a cut off date helps drive urgency, which improves conversion.

By tailoring our messaging based on audience time and period of the campaign we were able to grow year-on-year despite tougher market conditions.

Beyond Blue – Tapping into emotion at tax time 

Beyond Blue revamped its fundraising strategy in 2024 with the "You Matter" campaign, sharing authentic stories across multiple channels. This was a fascinating campaign to work on, with a bunch of great learnings. 

Lesson 9: Design channel-specific creative rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Lesson 10: Integrate multi-channel campaigns for broader reach.

Lesson 11: Craft authentic stories to deepen donor connections.

Lesson 12: Use data to personalise donor engagement.

The campaign's impressive 51% year-on-year increase in fundraising revenue highlights the impact of implementing strategic, donor-centric approaches. 

By designing channel-specific creative and adapting content for diverse digital platforms, the campaign effectively captured audience attention across various mediums. Integrating multi-channel campaigns ensured a broader reach, while authentic storytelling fostered deeper emotional connections with donors. Together, these strategies created a cohesive and impactful campaign that significantly boosted fundraising performance.

Reframe Overhead – How to drive industry wide change

The "Reframe Overhead" campaign tackled public misconceptions about not-for-profit spending, empowering charities to shift the narrative on overhead costs.

Lesson 13: Launch movements with practical, data-led actions.

Lesson 14: Engage sector leaders through interactive campaigns.

Lesson 15: Address public misconceptions with educational resources.

Lesson 16: Build campaigns that encourage community ownership and activate supporters with tangible actions.

The campaign's success in engaging over 1,500 sector leaders, securing 476 pledges from 200+ charities, and achieving 467 resource downloads reflects the power of data-led actions and interactive campaigns. By providing educational resources to address misconceptions and fostering community ownership, the campaign activated supporters with clear, tangible actions, driving meaningful sector-wide engagement.

The importance of SEO and lead generation

A healthcare client of ours had a digital strategy focused on elevating organic search performance to complement paid search efforts, leading to significant growth in website traffic and user engagement across Australia and New Zealand.

Lesson 17: Prioritise continuous SEO improvements to sustain long-term organic growth.

Lesson 18: Target high-intent, conversion-focused keywords to drive meaningful engagement.

Lesson 19: Regularly refine and expand content to align with evolving user search behaviour.

Lesson 20: Balance paid and organic search strategies for broader visibility and sustained growth.

Their commitment to SEO has delivered impressive results not only in 2024 but year on year since 2018 — 87% more organic users  in Australia and an increase of 11k estimated organic users in New Zealand due to strategic targeting. This success was driven by ranking for hundreds more high-intent keywords and refining content to capture and convert organic traffic, solidifying their presence in the healthcare market.  

Breast Cancer Trials – Expanding audiences through events

Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) strategically leveraged event-driven campaigns to broaden their reach and build their supporter audiences. By aligning content with audience interests during key events, BCT successfully deepened connections and expanded their supporter base.

Lesson 21: Use events as opportunities to engage new audiences and extend campaign reach.

Lesson 22: Align content with audience interests to increase relevance and engagement.

Lesson 23: Leverage paid social and programmatic channels to maximise event visibility.

Lesson 24: Continuously refine creative assets to combat fatigue and improve conversion rates.

This approach led to 289% growth in lead generation, securing 3,000 leads compared to the previous year, and a 25% increase in donations. By effectively integrating event-driven content with targeted digital strategies, BCT significantly expanded its supporter engagement and campaign impact​.

What's next?

Reflecting on these campaigns, it’s clear that adaptability, strategic experimentation, and audience-centric approaches are essential for success in the not-for-profit sector. 

Hopefully by applying some of these lessons — from diversifying marketing channels and authentic storytelling to leveraging data and fostering community ownership — you can take on 2025 with confidence and create powerful campaigns that resonate and drive meaningful change. 

Wondering how else to strategise for 2025? We've got the insights here.