An art for social change case study about converting attention into impact.
A nonprofit had the benefit of nationally recognized comedians and television show writers at their helm. They knew how to kill it when it came to live comedy stages. Long-form, produced content is where timing, audience energy, and narrative arcs exist in very controlled environments. But the internet is a very wild and untamed world.
Sure they had tons of laughs and star power, but they weren’t completely sure how to translate that into expanding their mission online. The digital world demands speed, brevity, memes, and other visual shorthands. Posts underperformed. Videos were too long. Messages that used to kill on stage were dying on feeds. They knew culture, comedy, and advocacy well. Yet, they had outdated ideas about how algorithms and internet attention work.
We began to discuss what it could look like to transform their organization from one that relied solely on traditional education and advocacy efforts into creative partners that use humor, art, and storytelling to build various movements. Why? Because we know media and art shift hearts and minds in ways that stats and facts alone could never.
Before We Started
They were stuck in a common trap: despite high-profile origins and a powerful mission to end abortion stigma, they had little to no digital advertising experience. They relied heavily on old-school fundraising tools and methods during the increasingly competitive year-end giving season. They also operated with untested assumptions about who their supporters were. Like believing their audience was primarily young women. They had few benchmarks for digital campaign performance and no internal capacity to run sophisticated online campaigns.
What Changed
From Digital Invisibility to 100k+ People Reached
Through strategically targeted campaigns, we transformed their digital presence to reach an additional 100,000 potential supporters. The organization previously had no way to acquire new donors online, and had begun generating dozens of donations within weeks.
From Expensive Donor Acquisition to 60% Savings
We cut their average cost per donation to $71.43. This was more than 60% below the then-average $185 for the nonprofit sector. For their best performing ad, the cost was only $37.50. We delivered concrete proof that they generated $2.40 for every dollar invested.
“The practical thing was like, ‘What if we invest […] and it falls flat, right?’ […] There were these brand new people, some big donors. Like, okay?! So, that’s fine!” — K.S., Development Director
Our client was worried that their investment would not come back. But we made sure their investment produced a greater return.
From Guessing to Knowing Their Audience
By varying text, graphics, videos, and other creative elements, we shattered their assumptions about who was willing to donate to reproductive justice causes. Men accounted for nearly one-third of donations—a demographic they’d been completely overlooking. Men 45 and older, who represented a significant portion of their existing Facebook fans, became a validated donor demographic they could confidently pursue.
From Conventional Messaging to Culture-Shifting Creativity
We moved them from standard, boring nonprofit appeals to campaigns to embedding reproductive justice messages into beloved pop culture references such as holiday movies, comedy, and celebrity partnerships. This approach helped raise money and demonstrated that humor and joy could be powerful tools for breaking stigma around abortion care and reproductive health.
From External Dependency to Internal Capability
Most importantly, we built their capacity so thoroughly that they never needed to hire us again if they preferred to go at it on their own. We established their benchmarks, transferred knowledge about audience segmentation and creative testing, taught them how to analyze performance data, and gave them frameworks they continue to use.
From Internal Debate to Strategic Clarity
The qualitative feedback we captured from ad engagement gave their leadership concrete evidence to support a planned rebrand.
The Lasting Impact
The organization raised money, but they also fundamentally shifted how they understood their work and their audience. They went from operating on assumptions to making even more data-driven decisions. They expanded from a narrow view of who supports reproductive justice to understanding its broader appeal across gender and age. And they moved from dependency on consultants to self-sufficiency, ensuring their impact could continue and scale without us.
Together, we converted “attention” and “laughs” into funding, action, and long-term supporter growth. Ready to do the same? Bring us on as your creative partner.