Heart & Stroke Case Study

The Client

For more than 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Their work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others.

The Challenge

While Heart & Stroke already receives a good number of legacy gifts each year, their previous legacy marketing efforts had not been very successful at helping them uncover other potential legacy donors in their database. 

The Solution

We conducted an intensive legacy audit on all aspects of their program including marketing, communications, and fundraising. We followed up and implemented many program changes. Relying on our experience in creating successful legacy appeals for many nonprofits, we worked closely with Heart & Stroke’s team to develop a number of legacy lead generating tools including direct mail, a legacy survey, video, and other supporting materials. We ensured that everything was integrated across multiple channels so that all donors were seeing the same message.

The Results

Results of the campaign exceeded even our expectations, generating a response that was more than 1,000% higher in comparison to their previous consultants and internal campaigns. In total, we generated many dozens of expectancies, and identified a large group of people who intend or are considering leaving a gift in their Will to Heart & Stroke. The value of these new legacy gifts will be worth millions.