Hungry for Impact: How OzHarvest Built a Year Round Fundraising Strategy
OzHarvest has a trusted brand and powerful mission but it was operating within a cyclical fundraising calendar that was heavily reliant on seasonality and limited to only select digital channels. While the campaign cycle is important, it left a quiet vacuum in the months between appeals.
To break the cycle or rather, work with it, OzHarvest shifted from doing only short-term campaigns to an always-on fundraising strategy.
Turning a moment into momentum: The launchpad was their Unite to Feed Australia Concert. Together with DTV and Sanctuary Media, they made the most of this high interest event and much media coverage, rolling out an integrated digital strategy designed to engage new audiences and ultimately convert many new donors.
Audiences are met across multiple channels with a unified message:
Digital TV (BVOD): OzHarvest on the big screen in a targeted, measurable way;
Paid search: Captures immediate donations from people inspired by the BVOD;
Meta: The conversion engine, re-engaging people who have already seen the content;
Outdoor & audio: Integrated with existing outdoor and audio campaigns
Evergreen creative, the ultimate for ROI: By using high-quality, licensed footage and voiceovers, we built on OzHarvest’s core proposition, $1 = 2 meals, to develop an evergreen creative with cohesive messaging across all channels.
We don’t have to reinvent the wheel for major seasonal appeals like tax time and Christmas. We just make subtle, cost-effective tweaks to keep the message relevant. Two years in, the campaign is performing better than ever.
Oz Harvest - BVOD - What Hungry Looks Like 60"
A steady stream of new donors: The real success of this program isn't just the raw numbers; it’s the quality and intent of the audiences we are reaching.
By staying visible year-round, OzHarvest is building on trust, awareness and strengthening the performance of seasonal appeals and giving days.
Top tips
Think evergreen: Transition from one-off production cycle towards a timeless creative foundation that you can optimise and tweak, rather than rewrite;
Integration & alignment: Ensure every touchpoint from the TV ad to the donation landing page looks, reads and feels the same. Consistency helps with trust, removes friction and maximises conversion’
Embrace top of funnel: TV isn't just for awareness, with powerful storytelling and now with digital TV media buying, it is a measurable performance tool.
Ready to evolve your digital strategy?
If you want to build a scalable, sustainable digital fundraising program, we’d love to help. Contact the DTV team today.
Lauren Schilg is a DTV Senior Producer based in Melbourne, Australia. Lauren works across all DRTV and digital programs in ANZ and leads a producer team in all things fundraising with film. Lauren's a bit of a data nerd but her passion lies in storytelling through film. She's really found her calling in fundraising.