As a younger generation of millennial employees replaced the retiring Boomers in the Federal workforce, the CFC struggled to retain its relevance. This generational transition, among other factors, led to a persistent decline in fundraising outcomes since 2008’s Great Recession. Declining results and the rise of data-driven marketing propelled the decision for a “new” CFC.
In many ways, the new CFC is shorthand for a digital transformation. This transformation began in 2017 with the introduction of an online, donor pledge platform (aka charitable giving transaction engine). This consolidation effort was foundational but just the start of the journey. If OPM wanted to rekindle brand relevance, the CFC also needed to become more stakeholder-centric. Fortunately, the new pledge platform delivered on data. And data enables change.
Enter Kaptivate. In 2017, OPM selected Kaptivate as the program's Outreach Coordinator. The role entrusted Kaptivate to manage the CFC's marketing and outreach effort in 13 geographic zones covering 30 states and over 3 million federal/military workforce members and retirees. The challenges facing the program were existential but recoverable. Although CFC stakeholders believed change was needed, few stakeholders could define what that change should be. We knew the answers to a more relevant and efficient program lay in the data. In the fall of 2018 we partnered with Salesforce® to configure an analytics solution that could deliver the needed insight and the answers. Within eight weeks, using Salesforce Service Cloud and Einstein Analytics, we designed multiple dashboards to provide program stakeholders with the first comprehensive and real-time analytics on campaign performance.
Our story is not over but a happy ending is in our sights. By using analytics to give charities insight into the donor marketplace, and gamifying analytics to re-engage donors in an entertaining, philanthropic experience, we have begun to improve the participant journey and the program's trajectory.