About the client
Teenage Cancer Trust supports young people aged 13–24 through cancer. Among their many fundraisers are hundreds of ‘own place’ participants – people who secure their own event places and choose to raise money for the charity.
Challenge
The stewardship process for these supporters was entirely manual – lists downloaded from the CRM, mail merges created in Outlook, and three generic emails sent: ‘Welcome’, ‘Good luck’, and ‘Well done’. With one employee managing everything, content wasn’t always timely, and personalisation was limited. The approach couldn’t cater for the different needs of different supporters, and it placed a significant strain on team resource.
Our solution
Teenage Cancer Trust wanted to replace the three standard emails with a more supporter-centric journey of up to nine touchpoints, personalised based on how long someone had until their event and their level of engagement. Using Apteco, we helped them build an automated email journey that included dynamic content and tailored messaging.
Flags in Apteco PeopleStage triggered relevant information, while complex expressions ensured the right content was sent at the right time. The project introduced event-level processing, making it possible to tailor emails even for supporters taking part in multiple events. A control pool helped avoid duplication, and a visual dashboard in Apteco Orbit provided real-time insight into registrations, fundraising income and email performance.
Results
The new process saves the equivalent of a full-time role, freeing up two full days of staff time each week during peak periods. Supporters now receive more timely, relevant and higher-quality emails – personalised to their needs and behaviours.
With a projected uplift of £200–300k in fundraised income in the first year, the charity now has the time, tools and confidence to scale this approach and embed a more strategic, data-driven stewardship programme.
