A year-long integrated campaign for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s 60th anniversary, built by our student agency, Soft Launch.
A respected 60-year-old conservation fund needed to reach a generation that scrolls instead of reading donor letters.
The Fossey Fund has six decades of science, more than 400 staff in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and spends about ten cents to raise a dollar. But many people who care about wildlife have never heard of it, and assume bigger names like WWF already have gorillas covered. Its communication was almost all owned channels, with little paid media to reach anyone new.
Our job: close the gap between the impact the Fund has and the attention it gets, and turn that attention into donors who stay.
Donors give when they can see both the impact and why it matters now.
Wildlife tourism in 2022, on track for $219B within ten years. Interest is growing, and so is competition for it.
of U.S. consumers call themselves “conscious consumers” who pay attention to a company’s social mission.
of people who donate remember seeing nonprofit ads on social media.
is roughly what the Fund spends to raise each $1, so new attention converts efficiently.
Most competitors lead with scientific credibility or emotional storytelling. Almost nobody does both. That’s where we put the Fossey Fund.
Credible through partners like WWF, but almost invisible as a brand of its own.
About $38M in revenue and a strong digital presence, but too broad to feel personal.
Strong storytelling and a steady social presence, on about $2.5M in funding.
One audience builds awareness and shares the story. The other gives, and keeps giving.
A young professional who checks social daily, cares about sustainability and wants proof her gift does something.
An established, high-income donor who researches before he gives and thinks about legacy.
It turns a fact, sixty years of work, into a promise about what comes next.
Urgency and hope for Lila; long-term commitment and evidence for Sebastian. Emotion leads, and the science backs it up in every channel.
Five objectives that follow the AIDA(R) path, each with its own KPIs, all due by August 2027.
Aided awareness among our two audiences, tracked through surveys, reach and post-airing traffic.
Website sessions, time on site, content views and email sign-ups.
Favorability, likelihood-to-donate and perceived-impact scores.
New donors, recurring gifts started and qualified leads.
Donor retention, repeat gifts, email engagement and shares.
“Sixty Years. One Future.” The spot pairs emotion with science: documentary footage, then the proof.
0–5 s Wonder
“Some stories begin with a single look.”
5–12 s Concern
“For mountain gorillas, every day carries a risk.”
12–22 s Hope
“For sixty years, the Fund has protected these families.”
22–27 s Proof
“One of the world’s only great apes whose numbers are growing.”
27–30 s Action
“Help protect the next sixty years.”
One deliverable in each of the plan’s five channels, from the donation page to a podcast booking sheet.
The conversion end of the funnel: a fixed Donate button, impact stats above the ask, and three clear gift levels.
“They disappear… unless we act.” Built to stop the scroll for Meta’s awareness ads.
A one-pager pitching a Fund scientist to science and conservation shows, with talking points and episode titles.
The keepsake in the $25, $50 and $100 adoption kits, which turn a donation into a named gorilla.
A timed script and host direction for mid-roll ads on science shows, moving listeners from awareness to trust: “For 60 years, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has been on the ground, earning trust through science, not guesswork.”
Each channel has a job in the funnel, and every piece carries the same theme.
$6,006The conversion engine
$5,900Reasons to act now
$3,500Reach and emotion
$1,400The storytelling engine
$1,250Trust from third parties
A full-funnel budget, from awareness to the donation page, with a reserve held back.
The calendar leans into moments when people already care about wildlife and giving.
Campaign launch and the matching-gift window
World Gorilla Day, the content peak
Awareness push: TV, NPR, Reels and press
Year-end appeal to established donors
National Zoo pop-up and influencer stories
International Primate Day and the campaign wrap
15+
Feature-level earned media placements.
+25%
Growth in engaged social followers.
12mo
September 2026 to August 2027, awareness through to retention.