Plan International Australia

Plan International Australia works with children and communities globally to overcome poverty and injustice, including discrimination against girls. The organisation pioneered child sponsorship, a principal source of revenue. But political and socio-economic shifts meant revenue/acquisition volumes for child sponsorship are declining for organisations everywhere. Plan International Australia needed a long-term, sustainable product to reach its audience across multiple channels to retain supporters long-term.

‘Change for Girls’ (CFG) – a girl-centred regular giving product – was launched by the in-house product development team after market research and integration with a new brand strategy. CFG evolved from online message testing and prototyping using Facebook advertising to an acquisition campaign using F2F and telemarketing. Plan International continued to adapt/refine the product for the audience. CFG proved flexible and cost-effective across channels and measurable regarding new donors and revenue generated.

Over 10 months, the retention rate was 98% for the first payment, exceeding that of child sponsorship, which was 87%. The cost per acquisition through face to face created savings of $116 per pledge compared to child sponsorship acquisition, via the same channel. The product stood out in a saturated market, bolstering revenue, and helping the organisation grow its supporter base and sustain its child-focused work for the future.