Teckels Animal Sanctuary

From Crisis Mode to Sustainable Growth: Transforming Digital Fundraising for a Lifesaving Charity

Insight

From Crisis Mode to Sustainable Growth: Transforming Digital Fundraising for a Lifesaving Charity

When we first started working with Teckels Animal Sanctuary, they were in a state of crisis. Despite doing exceptional work rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming animals, the charity was struggling to maintain sustainable funding. They had recently undergone a brand refresh and website redesign, but their digital fundraising infrastructure was still heavily reliant on third-party platforms like JustGiving and Enthuse.

Too many charity marketing agencies prioritise logos and aesthetics, treating them as the solution rather than a small part of a bigger picture. But without a strategic foundation – one built on data, audience insight, and commercial objectives – a new logo alone won’t drive growth, engagement, or revenue. It’s just window dressing without the substance to back it up.

These platforms were not only costly but also lacked the ability to track donor behaviour, provide meaningful reporting, or build long-term relationships with supporters. Teckels’ donations had remained flat for five years, with no real growth in individual giving or donor retention.

The crisis campaign they launched brought in an influx of one-time donations, but this was not a sustainable strategy. A charity cannot operate in constant crisis mode – doing so erodes donor confidence and makes long-term planning impossible.

Teckels needed a radical shift – a complete overhaul of their digital fundraising model, a move toward predictable income streams, and a strategy that would allow them to grow year after year.

Strategy

Our approach was twofold, ensuring both short-term stability and long-term sustainability:

  • Building a digital-first, data-driven fundraising ecosystem
    • Moving away from third-party donation platforms to a fully owned
      and integrated eCommerce-style donation system.
    • Implementing custom-built Gift Aid claiming tools to maximise tax-efficient
      donations.
    • Redesigning the website to be donor-centric, transparent, and built for conversion.
  • Driving sustained donor acquisition, retention, and revenue growth
    • Implementing a complete Meta (Facebook & Instagram) ad strategy,
      including:

      • Conversions API integration for tracking donation impact.
      • Advanced audience segmentation & value-based targeting.
      • Pixel-based retargeting campaigns to bring in high-value donors.
    • Launching a multi-layered email marketing strategy via Brevo
      (formerly Sendinblue), automating:

      • Onboarding sequences for new donors.
      • Subscription-based giving campaigns.
      • Re-engagement campaigns for lapsed donors.
    • Developing a business intelligence dashboard, integrating:
      • Website, donation platforms, CRM, and social ad performance data.
      • Google Analytics 4 & Conversions API for complete campaign attribution.

Delivery

Our work covered every aspect of digital transformation, ensuring both marketing efficiency and operational improvements.

Rebuilt and Optimised the Website for Fundraising

The website was expanded with more pages and content areas, creating a more engaging and purpose-driven experience. The way animals were featured was improved through breed-based categorisation and enhanced adoption listings, making it easier for users to find and connect with available pets. Additionally, the donation system was fully integrated with eCommerce-style functionality, significantly improving the overall user experience and encouraging more contributions.

Developed a Complete Paid Social Advertising Strategy

We managed all Meta (Facebook and Instagram) campaigns, utilizing the Conversions API to accurately track real ROI. We used lookalike audiences to target new potential donors based on existing supporter data and leveraged pixel retargeting to bring back previous website visitors and convert them into donors.

Maximised Email Marketing and Donor Retention

We migrated to Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), ensuring that all email marketing activities were directly linked to eCommerce and donation performance tracking. We also built automated sequences for new donor welcome and onboarding, monthly donor retention and engagement, and the reactivation of lapsed donors.

Set Up and Managed Google Not-for-Profit Grant Advertising

Secured $10,000 per month in free Google PPC advertising and launched targeted Google Ads to drive more adoptions and donations.

Launched & Promoted New Revenue Streams

We helped launch the Teckels Charity Shop, increasing secondary income sources for the organization. We created seasonal fundraising campaigns, including the Spring Fair and Christmas Fundraisers, and developed strategies to promote private boarding services, supporting a key income stream.

Making It Matter

The results of our work have been nothing short of transformational for Teckels Animal Sanctuary:

  • Digital donations have grown by 470% since we started.
  • Subscription-based giving has increased tenfold, providing the charity with a more predictable and sustainable income stream.
  • Annual projection of monthly subscriptions is now 900% higher than when we started.
  • Achieved a 50% year-on-year growth in donations, ensuring continued expansion.
  • Never had a cash-flow negative month, even with investment in advertising and digital marketing.
  • Teckels hit their ambitious fundraising target within 20 months, and continues to grow at an accelerated pace.

What’s most significant is that every pound invested in marketing and advertising has paid for itself multiple times over, making the entire strategy self-sustaining and profitable.

By applying best-in-class eCommerce and digital marketing principles to the charity sector, we have transformed Teckels into a high-performing, data-driven fundraising organisation – one that is no longer dependent on one-off crisis campaigns, but instead is set up for long-term, predictable growth.

Teckels can now focus on what matters most – rescuing and rehoming animals – while knowing that their digital fundraising engine is working continuously behind the scenes.

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