Christmas Appeal, Oxfam GB

Digital fundraising campaign | Strategy, testing & optimisation

Testing what motivates people to give during the most competitive fundraising season

I designed and led a multi-variant testing framework to identify the psychological drivers behind donation behaviour during Oxfam’s most competitive fundraising moment. 

Working cross-functionally, I shaped the messaging strategy across paid digital channels — building storytelling web journeys to compare the effectiveness of incentives vs storytelling in driving donations.

Client
Oxfam GB

Year
2024

+44% RG target achieved

•

367 new donors

•

£5.9k single gifts

•

Repeatable testing model established

•

+44% RG target achieved • 367 new donors • £5.9k single gifts • Repeatable testing model established •

Creative Challenge

Convert cold digital audiences into regular donors during the most competitive fundraising period of the year.

Audience Insight

Emotional storytelling drives engagement but conversion depends on clarity and motivation. Audiences need a compelling reason to give, not just a reason to care.

Designed and led a multi-variant framework to identify what actually drives people to donate.

Approach & outcomes

  • Tested six core motivations

    Moral duty, tangible impact, trust, relatability, ego and social dynamics — each expressed through distinct copy variants

  • Paired messaging with incentive-led creative

    Christmas decorations, peace baubles and Palestinian soap — incentives and copy designed to test emotional and behavioural triggers

  • Measured and optimised

    CTR, engagement, email sign-ups, Regular Giving conversions and CPA — continuously optimising based on performance data

  • Created a 360° web journey

    Telling richer, more complete stories of people, partners and communities featured in the campaign

Telling a fuller, human story

This long-form web page shows how livestock programmes support livelihoods, building peace and stability for conflict-affected communities in the DRC.

I combined storytelling with clear, accessible information to help audiences understand the impact of their donations.

Moral duty variant

Moral duty variant

Impact variant

Impact variant

Ego variant

Ego variant

Optimised copy, leading with supplier in Nepal

Optimised copy, leading with supplier in Nepal

Emergency aid focused without incentive

Emergency aid focused without incentive

Key Learning

Moral duty and impact significantly outperformed other variants

Specific, concrete messaging, naming communities and outcomes, drove the highest conversion.

Palestinian soap creative generated strong engagement but zero conversions — indicating platform-level suppression, not lack of audience interest.

Escalated this insight and challenged a Meta-first channel strategy, advocating for a more resilient and less platform-dependent approach.

Campaign impact

  • 367 regular donors acquired (vs 255 target, +44%)

  • £5,910 in single gifts

  • Established a repeatable testing framework for future acquisition campaigns

  • Influenced internal thinking on platform risk and channel diversification