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Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Spending less to raise more

Campaigns
Family and community
Health

Raising money from individual donors takes time, focus, and talent—especially when your development staff is small. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) has partnered with Big Duck for more than a decade to offset their small staff size and achieve big results.

Staying laser-focused on the community’s needs.

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy leads the fight to end Duchenne—a terminal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood. When Big Duck and PPMD began working together over a dozen years ago, PPMD was a small nonprofit responding to a very big need. Staff were stretched thin, and largely focused on programs, with no dedicated fundraisers on staff. We stepped in to help.

Big Duck has since helped PPMD launch and run over a dozen successful multi-channel fundraising campaigns that meet or surpass industry benchmarks, often during periods where they had no full-time fundraisers on staff. In parallel, we’ve helped them craft and refine their organizational voice so everyone affected by Duchenne has powerful, consistent experiences with them.

Today, they are recognized around the world as the leader of the movement to end Duchenne, celebrated for their successes in the rare disease community, and their annual income has grown steadily—now exceeding eight million dollars annually.

Tapping into the heart of the community

We develop fundraising themes for PPMD that resonate with their core supporters—families diagnosed with Duchenne—and speak to the most exciting opportunities or pressing issues facing the field. Often, we launch new themes during the year-end giving season, taking advantage of #GivingTuesday and other key fundraising opportunities. PPMD staff regularly expand on these themes throughout the year, weaving them into their annual conference, spring appeals, social media, and beyond.

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Over the years, PPMD’s campaigns invite audiences into their mission.
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We make donating fast and intuitive for PPMD’s site visitors using tactics like themed giving pages, lightboxes, countdown clocks, and seamless donation forms.
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Email appeals and Facebook posts intensify the urgency to give.
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PPMD’s 2016 direct mail piece was sent to about 3,000 fewer people than the previous year’s mailing—but raised 23% more funds as we continue to optimize their list.
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Segmented email series drive giving in ways that feel more personalized and help grow the list.

One voice

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy repurposes campaign concepts we develop for community-building events, digital communications, and as a rallying cry within (and outside) the organization.

The Big Duck team has increased the value of every fundraising dollar we spend exponentially. Throughout the years, we’ve used their simple, strong, and compelling campaign concepts as tools to build a dedicated base of supporters, donors, and advocates. They understand our community and our team.

— Kimberly Galberaith, Chief Operating Officer, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

As a result

PPMD sees exponential growth in dollars raised. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy’s first year-end campaign with Big Duck in 2007 saw a jump in donations of almost $400,000. Since then, we’ve helped them raise more than 9 million dollars and grow their annual revenue consistently.

14¢

COST TO RAISE $1
2016 YEAR-END CAMPAIGN

Related Service

Campaigns

We develop campaigns that attract donors, raise awareness, and generate engagement every step of the way.

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Are you ready to turn your team into a mighty fundraising force? Contact Big Duck.

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