/Water Mission
Case Study
Water Mission — Record-Breaking Q1 Growth Through Strategic Marketing Leadership
How a rebuilt marketing engine drove record Q1 donor growth, reactivated lapsed supporters, and converted disaster response momentum into lasting relationships.
Organization
Water Mission — a global, faith-based nonprofit providing safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions to those in need.
The Challenge
Water Mission sought to accelerate growth across multiple donor engagement metrics — including gross revenue, active donor mix, gift volume, average gift size, and donor retention — while reactivating lapsed supporters and attracting new donors at scale. The organization also faced the challenge of converting the energy and generosity around high-visibility disaster response campaigns into lasting donor relationships.
The Approach
Under the leadership of Brad Stave, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, Water Mission's marketing engine was rebuilt into a cohesive, high-performance system. This included a full audit of the donor lifecycle, redesigned communication flows, and a strategic approach to turning disaster response urgency into long-term giving.
- 1Rebuilt the donor lifecycle journey from first touch to long-term retention
- 2Designed segmented reactivation campaigns targeting lapsed donor segments
- 3Developed a disaster response-to-retention conversion framework
- 4Implemented data-driven performance dashboards to track and optimize key metrics
- 5Aligned cross-functional teams across marketing, communications, and fundraising
The Results
The rebuilt marketing engine delivered the strongest first-quarter performance in Water Mission's history — across every tracked donor engagement metric. Total gross revenue grew 60% year-over-year, while new gross revenue surged 300%. Active donors increased by 70%, number of gifts grew 50%, and average gift size grew 7%. Lapsed donor reactivation hit 30% for 1-year lapsed donors and 110% for 2-year lapsed donors, while new donor acquisition grew 250%. These results represent a complete transformation of Water Mission's fundraising engine.
By the Numbers
FY25 Q1 Highlights — Mass Market Channel
These results represent the strongest first-quarter performance in Water Mission's history.
Share this case study
Ready to write your own success story?
Let's talk about how Ascend Consulting can help your organization achieve its next level of growth.
Schedule a ConsultationMore Case Studies
Ashdon Golf
Brand Rebuild, Digital Transformation, and Full Go-to-Market Launch
Sensient Technologies
Building an ABM-Ready Marketing Team Through Custom B2B Masterclass Training
Trail Life USA
Aligning Sales, CRM & E-Commerce to Fuel Mission-Driven Growth
VisionFund International
Unifying a Global Microfinance Network Under One Brand
Water Mission
Driving Record Digital Acquisition Through Strategic, Multi-Channel Engagement
Zones, LLC