Children’s Aid NYC sought to reconnect with alumni from their programs to understand the long-term impact of their work. With over a century of service and tens of thousands of participants, many alumni had lost touch with the organization, making it challenging to reengage them for volunteer opportunities, donations, and testimonials. Adding to the challenge were logistical hurdles such as HIPPA compliance and the identification of alumni in the diverse population of New York City.
The primary goal of the campaign was to reengage alumni and bring them back into the Children’s Aid community by fostering a sense of nostalgia and belonging.
To address this challenge, Media Cause launched a strategic campaign to leverage the power of nostalgia and emotional storytelling. The campaign featured yearbook-style ads evoking memories of youth and encouraging alumni to share their stories. These creatives were deployed across paid and organic social media, digital-out-of-home (DOOH) ads, and subway placements (OOH).
Using Meta’s audience tools, we targeted users who had previously interacted with Children’s Aid content and developed lookalike audiences to expand reach. Ads were also localized to neighborhoods with past or current Children’s Aid facilities.
The campaign directed users to a landing page where they could submit their stories, photos, and memories to be featured in a digital yearbook. This was user-generated content where alumni could not only share, but also browse and engage with other submissions, reminiscing about their experiences with Children’s Aid.
Meta lead forms simplified the submission process, significantly boosting engagement rates compared to more complex asks like detailed stories or photo uploads. Alumni who participated were added to a welcome series for future communications and event updates, helping them to strengthen long-term commitment.
This campaign reconnected Children’s Aid NYC with dozens of alumni reinforcing the importanceimportant of their programs in shaping lives across generations. In addition to collecting impactful stories, the campaign fostered great community awareness and laid a foundation for future engagement initiatives. Alumni engagement not only strengthened ties to the organization but also inspired potential supporters and donors to align with its mission. This campaign proved that a creative, emotion-driven approach can overcome logistical challenges and re-establishan re-establish meaningful connections that advance an organization’s mission.
