UNICEF USA: Using Google Cloud to improve outcomes for children around the world
About UNICEF USA
UNICEF is a global non-profit organization that works in 190 countries and territories to improve the lives of children and their families through philanthropic and human rights efforts. UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children.
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About DELVE
A Google Cloud and Google Marketing Platform partner, DELVE helps organizations in the non-profit and private sectors maximize the value of their data through digital transformation.
UNICEF USA uses Google Cloud solutions and support from Google Cloud Partner DELVE to maximize fundraising efforts and bring life-saving services to children in need around the world.
Google Cloud results
- 8.8% increase in return on advertising spend
- Harnessed 15+ years of data to improve fundraising efforts
- Migrated and standardized decades of data in three months
- De-siloed data to create and manage donor personas
- Established foundation to build out AI/ML efforts across philanthropic activities
78.56% increase in click-through donation amount
Like many businesses today, philanthropic organizations see the value of adopting the right technologies to boost their impact, whether that’s increasing the return on fundraising efforts or better executing on missions to serve communities worldwide. For over 70 years, UNICEF USA has worked to improve the lives of children in 190 countries and territories. UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Through partnering with governments, non-governmental organizations, and grass roots volunteers, UNICEF USA works tirelessly to promote policies and expand access to services that protect all children.
UNICEF’s work is funded entirely through the voluntary support of millions of people around the world and partners in government, civil society, and the private sector. While UNICEF USA has always prioritized innovative approaches to fundraising, the organization knew it could become even more effective with its strategy.
“We’re committed to protecting the rights of children around the world,” says Tobias Kelly, Vice President and Head of Digital (revenue, marketing, and operations). “Accomplishing this requires that people across the US in particular understand the true impact of our work, and we continue to communicate with them in a strong, consistent brand voice. Technology fundamentally helps us achieve this goal.”
UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children, including the creation of new approaches and technologies to support the realization that children’s rights are critical to improving their lives. UNICEF USA decided to work with Google Cloud and partner DELVE to reinvigorate its data strategies and strengthen its ongoing constituent engagement through digital channels.
“Executing data-driven marketing strategies has enabled us to increase support for children around the world. With Google Cloud’s data analytics portfolio and DELVE, we can deliver the right fundraising message at the right time to the right people.”
—Tobias Kelly, VP, Head of Digital (Revenue, Marketing & Operations), UNICEF USATightening up persona management
“UNICEF USA’s audiences can be very segmented because of the many types of emergencies and topics that we’re reacting to, ranging from helping prevent childhood disease to providing emergency relief during times of crisis," says Tobias. With this challenge in mind, UNICEF USA realized that in order to be successful, they needed to elevate their understanding of their many different donor audiences.
So, they embarked on a mission to incentivize year-round support by becoming more supporter-centric and ensuring a frictionless and compelling donor experience. To better understand the population of people willing to donate to the organization, UNICEF USA knew it needed a highly advanced analytics strategy to integrate with its core marketing and fundraising functions.
Lack of data was not the problem. UNICEF USA held over 15 years of historical donor data in legacy systems, not built for scalable analytics and insights, typically in raw format. This was a major roadblock to rapid marketing strategy innovation. Moreover, it had millions of siloed donor records enriched with 400+ demographic data points just being utilized for aggregate reporting.
“We had a wealth of data to harness for digital media targeting and persona management,” says Tobias.
Google Marketing Platform combined with powerful Google Cloud solutions including BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Datalab provided UNICEF USA with a path to achieve its goals. Bringing these massive quantities of data into one central location with Google Cloud was the first step toward building and optimizing analytics within UNICEF USA’s fundraising efforts.
UNICEF USA also recognized the need to work with a partner with non-profit expertise in both Google Cloud solutions and advanced analytics strategies; DELVE was the clear choice, as it brought a decade worth of experience in these types of projects.
“We partnered with Google Cloud because we can tap into some of the leading technologies in data analytics and experience marketing,” says Anton Lipkanou, Chief Operation Officer at DELVE. “UNICEF USA wanted us to continue pushing them to innovate around fundraising, including coming up with more data-driven strategies. Google Cloud enabled us to fulfill UNICEF USA’s expectation.”
DELVE provided full-funnel data collection using Google Marketing Platform and migrating it to BigQuery and Cloud Storage. They worked with UNICEF USA to simultaneously join the data within BigQuery in a way that would make it viable for machine learning efforts and other advanced elements to establish more accurate and valuable personas for supporters.
For example, UNICEF USA and DELVE leveraged Cloud Storage and BigQuery to ingest customer behavioral and financial data from UNICEF USA’s CRM system, promotion, and response data from its direct mail and email service provider, along with appended demographics and psychographic data. Once the data was in BigQuery, data analysts were able to run fast queries against over one-hundred gigabytes of data in seconds to consolidate these disparate sources into a unified donor view.
Using Datalab as a data science sandbox environment, UNICEF USA leveraged k-means clustering to algorithmically uncover six distinct donor segments based on demographic and psychographic traits. Donor segments were analyzed and visualized with Looker Studio to investigate trends in key KPIs such as donor lifetime value, response rates by channel, and support by cause.
All of this combined allowed UNICEF USA to fully capitalize on more than 15 years of previously underutilized donor data and apply more than 400 demographic enrichments to donor files in a matter of months. De-siloing and migration efforts coupled with these enhancements allowed UNICEF USA to reach donors with more targeted, personalized communications throughout the year.
The partnership with Google Cloud and DELVE enabled UNICEF USA to increase first-touch return on advertising spend by 8.8 percent. Additionally, the new fundraising tactics facilitated by its digital transformation have increased click-through donation amounts by 78.56 percent.
“Executing data-driven marketing strategies across our digital channels has enabled us to meet our goals to increase funds supporting our work to improve children’s lives,” says Tobias. “With Google Cloud and DELVE, we can deliver the right fundraising message at the right time to the right people.”
“Both UNICEF and UNICEF USA have seen first-hand the impact that technology can have on our work. Whether it's new approaches that enable our colleagues on the front lines to respond faster or machine learning that drives deeper engagement with the brand, we know there are myriad ways technology can further UNICEF’s mission."
—Tobias Kelly, VP, Head of Digital (Revenue, Marketing & Operations), UNICEF USAExpanding technology use to benefit those in need
In addition to using analytics to strengthen fundraising efforts in high-income countries, UNICEF also uses technology to directly inform global programs. “The organization is using machine learning to map internet connectivity of schools and help ensure all children have equal access to information and opportunities,” says Tobias.
The advent of accessible big data, data science, and AI allows teams across UNICEF’s global programs to work faster for children. In settings like Colombia after an earthquake, or where data on poverty estimates are inaccessible, UNICEF can use these tools to get a better picture of what’s happening on the ground, and act more quickly and more effectively.
The global organization works with scientific experts and technology companies to bring the value of machine learning to the wider communities it serves. This includes everything from helping those in disaster response focus their limited resources to understanding how people who are most at risk are thinking about a threat, and knowing what information to provide to populations impacted by epidemics.
“Both UNICEF and UNICEF USA have seen first-hand the impact that technology can have on our work. Whether it's new approaches that enable our colleagues on the front lines to respond faster or machine learning that drives deeper engagement with the brand, we know there are myriad ways technology can further UNICEF’s mission,” says Tobias.
“Our work with DELVE and the power of Google Cloud solutions will continue to propel us forward as we work to build a better future for children and their families.”
—Tobias Kelly, VP, Head of Digital (Revenue, Marketing & Operations), UNICEF USABuilding on a legacy of caring and service
In taking a private-sector approach to digital transformation, UNICEF USA constantly refines its fundraising activities and can more efficiently direct donations to improve children’s lives around the globe.
“Our digital transformation has already opened many doors that we hadn’t explored even a few years ago,” says Tobias. “Our work with DELVE and the power of Google Cloud solutions will continue to propel us forward as we work to build a better future for children.”
Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact us
About UNICEF USA
UNICEF is a global non-profit organization that works in 190 countries and territories to improve the lives of children and their families through philanthropic and human rights efforts. UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children.
About DELVE
A Google Cloud and Google Marketing Platform partner, DELVE helps organizations in the non-profit and private sectors maximize the value of their data through digital transformation.