A 58-member theatre cast raised $2,591 in 15 days, most of it in two pushes

What did the boosters set out to fund?

The fall production: rights, sets, costumes, and the cast party. The club created a team calendar with a target of 45 participants and a goal of $20,925, which is 45 fully claimed September calendars at $465 each. It went live at 10:24 AM on a Friday, and 58 cast and crew members joined over the following week, each with a personal link and QR code sent by automatic email.

How did the money come in, day by day?

Two pushes carried this calendar. The launch weekend built to $1,105 by day 4, then six days of $59 to $112, then a re-send to the roster on day 12 that brought $254 that day and $485 the next, the biggest day since launch.

How much did each cast member raise?

Seventeen of the 58 cast and crew raised money through their links; the other 41 joined but never shared. The top two passed a full $465 September calendar because supporters can boost a gift above the date: 11 of the 146 gifts were boosted, $109 in all. Shown: the 17 who raised anything, highest first; the bars sum to the $2,591 total.

1. Cast member 1$485
2. Cast member 2$475
3. Cast member 3$338
4. Cast member 4$321
5. Cast member 5$165
6. Cast member 6$139
7. Cast member 7$138
8. Cast member 8$129
9. Cast member 9$114
10. Cast member 10$97
11. Cast member 11$85
12. Cast member 12$40
13. Cast member 13$40
14. Cast member 14$22
15. Cast member 15$1
16. Cast member 16$1
17. Cast member 17$1

When do supporters give?

A different clock from a dance team: the busiest hour was 11 AM, Eastern, with a second wave at 9 and 10 PM. Parents gave from their desks, not at bedtime.

• 7–8 AM19 gifts
• 9–10 AM17 gifts
• 11 AM23 gifts
• Noon–2 PM20 gifts
• 3–5 PM20 gifts
• 6–8 PM8 gifts
• 9–10 PM23 gifts
• 11 PM–1 AM16 gifts

What did a gift look like?

• Average gift $17.75; the largest gifts were $50, $47, and two of $40.
• One date per checkout. Supporters picked a single date for a single cast member, and 11 supporters boosted their gift above the date.
• The 30th and 29th were the most-claimed dates (11 and 10 claims), then the 1st, the 20th, and the 25th.
• 49% of gifts carried a message on the calendar. No supporter gave anonymously.
• All 146 gifts came through personal links. 655 link visits and 47 shares from the share menu produced them, about one gift for every four and a half clicks.

Hour by hour, what happened?

1. 10:24 AM · Friday · Day 1

   A 58-member roster, live on a weekday morning

   Every cast and crew member got a personal link. First gift 33 minutes after launch; $114 on day 1, $381 on day 3, $610 on day 4.

2. Day 1 · Personal links

   All 146 gifts came through personal links

   58 participants, 146 gifts, 69 donors. A big roster fills steadily rather than in one burst — the pattern is a wave every few days as each family gets around to it.

3. Days 2–4 · First peak

   43% by day 4

   $1,105 by the end of day 4. Peak hour 11 AM — parents at their desks, not at bedtime. Different audience, different clock.

4. Days 6–11 · The plateau

   Six days of $59–$112

   The calendar didn't stall — it idled. Six days averaging $86 while the first wave of family had already given.

5. Days 12–13 · The re-send

   One team message produced 29% of the total

   A re-send to the roster on day 12 brought $254 that day and $485 the next, the biggest day since launch, two weeks in. The nudge is not optional.

6. The lesson · What to copy

   Big rosters need a second push, on schedule

   Send the team message on day 5 and again on day 12. This club's re-send produced 29% of its total and the biggest day since launch.

What should your group copy?

• Re-send the join email to the 41 who never shared. Seventeen links raised $2,591, about $152 each. Ten more would have added roughly $1,500, a 59% lift; doubling takes seventeen more.
• Set the goal to the participants who will actually share. 45 × $465 put the bar at $20,925 and the progress bar at 12%. A goal of nine calendars, $4,185, would have read 62% and pulled harder.
• Launch on a weekday morning if your donors are at work. This roster’s families gave at 11 AM. Time the team message for the same hour.

Proof from the other calendars

• A dance team with 13 active links raised $3,567; this club had 17 of 58
• A school PTO whose late-joining classrooms made week two bigger than week one

A demo of the calendar they used

A team calendar like the one every cast member shared.

Questions about this campaign