Special Olympics International

The big question

How could Special Olympics International raise money all year, not just around events?

What we did

Blue State built an integrated fundraising strategy across email and paid media — new creative, supporter journeys, and continuous optimization to acquire and activate donors.

How we did it

• Tested creative across athlete profiles, direct asks, urgency, and local relevance to find what moved each audience.
• Built supporter journeys that guided new donors from first touch to first gift.
• Shifted budget toward paid search as data revealed it as a top-performing channel.
• Paired matched-gift urgency (like Giving Tuesday) with authentic athlete stories to drive year-end conversions.

The result

A multi-channel, year-end campaign raised more than $1 million for Special Olympics athletes — with paid search alone driving nearly 40% of it.