How MAZON used data-driven personalization during a critical campaign to fuel conversions

About MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. As the deputy director of annual giving, Nicole Tafoya leads digital fundraising efforts focused on building meaningful relationships with donors and creating personalized giving experiences.

The challenge: standing out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape

In today's digital fundraising environment, nonprofits face intense competition for donor attention. MAZON needed to find ways to cut through the noise and connect with supporters in meaningful, personalized ways that would inspire action.

The key challenges included:

• Reaching donors at the right time with the right message in an oversaturated marketplace
• Understanding when donors preferred to give, both seasonally and daily
• Creating personalized experiences that acknowledged individual donor preferences and giving history
• Making the donation process intuitive and inspiring simultaneously

The solution: data-driven personalization

MAZON implemented a comprehensive personalization strategy, using Fundraise Up's analytics and donor insights together with Dataro's AI predictions for direct mail. This integrated approach allowed them to identify the next best action for each supporter, build targeted audiences, and personalize donor journeys at scale — ensuring that success in direct mail campaigns translated to digital channels as well.

"MAZON has really focused within the last couple of years on personalization, on reaching the right donor with the right message at the right time. That is constantly a strategy that I am refining and tinkering with. It’s never done because the right message and the right time continue to evolve for the right donor," explains Nicole.

The organization's personalization approach operates on multiple levels:

• Macro-level timing: Connecting with donors around the time of year they made their last gift, such as during specific campaigns like the High Holy Days
• Micro-level timing: Using Fundraise Up's donation volume maps to identify when donors prefer to give during the week and even specific times of day
• Custom appeals: Using Dataro's AI predictions to optimize direct mail outreach, which creates a halo effect for digital campaigns by ensuring the right donors are being engaged across all channels.

Nicole shares a specific example: "For donors who contributed to last year's High Holy Day campaign, I ensured they received a tailored appeal during this year's campaign, specifically acknowledging and recognizing their previous support of that particular initiative.”

The results: conversion rates that exceed industry standards by 60%

MAZON's strategic approach to personalization and donor engagement has delivered exceptional results during its most critical fundraising season:

• Overall online conversion rate of approximately 45% – significantly above the industry average
• Increased number of donors year over year
• Growing average gift sizes, even during challenging economic times

"One metric that we’ve been really blown away by is our overall online conversion rate. We ended the High Holy Day season around 45%, which is pretty awesome knowing that the industry average is around 28%. That tells me that donors are both finding our giving page intuitive and clear and straightforward, and that they're finding it inspiring. And for both of those to be happening at the same time is pretty much a digital fundraiser's dream," says Nicole.

The donor experience that builds lasting partnerships

Beyond the metrics, MAZON has created a donor experience that reflects their values of partnership and service. The organization views donors not as transactions but as partners in their mission to end hunger.

A recent example illustrates this approach: when a donor experienced difficulty making a gift online, they called and left a message. A team member called them back and walked them through the process, helping the supporter to achieve their goal and realize their philanthropic motivation. The donor was so impressed that they went online and made a second donation in honor of that team member.

"That to me was a moment of, this is why I do what I do, because people want to do good in the world, and we're there to partner with them and help them. We are not salespeople. We are partners. We are advisors in a really personal part of their lives, how they are spending their money. And that is just the best feeling in the world for me," reflects Nicole.

The timely intelligence provided by Fundraise Up and Dataro has been transformative. Nicole explains: "I love Fundraise Up's map of when donation volume is highest, because I can see that if donors like making gifts on Thursday evenings, I can then tailor our email strategies and send an appeal Thursday afternoon. If I know that donors aren't going online to make gifts on Tuesday mornings, it doesn't make sense for me to send out an appeal on Tuesday mornings. Dataro's predictive insights help us identify the right supporters for our direct mail campaigns, and because we're reaching the right people via mail, I'm then able to reach the right people digitally as well. This integrated approach — with both Fundraise Up and Dataro working together — is why our digital fundraising has been so successful. The work doesn't happen in a silo; our direct mail success directly fuels our digital success."

The impact: doing meaningful work in challenging times

For MAZON, the ultimate measure of success goes beyond conversion rates and revenue. It's about seeing the best of humanity during difficult times.

"I feel really grateful to be doing meaningful work in the world, to be putting good out into the world in a time where it feels like there is just so much frustration and negativity and challenges. It feels really good to see the best of humanity. We're seeing the number of donors increase during critical fundraising campaigns, we're seeing average gift size increase. All of those things together are telling me that people want to do good things in the world. People want to make a difference even when times are really challenging for them personally, financially. This is a really tough time for a lot of people, and they're still choosing to give. That feels amazing," says Nicole.

Looking ahead: continuous refinement and growth

MAZON continues to refine their fundraising tech stack and tools to enable their personalization strategies, constantly analyzing data and adapting to evolving donor preferences. The organization's partnership with Fundraise Up and Dataro provides the tools and insights needed to improve the donor experience while staying at the forefront of digital fundraising innovation and engagement.

As Nicole notes, the work of personalization is never truly complete – it's an ongoing process of learning, testing, and optimizing to ensure that every donor feels valued and inspired to support MAZON's mission to end hunger.