Nonprofits rely heavily on signature fundraising events to drive donations, and with individual giving down, in-person attendance at events is more important than ever to advance their mission. The Salvation Army’s Dallas Women’s Auxiliary’s annual Fashion Show & Luncheon is a series of events over five days where attendees can shop couture trends to benefit a cause. A primary revenue driver of the Fashion Show & Luncheon is the After Sale, which invites the public to purchase heavily discounted donated clothes with all proceeds going to The Salvation Army. With an established business goal to increase donations generated by the event, Genuine Article collaborated with local influencers to appeal broadly to potential attendees’ interest and maximize the donations that benefit the services The Salvation Army provides across North Texas.
Our communication objectives were to reach the newsfeeds of two specific audience subsets: those looking for things to do on the weekend in Dallas and women or men who like to shop. Genuine Article sourced DFW-based influencers who frequently shared popular happenings around the city and shopping finds, focusing on micro-influencers who had formed genuine — and highly engaged — connections with local audiences. With a $0 budget for influencer marketing initiatives, we structured our partnerships around opportunity, inviting our targets to exclusively shop the After Sale a day earlier than it opened on the first-ever influencer preview day. We carefully curated the event, outlining the flow of the day to allow for uninterrupted content shoots and presenting an opportunity to align event posts in a way befitting each influencer’s existing social feed.
Attendance goals exceeded expectations, with a line wrapped around the building of excited patrons eager to shop ahead of the After Sale officially opening on day one, with many verbally mentioning they had seen the pre-event buzz generated across Instagram and TikTok. Hundreds shopped during the multiday event, with first-day sales alone reaching $45,000, which exceeded any previous year’s total funds raised. In all, the After Sale this year garnered around $70,000 in total sales, more than doubling the amount raised in 2023 ($32,000).
