Heart & Stroke’s mission to prevent disease, save lives, and support recovery depends on engaging supporters at meaningful moments in their lives. One of the most significant opportunities occurs when families seek to honour a loved one through memorial giving.
While memorial giving existed for years, the experience was fragmented across funeral homes, digital properties, and third-party fundraising platforms. Families encountered inconsistent messaging, disconnected donation pathways, and varying levels of support during a difficult time. At the same time, donor expectations were shifting toward seamless, digital-first experiences.
This presented an opportunity to reimagine memorial giving as both a more compassionate experience for grieving families and a more sustainable source of mission-driven fundraising.
Heart & Stroke partnered with Principles to transform memorial giving into a cohesive national program: Giving in Memory.
The objective was to create a compassionate, accessible experience for people navigating loss while establishing a scalable fundraising program to drive long-term growth. Specifically, the team aimed to:
By unifying donors, partners, and giving experiences under one national platform, Giving in Memory transformed a fragmented memorial giving experience into a sustainable fundraising program that helps more Canadians honour loved ones while supporting Heart & Stroke's lifesaving mission.
Rather than launching a developed program based on assumptions, Heart & Stroke and Principles adopted a phased, test-and-learn approach that balanced compassion, performance, and scalability. Each phase informed the next, allowing audience insight, behavioural data, and real-world performance to shape the final national program.
The solution was developed iteratively through research, in-market testing, and continuous optimization. This ensured Giving in Memory was grounded in audience behaviour, validated messaging, and proven creative approaches before being formalized as a national fundraising program.
Phase 1: Discover
The first phase focused on understanding the memorial giving landscape. The team conducted stakeholder interviews, analyzed two years of memorial giving and digital transaction data, surveyed relationship specialists who work with funeral homes, and reviewed best practices in memorial fundraising and grief-sensitive communications. Research revealed a common insight across audiences: people were seeking meaningful ways to transform grief into positive impact. This insight became the foundation for the program’s strategy, structure, and tone.
Using these insights, the team built the program's foundational infrastructure. A dedicated memorial giving destination was created on Heart & Stroke's website, memorial donation pathways were integrated into online giving experiences, and funeral home resources were refreshed to provide clearer guidance and support for families.
Phase 2: Test
The second phase focused on validating the strategy through rigorous in-market testing. Using Meta Experiments, the team tested multiple emotional approaches, value propositions, and visual styles to identify which combinations resonated effectively with audiences. Messaging explored themes ranging from honouring a loved one's memory to supporting research and navigating grief, while creative concepts examined different representations of remembrance, celebration, and impact. This framework allowed real audience behaviour to determine how the program would evolve.
Phase 3: Build and Scale
Insights from the research and testing informed the creation of Giving in Memory, a fully realized national memorial giving program. A distinct visual identity, messaging framework, and tone of voice differentiated the initiative while remaining aligned with Heart & Stroke’s trusted brand.
Rather than delivering a single fundraising campaign, the team established the strategic, creative, and operational foundation for a long-term program capable of evolving well beyond its initial launch. The program was implemented across three interconnected pillars: funeral home outreach, Heart & Stroke digital properties, and third-party fundraising platforms. Evergreen paid media campaigns built awareness among new audiences, while retargeting campaigns converted engaged visitors into donors. Additional fundraising campaigns encouraged supporters to create personal memorial fundraisers in honour of loved ones.
Overcoming Challenges
Creating a new fundraising program within one of Canada's most recognized charitable brands required balancing innovation with familiarity. Giving in Memory needed to feel distinct enough to establish its own identity while remaining unmistakably Heart & Stroke and appropriate for people experiencing grief. Audience testing, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous optimization enabled the team to create a compassionate, scalable experience that strengthened donor engagement while integrating seamlessly into the organization's fundraising ecosystem.
The result was not a campaign, but a sustainable fundraising platform designed to support families, strengthen partnerships, and drive long-term mission impact.
Giving in Memory exceeded its objectives by transforming a fragmented memorial giving experience into a scalable national fundraising program—while delivering exceptional fundraising performance.
The program established, for the first time, a unified memorial giving identity across Heart & Stroke's digital ecosystem, funeral home partnerships, and third-party fundraising platforms. Research, testing, and optimization informed every aspect of the experience, creating a more compassionate, accessible journey for families while providing the organization with a sustainable foundation for long-term growth.
From May through August 2025, Giving in Memory generated 276 memorial donations while significantly outperforming nonprofit digital fundraising benchmarks. Paid media campaigns achieved a $1.37 CPM and $0.24 CPC during the awareness phase, while conversion campaigns delivered a $4.05 CPM, $1.29 CPC, and a cost per donation of just $25.74—approximately 76% lower than nonprofit fundraising benchmarks.
Beyond campaign performance, Giving in Memory fundamentally changed how Heart & Stroke approaches memorial giving. Dedicated donation pathways, grief-sensitive messaging, and streamlined stewardship created a more consistent experience for supporters while strengthening relationships with funeral professionals and other partners. The phased, insight-led approach also established an evidence-based framework that enables the program to continue evolving as donor behaviours and community needs change.
By combining empathy with rigorous testing and continuous optimization, Heart & Stroke transformed memorial giving from a collection of disconnected tactics into a sustainable fundraising program that helps more Canadians honour loved ones while supporting lifesaving research and care.
