Direct Response Campaign Services Operating Model, Change Management, Project Management, and Data Engineering (2024-Ongoing)
In 2024, the Development Division within Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) engaged Skeleton Key Strategies to manage an RFP process to re-bid Direct Response fundraising Campaign Services, per its board guidelines. SKS Consultants Amanda Perkins and Justin Birdsong prepared and published the RFP in collaboration with the Direct Response, Development Systems, and recently created Data Strategy & Analytics teams to ensure an effective balance of technical, business, and data strategy-related needs in the RFP.
A strategic pivot
Midway through the RFP process, the DSA Sr. Director posited that the organization could actually save more money in the long run, and gain more control over its donor and supporter segmentation, targeting, and attribution strategies – thereby raising more money and engaging more meaningfully with donors and supporters – by transitioning Campaign Services to an in-house operating model.
Recognizing the demands of this scale of change, the DSA Sr. Director hired Justin Birdsong and Richard Liebowitz from Skeleton Key to help create an in-sourced operating model and lead the in-sourcing transition, with Erika Salomon and Jasmin Tan providing data engineering expertise to drive optimization opportunities.
Aligning people, processes, and strategy
Justin supported the Sr. Director to create the in-sourced Campaign Services operating model, inclusive of transition roadmap from current to future state; staffing and role recommendations; and proposed matrixed workflows and cross-functional “pods” align technical, business, and operations teams with clear rules of the road (e.g., MOCHA). He continues to support change management and communications efforts for the transition, including convening a Steering Committee of Development and IT leaders to oversee this mission-critical effort.
Centralizing data for enhanced reporting
Richard currently leads the design and build of PPFA’s new fundraising data warehouse, a key project aimed at creating a single source of truth for the data. By centralizing multiple data streams into one place, this initiative will enable raw data to be transformed into actionable insights, significantly reducing the need for manual reporting. Erika and Jasmin provide crucial data engineering expertise to support this work, focusing on automating workflows and optimizing existing processes. This initiative empowers PPFA to make data-driven decisions, leading to more effective and streamlined campaign operations.
