Case Study | Goodwill of Orange County
How Goodwill OC reversed a donation decline in the markets that mattered most.
CTV alone did not do this. Goodwill OC ran a coordinated push and Adduro built the streaming layer around their actual customer data, their actual trade areas, and their actual definition of a win. Donations climbed in the markets that needed it most.
+244%
Donations YoY in Lake Forest
During the campaign period
Client
Goodwill of Orange County
Founded
100 years ago
Footprint
25 retail stores and donation centers
Mission
Retail revenue funds workforce development for job seekers, including people with disabilities
The Problem
Donations were dropping in South County.
The previous CTV campaign had not given them a way to know why.
Goodwill OC was facing a significant drop in donations across its South Orange County locations. Because donated goods stock the retail stores and retail revenue funds the workforce programs, a donation shortfall in one part of the county created pressure across the whole organization.
The team had run one CTV campaign before. According to Marketing Communications Director Nicole Morrison, they came in without a clear picture of what good performance looked like, how the campaign should be structured, or what kind of measurement they would get back. They needed a partner who would build something against their actual goals rather than apply a template.
The Approach
Three decisions built the campaign.
Adduro did not apply a template. The team built around Goodwill’s actual customer data, the actual underperforming markets, and what was likely to drive a same-week donation rather than a long-tail brand impression.
01
A real one-month optimization window before scaling.
The first month was used to refine targets based on early performance signals rather than expecting set-and-forget delivery. Once segmentation locked in, donations began climbing.
02
Targeting concentrated where the customers actually were.
Working from Goodwill’s first-party data inside Placer.ai with PersonaLive segmentation, the team focused spend on the audience segments representing roughly 70% of the customer base in the South County trade areas, rather than spreading reach across all possible donor profiles.
03
Creative built for action, not awareness.
Lightly humorous spots (“time to clean out your closet”) prompted same-week donation behavior rather than long-tail brand recall. The creative was written to do a specific job.
The Results
Donations climbed in the markets that needed it most.
Year-over-year donation lift at the priority South County locations, measured during the campaign period.
+244%
Lake Forest
Donations YoY
+147%
Irvine
Donations YoY
+48%
San Juan Capistrano
Donations YoY
Goodwill OC ran multiple marketing initiatives concurrently, so CTV is one contributor inside a coordinated push rather than the sole driver. The campaign concentrated specifically on the underperforming South County markets, the lift showed up in those markets, and Goodwill has continued investing in the channel based on the trajectory.
Source: Goodwill OC reported figures, current as of the campaign’s third month.
“
It was so clear that we were going to build this campaign to really meet those specific needs. It wasn’t just something that, oh, it works for other clients, so we’re sure it’ll work for you. It was built for Goodwill, so that’s why we felt so confident going into it.
Nicole Morrison
Marketing Communications Director, Goodwill of Orange County
Watch the Story
Hear how Goodwill OC built the campaign with Adduro.
Nicole Morrison walks through the decisions that turned a coordinated push into measurable lift in the markets that needed it most.
Why It Worked
Three things made the difference.
Targeting
Anchored to Goodwill’s actual customers, not a generic donor archetype.
Optimization
Month one was a real optimization window. Not set-and-forget.
Reporting
Concrete enough that Nicole could take it to leadership and keep investing.
Curious whether streaming ads could play a similar role for your organization?
In less than 30 minutes, we will walk through what reaching your specific audience would look like, what the campaign should measure, and what you should expect back.
Book a Strategy Call