TapKat Success Snapshot: Ski Utah
Nonprofit: Ski Utah
Number of TapKat Sweepstakes to Date: 2
Total 2023 Sweepstakes Results: $82,075
A Super-Targeted Prize and Strategic Email Marketing Spelled Success for Ski Utah’s Second Sweepstakes
Strategy: Ski Utah, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, represents 15 ski resorts and over 250 corporate partners and sponsors with the common goal of encouraging the world to ski in Utah. Their program, Discover Winter, focuses on expanding the sport by introducing ethnically diverse and LGBTQ+ individuals to skiing/riding through a series of lessons. In 2022, they successfully raised $60,325 for Discover Winter by choosing a highly desirable prize, and then promoting it to the right group of people via email. In 2023, they capitalized on their previous success, running “the greatest sweepstakes you've laid your eyes on” and surpassing their first sweepstakes, raising $82,075.
Story: Ski Utah knows their base like the back of their hand! Made up of dedicated skiers and snowboarders, Ski Utah’s donors showed up to support the nonprofit in 2022 when they ran a sweepstakes for two Ski Utah Gold Passes. Valued at $6,500 each, Gold Passes are a snow sport enthusiast’s dream come true: they offer access to all 15 Utah ski resorts with no blackout dates, unlimited skiing (and hiking during the summer), and more. Plus, Ski Utah threw in two days of heli skiing for their die-hard ski fans!
In 2023, the organization wanted to build on their success and create an even more irresistible sweepstakes to entice their donors to come back for more. In addition to the two Gold Passes, which this year featured no blackout dates, were fully transferable, and valued at $20,000, Ski Utah also included a private dinner for up to 24 guests at Solitude’s Yurt, a $2,500 gift certificate toward ski or snowboard purchases, two Stio Environ outerwear kits, and two Gregory Verte 18L packs, two Gregory Targhee 32 packs, and two Gregory Alpaca 60 duffel bags.
Phew! That’s quite a prize package that expertly appealed to their donor base, putting Ski Utah in a wonderful position to raise quite a lot of money on their sweepstakes. They did a great job working with sponsors and partners to create the prize package, and it paid off.
Ski Utah was strategic in keeping their base updated about the sweepstakes by sending out an email when the sweepstakes launched, then on a planned schedule through the duration of the sweepstakes, and more frequently as the sweepstakes came to a close. Each time they sent an email blast, they included a unique promo code that helped them track the success of that particular email. Promo codes are one of our favorite tools for gauging how well a particular promotion has done and motivating donors to enter the sweepstakes for a second or third time (learn more about promo codes on the blog).
Emailing your base directly makes a huge difference: while all other channels of promotion are important (social media, advertising, live events), email still reigns king — people are more likely to click through and enter the sweepstakes when they receive an email dedicated to the sweepstakes.
Congratulations, Ski Utah, for exceeding your fundraising goals two years in a row!
If you’re ready to jump into the world of sweepstakes fundraisers, apply for a TapKat nonprofit account today.
