The Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation is on a mission to instill healthy lifestyles and physical activity among underprivileged youth aged 4 to 17. Their most significant source of revenue is their 50/50 draw, which they operate at all Montreal Canadiens games.
In the past, all tickets were sold in-person at home games. Recently, favorable changes in regulatory rules in Québec allowed the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation to take a bold step by making the 50/50 program accessible online to the entire province, thereby opening new doors for engagement with fans across Québec and creating an opportunity to sell tickets during both home and away games.
Building a SMS program
With these regulatory changes in mind, the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation saw the opportunity to explore new channels for engaging fans throughout the province. SMS marketing, renowned for its high open rates and near instant results, seemed like the perfect fit.
The Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation’s SMS Program scope:
- Short code for high volume messaging
- Regulatory compliance and approval for 50/50 raffles using text messages
- Platform that can handle French accents
Partnering with Raange
The Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation was introduced to Raange, a Canadian SMS marketing software company based in Québec.
Raange’s platform proved to be the ideal solution, as it was equipped to handle multilingual messages, supporting the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation’s bilingual communication needs, and high volume messaging, as required for one of the most storied NHL franchises.
Raange is also a recognized messaging provider and proud member of the Association of Mobile Content Council (MCC), giving the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation access to experts who could help navigate compliance and regulatory hurdles.
A Win, Win Scenario
Today, text messages reach thousands of Habs fans in a timely manner, particularly on game days, resulting in surges in sales within minutes to an hour to sending a text messaging campaign. SMS marketing has evolved into a vital channel for revenue growth for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.
Ryan Frank, Director of Fundraising and Community Engagement for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, expressed his satisfaction: “We are very satisfied with the service at Raange. The regulatory and compliance team has helped to get the program off the ground when we thought it wasn’t possible. Now we’re raising more money to support our youth.”
Eric Nykamp, CEO of Raange, stated, “Working with the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation is a dream come true for a local Montreal company. At Raange, we strive to deliver the best service when it comes to SMS engagements and push for our SMS engagements to be Faster, Cheaper, and Delivered.”