A Meta-first funnel that turned attention into child sponsorships

Child sponsorship is one of the most considered commitments in Australian fundraising, and World Vision Australia wanted it growing month after month. The Garden built the Meta-first, full-funnel architecture behind that growth, working alongside Essence Mediacom and M&C Saatchi in World Vision's agency village.

Client: World Vision Australia
Industry: Not for Profit
Solutions: Media & Performance
Region: Australia

Year-on-year increase in child sponsorships

267%

Month-on-month sponsorship growth

10%

Click-through rate for video against static

5x

The challenge

Sponsorship asks a lot of a donor: a monthly commitment to a child they have never met, often researched over weeks. Acquisition in this category has to build belief before it asks for the sign-up, and it has to do it efficiently enough that growth is sustainable.

World Vision Australia needed a partner who could own that journey inside a multi-agency environment, coordinating with Essence Mediacom and M&C Saatchi so every part of the village pulled in the same direction.

Our solution

We built a Meta-first, full-funnel architecture with video-led creative, and the creative choice proved itself in the numbers: video earned five times the click-through rate of static.

Behind the media, a HubSpot nurture program carried enquirers through to sponsorship, including work on the 1,000 Girls initiative. Creative, media and nurture ran as one connected system rather than three handoffs.

The results

By September 2025, child sponsorships were up 267% on the year before, with sponsorship growth compounding at 10% month on month. In October, conversions more than doubled month on month while cost per acquisition fell substantially. For a commitment this considered, that is the difference a connected funnel makes.

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