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Abortion Care Network (ACN) is the national association for independent community-based abortion care providers and their allies. Leveraging two grants, they seized the opportunity of increased media attention during the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court case to attract new donors and support its Keep Our Clinics Open fundraising campaign.
Most abortion care in the United States is provided by independent clinics. Abortion Care Network (ACN) is the national association for independent community-based abortion care providers and their allies.
Ahead of the oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson, ACN received a grant from Progressive Multiplier to expand their Keep Our Clinics fundraising campaign by purchasing ads on 19thnews.org, an independent newsroom reporting on gender, politics, and policy, as well as social media.
This tactic allowed ACN to get its brand and its work in front of key audiences at the same time that media attention around access to abortion was growing. Together, ads on both platforms brought more than 900 new visitors to the Keep Our Clinics website, with spikes during key moments in the court hearing.
While the initial grant was successful, an unexpected event led to an even larger influx of support for ACN. In May 2022, a leak revealed the upcoming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, sharing that the court would overrule both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning the power to regulate abortion to states.
Recognizing this as a moment to take action and galvanize donors, Progressive Multiplier awarded ACN a second grant, drawing the funds from their own general operating budget. This allowed ACN to relaunch its advertising on 19thnews.org and social media ahead of the court’s decision in June. The ability to act quickly, seizing this “lightning in a bottle” moment when abortion was in the public eye, created an unprecedented opportunity to acquire new donors cost-efficiently.
“We had built up our audience and awareness from the oral argument period,” said Brooke Thomson, Development Director, Abortion Care Network. “In June, at the time of the decision, we really saw people start to take action.”
During this round of ads, click-through rates on Facebook were well above average. In addition, targeting social media influencers and celebrities played a role in growing awareness, as they shared information that lifted up independent clinics and abortion care to new audiences.
Overall, the campaign raised $118,000 in 2022 due to the grants from Progressive Multiplier. During the same time period, monthly donor revenue went from $3,000 to $53,000 a month, and ACN attributes $10,000 a month to the Keep Our Clinics campaign. 
Founded in 2008, Abortion Care Network (ACN) is the national association for independent community-based abortion care providers and their allies. ACN works to ensure the rights of all people to experience respectful, dignified abortion care.
