She Kept Her Textbooks in Her Car
How the EPIC Communication Framework® nearly doubled open rates, more than doubled click rates, and moved a CEO who hadn't responded in six months to pick up the phone and donate.
7 Campaigns. One Framework. Zero Guesswork.
Same list. Same platform. Same donors. One change.
These numbers did not come from a warm, ready-to-give donor base. They came from a list that had been receiving generic, scattered emails for years. The only thing that changed was the framework.
The Stories Were There. The Emails Weren't Telling Them.
Greenville Technical College Foundation served students who were working two jobs, raising children, and showing up to class anyway. Students who stayed in shelters or slept in their cars and still graduated.
But their emails were not telling those stories. Long. Dense. Three CTAs per send. Program updates stacked on data tables stacked on mission statements. Donors opened and moved on. Nothing stuck.
Open rates hovered at 22.8%. Click rates sat at 0.4%. Not because the audience didn't care. Because the message didn't give them a reason to.
"I kept my textbooks in my car because I was homeless. But this scholarship didn't just pay for school. It gave me hope I could break the cycle for my daughters."
That sentence was in their stories. It just needed a framework to find it.
One Story. One Student. One Ask. Every Tuesday.
During a consulting session with Ann Wright, VP of Advancement, the idea was simple.
"What if every Tuesday you sent one story? One student. One turning point. One ask."
No overhaul. No rebrand. No new platform. We launched Transformation Tuesday, built entirely around the EPIC Communication Framework®.
Seven Sends. Every One Nearly Doubled the Baseline.
| Date | Open Rate | Click Rate | vs. 2024 Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 14 | 45.59% | 0.86% | +22.8 pts |
| Jan 28 | 47.19% | 0.77% | +24.4 pts |
| Feb 11 | 43.57% | 1.16% | +20.8 pts |
| Feb 25 | 46.21% | 1.16% | +23.4 pts |
| Mar 11 | 45.25% | 0.77% | +22.5 pts |
| Mar 25 | 43.90% | 0.80% | +21.1 pts |
| Apr 8 | 44.50% | 0.60% | +21.7 pts |
The floor never dropped below 43%. The baseline had been 22.8%. Donors weren't just opening. Staff were proud to share the emails. Board members forwarded them. Stories became momentum.
A CEO Who Hadn't Responded in Six Months Called Back the Same Day.
He had been on Ann's outreach list for six months. Calls unreturned. Emails unanswered. Every conventional follow-up had run its course.
After one Transformation Tuesday email , built around a single student story , he called back the same day. He had read the story. He wanted to donate.
That is what clarity does. It does not just improve metrics. It opens doors that looked permanently closed.
"After more than 40 years in public service, I didn't expect to learn so much. Our open rates doubled and our click-through rates more than doubled. Then a CEO we'd been trying to reach for six months called back after reading a story we wrote using the EPIC Framework®."
Ann Wright · Vice President for Advancement, Greenville Technical College FoundationNot the platform. Not the list. Not the budget.
Every Tuesday.
The only thing that changed was message structure. When every email advances one story with one ask, donors don't skim. They read. When the story is specific enough to feel real, they respond. When the CTA is the natural next step in the narrative, they click.
Confusion breeds hesitation. Clarity creates momentum. The EPIC Communication Framework® is a repeatable system for finding the story that moves people and delivering it in the sequence that earns action.
Your Emails Should Be Doing This
Confusion breeds hesitation. Clarity creates momentum. If your donors are opening and moving on, the framework is the missing piece.
Book a Story Session
Hailey Evans, MBA
Hailey Evans started with a 27% email open rate. After building the EPIC Communication Framework® into every send, it climbed to a 92% peak and now averages 78% across 1,037,477 emails delivered to 19,000+ subscribers. That is more than three times the industry average.
She is the founder of EPIC Impact®, a StoryBrand Certified Guide, and a Business Made Simple Certified Coach. She has trained 3,500+ founders, coaches, and nonprofit leaders to communicate with clarity , and built a marketing system that drives 62% of all website traffic from email alone, with zero paid ad spend.
She is the bestselling author of three books, including EPIC Impact®: How to Turn Your Message Into a Movement , taught in the nonprofit marketing curriculum at Anderson University , and Big Missions. Made Clear., ranked #1 in its Amazon category since publication. She has received 6 Pinnacle Awards from the SC Home Builders Association and spoken at the Realtors Land Institute, Coastal Carolina University, DigiMarCon, and stages across the country.
Her work has been covered in the NY Weekly, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and AP News. She holds an MBA from Coastal Carolina University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA as the first online MBA graduate.
haileyevans.com · hailey@haileyevans.com