Attendees (Sold Out)
32% YoY growth in attendance
Cost Per Click
~10× more efficient than industry average
Click-Through Rate
3–5× above benchmarks
The instinct for most event marketing is to sell the experience. Moxie’s instinct was different. Sell the mission first. Build the brand second. Let the experience close.
The insight: Queen of Hearts wasn’t competing with other nights out in Rochester. It was competing with donor apathy, sponsor fatigue, and the question every potential attendee and sponsor asks before committing — does this actually matter?
The answer was yes. Emphatically. The work was making sure the market knew it. That required three simultaneous plays: a paid advertising strategy built for efficiency, a sponsor communication infrastructure that made partners feel like insiders, and a brand elevation that made the event feel like the room you needed to be in.
Moxie built and executed the full marketing operation for the 4th Annual Queen of Hearts Casino Night — from paid campaigns to sponsor toolkits to event collateral — on a total projected ad budget of $500.
That constraint wasn't a limitation. It was the brief. The question wasn't how do we spend more? It was how do we make every dollar perform at a level that proves what's possible?
Paid Advertising — Meta Campaigns
With under $75 in initial spend, the first campaign wave reached over 5,000 people and drove hundreds of highly engaged website visitors. Traffic grew 800% month over month from the first reporting period.
By January 6, 2026 — one month out from the event — the numbers had compounded significantly:
For context: the industry average CTR for event and nonprofit campaigns runs between 1.0–2.0%. The industry average cost per click runs $0.80–$1.50. Moxie delivered results at a fraction of the cost and multiples of the engagement.
Sponsor Infrastructure
Moxie built a complete sponsor communications system — custom graphics, social caption templates, promo codes, and a step-by-step amplification guide — making it effortless for sponsors to promote their involvement and extend the event's reach through their own networks.
Every sponsor received branded assets, clear instructions, and community-facing copy that positioned their support as a statement of values, not just a line item.
Event Brand & Production
Moxie developed the full event collateral including the digital program, run of show, venue orientation, and guest experience documentation — ensuring the brand touchpoints from registration to close reflected the elevated, intentional aesthetic the event was building toward: red carpet entrance, VIP lounge, 360 photo booth, live entertainment, and a silent auction.
The event sold out to 165 guests.
As The Client Put It
We’ve done this event before, but never at this level. From sold-out attendance to the media coverage, everything felt elevated — and it showed in the impact we were able to create.
The 4th Annual Queen of Hearts Casino Night on February 6, 2026 at La Luna was, by every measure, the best edition of the event to date.
Attendance grew 32% year over year — from 125 guests in 2025 to 165 in 2026.
The event was covered by ABC's 13WHAM and NBC's WHEC, extending its reach far beyond the room and establishing Queen of Hearts as a recognized Rochester community institution — not just a fundraiser.
A $500 ad budget. A sold-out room. Two television placements. And a brand that now carries the weight of four years of community trust behind it.
The event didn't just grow. It arrived.
Attendees (Sold Out)
+32% YoY growth
Cost Per Click
Industry avg. $0.80–$1.50
Click Through Rate
Outperforming standard 1–2%s
Website Visits
Massive growth at +1,485%
Queen of Hearts shifted from a one-night fundraiser to a brand the community recognizes, trusts, and returns to. The event stopped being something people attended. It became something people wanted to be part of.
It wasn’t just a full room. It was a room that felt connected — to the mission, and to each other. This stopped being an event people discovered. It became one they didn’t want to miss. And the event didn’t just grow. It gained gravity.
From sponsor communication to guest experience, everything was designed to feel cohesive. That consistency is what turns attendance into momentum.
Moxie didn't just run ads. We built the full operational stack — sponsor toolkits, event collateral, audience communications, brand assets — so the event could run at a higher level than its budget would suggest was possible.
The constraint of a $500 budget forced precision. Every campaign decision had to earn its place. The result was a cost-per-click of $0.13 in a category where most advertisers pay ten times that — proof that strategic targeting beats broad spending every time.
The marketing didn't lead with casino games and cocktails. It led with youth athletes, community investment, and the specific gap GPDW2 exists to close. When the mission is real and the story is told clearly, the audience shows up.
Community events don't plateau because the mission loses relevance.
They plateau because the infrastructure doesn't keep pace with the potential.
Moxie's work on Queen of Hearts demonstrates what happens when a mission-driven event gets the brand treatment it deserves — strategic paid campaigns that dramatically outperform category benchmarks.
A sponsor experience that turns partners into advocates, and event production elevated to match the community's investment in the cause.
The room was full. The cameras showed up. The brand is built.
What comes next is scaling what's already working.
Moxie Creative Studios is a MWBE-certified digital marketing and personal brand authority agency based in Rochester, NY. We build the brand infrastructure that turns experts into authorities.
We empower purpose-driven leaders to embody their vision, command attention, and ignite impactful growth.
