How a Non-Profit Discovered Its Growth Opportunity (Without Knowing It Existed)

The BC Unclaimed Property Society faced a problem most organizations would dream of: people loved its business model. But almost nobody knew they existed.

With over $208 million in unclaimed funds waiting to be claimed by rightful owners, the organization needed to understand one critical question: How aware are British Columbians of BC Unclaimed, and what's stopping them from engaging?

We conducted a province-wide survey of 1,000 residents to establish a baseline for brand awareness and gather insights on how the organization could grow.

What we found was both humbling and exciting.

The Problem: Invisible Despite Being Beloved

Awareness of BC Unclaimed was remarkably low; less than 10% of BC residents had even heard of the organization. For context, a similar non-profit in the financial sector had three times higher awareness.

But here's where it gets interesting: Of the people who were aware of BC Unclaimed, a large majority said they'd be willing to tell their friends and family about it. The business model resonated. The mission made sense. The execution was sound.

The problem wasn't that people disliked BC Unclaimed. The problem was that BC Unclaimed didn't exist in their minds at all.

Understanding How People Find Out

We asked aware respondents where they'd encountered BC Unclaimed. The overwhelming answer: traditional media and news coverage.

This revealed an important insight about the organization's current reach. It was doing well with audiences already paying attention to news and media, which tended to skew older. But there was a massive untapped audience: younger BC residents who get their information in different ways.

The pathways that could drive growth, such as social media, financial institutions, and digital channels, were almost completely underutilized. These channels represented not just awareness opportunities, but a fundamentally different demographic pool.

The Trust Factor (And Why It Matters)

We presented a scenario: What if you received a letter from BC Unclaimed saying you might have unclaimed funds?

The majority of respondents said they'd investigate and respond. But a significant portion reflexively thought it might be a scam. This wasn't surprising; it's the world we live in. But the interesting finding was generational.

Younger respondents were more likely to verify by asking friends and family. Older respondents were more likely to do their own internet research.

This simple finding had profound implications for how BC Unclaimed might reach different age groups and how those groups preferred to build trust.

The Business Model That Sells Itself

When we explained BC Unclaimed's model, actively searching for rightful owners while using unclaimed property that couldn't be returned to fund social services and charitable initiatives, a majority of respondents had a favorable opinion of it.

This wasn't a lukewarm approval. This was genuine enthusiasm. People understood that the model created a win-win: individuals could reclaim their money at any time, and unclaimed funds could benefit the community.

The business model didn't need to be defended or explained away. It needed to be broadcast.

What This Revealed About Growth

The research painted a clear picture: BC Unclaimed had hit a ceiling with traditional media awareness. The low baseline was likely the natural reach of PR campaigns targeting news outlets. To grow beyond this, the organization needed to reach people where they actually were.

Younger audiences weren't checking the news for obscure non-profit announcements. They were on social media, in their networks, consulting their peers. Older audiences were online researching financial matters, but might not be seeing BC Unclaimed in their search results or institutional partnerships.

The gap between "what people think of BC Unclaimed once they know about it" and "how many people know about it in the first place" represented a massive opportunity.

Client Feedback

“Curio Research was recommended to us by our marketing consultant, and we so appreciated the referral. Lauren quickly learned our business and understood our goals. She was responsive, and we developed and launched our survey very quickly and were pleased with the results. We expect to survey regularly now that we have baseline results and will look to Curio for support again.”

Sherry MacLennan, Executive Director, BC Unclaimed Property Society

The Bigger Picture

This research is a masterclass in a common challenge: the gap between product-market fit and market awareness.

BC Unclaimed had nailed the hard part, creating a service people trusted and supported. What they needed now was visibility. But visibility requires understanding who you're trying to reach and how they prefer to be reached.

A low baseline of awareness isn't a crisis. It's a benchmark. And more importantly, it's proof that there's room to grow, especially when the people who do know about you love what you do.

The path forward wasn't about changing the message or refining the offering. It was about finding new channels to reach audiences who desperately needed to know that BC Unclaimed existed.