Jenny L. Feinberg and Jeff Patrick, Common Knowledge

As nonprofits escalate their focus on the Internet for fundraising and base-building, there is, increasingly, a recognition that the online channel can be a constituent-friendly, cost-effective means of building relationships and raising money from individuals.  

New online fundraising programs, however, bring new challenges:

• How to acquire new constituents?
• How to cultivate this virtual constituent community?
• How to produce fundraising revenue (quickly)?
• How to reduce the payback period for the program investment?

For nonprofits with growing online fundraising programs, there is a similar set of challenges:

• How to continue to grow the base?
• How to keep program costs in check?
• How to increase revenue?
• How to increase net proceeds (revenue less costs)?

Rapid Donor Cultivation

To address these questions, Common Knowledge developed a program we call Rapid Donor Cultivation, inspired by best practices in the online retail industry. In this sector, savvy retailers noticed that online prospect affinity is typically highest for the first 30 days after the visitor opts in to the retailer’s email list. This honeymoon period -- the high-affinity phase -- is characterized by higher email open, click, and conversion rates. It turns out that this behavior is also demonstrated by new nonprofit e-subscribers.

You can capitalize on this high affinity period by sending a stream of carefully crafted emails with select content and calls-to-action to the new subscriber over the first 30 days.  We typically use a ten-email stream, ending with a targeted fundraising ask.  

Via this process, you'll be able to realize direct benefits, including:

• Decreasing the elapsed time to the first gift,

• Maximizing the size of the first gift,

• Maximizing the lifetime value of a new subscriber, and

• Reducing the cost of fundraising by using an automated email queue.

Ultimately, your goal should be to optimize your investment in email fundraising and to produce a reliable, cost-effective revenue stream from individual giving. In addition to the direct benefits, you may also realize several ‘soft’ benefits:

• An increase in constituent comprehension of nonprofit programs and mission,

• Reduction in the number of unsubscribes, an

• Increase in brand awareness, and a

• Growth in subscriber affinity

Project Description

Common Knowledge helped the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an international animal rights group, set up just such a program. It's been running for 15 months (since July 2007), and includes a series of ten emails sent over five weeks. These emails start going out to subscribers shortly after they opt-in.

The email series looks to educate and engage new subscribers with a sequenced, in-depth introduction to the organization and IFAW’s key issues. For IFAW, the emails educate readers about each of the major animal issue campaigns important to the organization. To engage subscribers, the email series incorporates advocacy actions, surveys, photo gallery tours, and other ‘active’ calls-to-action. The Internet, while virtual, offers a host of interactive and transactional opportunities; extensive use of these engagement tools is a central theme of the program. IFAW's program culminates with a fundraising appeal centered on support for a Russian bear sanctuary -- historically, a high-performing fundraising issue for them.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the program is the frequency and volume of communication with supporters: two emails per week for five weeks. This frequency and volume of focused communication is cost-prohibitive via direct mail -- and even online if attempted manually. In order to dramatically reduce the program cost, we implemented an automated email sequence using IFAW's eCRM solution -- Kintera. It's possible your CRM has similar functionality.

Results

The results of the program since its initial launch with IFAW have far exceeded their expectations. Overall, the program has reduced the time to the first gift, increased the number of subscribers who give, and -- in initial estimates -- increased the lifetime value of new subscribers.

In order to get a better idea of how this stacks up against receiving no specialized email communications, we compared the donation activity of new supporters who subscribed during three months in 2006 (before we launched the program) with those who subscribed during the same months in 2007 (who participated in the program). We analyzed all financial transactions made by supporters over the first six months they were subscribed to the list. We found:

Diagram 1: Table Comparing RDC Participants to New Subscribers from 2006

 

	2006	2007
Donor Conversion	1.20%	2.20%
Average Gift	$35.57	$40.86
Gifts/Donor	1.2	1.5
Days to First Gift	60	43
Activist Conversion	18.50%	39.80%
Actions/Activist	1.9	1.6
Days to First Action	35	4

• The time to first gift decreased by 17 days

• The conversion rate subscribers to donors increased by 83%

These initial results give a good indication of the extent to which this type of program can improve donor cultivation and suggests that, in addition to improving the results for the first gift, it also increases the lifetime value of new subscribers.

Key Lessons:

• Frequent communications during first 30 days of subscription increases donations.

• Interactive features in emails increase engagement and affinity for organization.

• Automation of email series is critical to making high frequency email communications cost effective.

Resources

A more-in depth analysis of the IFAW Rapid Donor Cultivation (RDC) program is available in a white paper available on the Common Knowledge website.

Common Knowledge is offering a free RDC Webinar on Wednesday, October 1 at 11:30 PDT/ 2:30 EDT

Jeff Patrick and Cassandra Koenen (Director of Online Campaigns and Marketing, IFAW) will discuss ways to:

• ensure a strategic stream of email communications,

• engage new supporters frequent, targeted, high quality messages, and

• rapidly cultivate new prospects.

Register here: https://cc.readytalk.com/registration/e6kkzs8yfwut/5d3ue50delh9

Authors

Jenny L. Feinberg - Senior Consultant, Fundraising

Jenny provides marketing and fundraising analysis and web campaign strategy, using her experience to build growth and retention in emerging online environments. Her work on the 2007 IFAW Seal Campaign resulted in 30% growth in revenue.

Jeff Patrick - President & Founder

Over the past decade, Jeff has assisted more than 100 nonprofits with their Internet initiatives. Working with large national and regional organizations, Jeff pioneered the tools and software for online fundraising, email communication, advocacy, and outreach.

About Common Knowledge

Common Knowledge, a consulting agency founded in 2002 provides comprehensive consulting services for online fundraising, advocacy, marketing and communications to nonprofit organizations. CK offers Online Strategy (including interactive media), Web Site Design and Development, Online Community Development (including social networking websites), Online Campaigns (including email), and Related Support Services. The current base of 30+ nonprofit clients includes Arthritis Foundation, Sierra Club, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Partnership for a Drug Free America, and Equality California.