A Valentine's Day A/B Test Case Study in Action

The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) is a marine mammal hospital and science research facility in Sausalito, CA.  Since 1975, they have rescued nearly 18,000 seals, sea lions, dolphins, otters and other marine mammals from along 600 miles of California coast, with the aim of giving those in need a second chance at life in the wild. 

The Marine Mammal Center has a strong retail component. As any facility with visitors should, it has a gift shop which sells intangible support items (Adopt-a-Seal) as well as very tangible ones, like warm socks with various marine mammals on them. It also has a basic e-retail store (housed and managed within their Convio website)

For two years the marketing team has experimented with featuring e-retail at various points during the calendar year, or with various audiences. Some discoveries we’ve made historically include:

• People on lists we’ve acquired seem more willing to buy something than to give a cash donation. Knowing this little nugget, gives us a perfect way to ease them into supporting us further down the line.  (Also, marine mammal socks are cool.)
• There are only three times a year where we can generate a surge of orders! We spent a whole year trying to pitch our audience e-retail in connection with every conceivable holiday, like Labor Day, with hilarious and often disappointing results but we found pretty conclusively that besides Hannukah and Christmas, the effective hooks for e-commerce purchases are Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, and every so often a random ocean /conservation related e-retail does pretty well, i.e. Earth Day, World Ocean’s Day, Sea Otter Awareness Week.
• We can maintain a steady stream of e-retail orders by adding one item to a normal e-news alert or latest news email.  Making the commitment to include and promote one item in at least two emails per month is s a cost-efficient and effort-efficient strategy. 

As we approached Valentine’s Day 2013, we decided to try an experiment with our last Valentine’s Day e-retail email before the shipping deadline. We split our list in two (we use Convio Luminate) and sent two emails with different leads.

The original and the variant

Our original format had an animal story at the top with a charismatic photo of the patient.

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Be Here Now: The Zen of Attending a Conference

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to speak on a panel at a conference in New York City and was given a free pass to attend the all-day conference. Usually, I tend to go to these just for my panel, shake a few hands and drink coffee, then leave—no more than two hours tops. But, since it was a train ride away and they had some great discussions planned on topics like email marketing and big data, I decided to go for the day as a participant. The morning of the conference, my bag felt too heavy to lug around all day (laptop, charger cables, notebook, etc). So, I ditched my backpack at the hotel and showed up with a pen and a pad of paper. I took a deep breath and told myself I was ready to just absorb.

Man, did I absorb! I was completely in the moment all day: engaging with fellow participants, shaking hands, talking with vendors, and taking notes (and I remembered that I have actual handwriting!). I did one work call that I couldn’t escape from and I answered maybe five emails, one personal. By the end of the day, it hit me why I liked going to conferences in the first place: I was engaged and learning. I had to look way back into my conference history to a time where this happened. Then, it struck me what was wrong with my most recent conference experiences:

• I could never break away from the office
• My mind was four steps ahead in looking for the “right” panels
• I was too busy trying to find the “right” people for connections
• I wasn’t taking time to learn and explore
• My laptop, Twitter, Instagram, and stealing ideas

Nonprofits have a small budget to give to employees every year to help them with their professional development. The organization is investing in the employee’s skill set so that they can benefit the organization with their newfound knowledge and enhance the employee’s skill set. Looking back, I probably wasted some of those resources (If my employer is reading this, just remember how often I work late sand push our team). I also did myself a disservice by not taking the time to really listen and learn. 

Now, I’m on a mission: I will attend every conference now with a clean mind and sense of purpose. I will:

• Stop jumping on calls and answering every work-related email
• I will plan my panel attending in advance to make sure it matches my needs to learn new things
• I will be more organic in meeting others and less worried about conference cliques or impressing influentials
• I will take notes and really listen to the panel (and not rely on trying to get the panel’s presentation as a substitute for notes).
• I will stop texting, tweeting, and posting and be in the moment. I’ll also try to listen just for the tactic to use, but get inspired to come up with my own idea.

I’ll get another swing at this at SXSW in Austin next month (and hopefully NTEN and few other places throughout the year). Hoping this will start a movement and that I can look around a room at a panel and see a sea of nonprofit professional faces looking up, listening, and learning together.

Webinar: Appreciate, Engage and Retain Your Supporters

Do you need new ideas on how to engage your supporters?

Does your donor acknowledgement process need a refresh?

Do you want to better understand your supporters?

If yes, this webinar is for you! No matter how many supporters you have, you are probably constantly looking for new ways to appreciate, engage and retain them. All across the fundraising landscape, donor retention is falling. Gartner Inc. reports that 75 percent of CRM initiatives fail to impact the customer experience. With implementation costs high, the cost of all this failure is higher. People give their hard earned money for a reason; you need to understand those reasons and engage donors in the manner they prefer. In this webinar, Doug Barker (Principal and Co-Founder of Barker & Scott Consulting) and Amy Ganderson (Digital Marketing Director at The Nature Conservancy) will share their ideas, examples and key strategies for making your supporters feel appreciated – and more tied to – your mission and organization.

“Appreciate, Engage and Retain Your Supporters”
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, 2013 at 2PM ET

In this webinar you'll learn:

• New ways to listen to and engage with your supporters
• Fresh ideas on how to retain donors
• Specific examples of how to put these ideas in action

This Expert Webinar is FREE but space is limited so make sure you register today!

About the Presenters:

Doug Barker -- Principal and Co-Founder, Barker & Scott Consulting
As a principal in Barker & Scott Consulting, Doug assists leading regional, national, and international nonprofit organizations with leveraging the power of information technology for organizational advancement and mission success. His expertise includes change management and constituent relationship management strategy and implementation. Prior to founding Barker & Scott, Doug was Vice President and Chief Information Officer for The Nature Conservancy. There he provided information technology leadership for this global organization of 3,000 staff in over 400 offices located in 30 countries. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Doug was the nonprofit industry lead for the consulting practice of Arthur Andersen in Washington, D.C. Currently, Doug serves as a judge for CIO Magazine’s prestigious CIO 100 Awards. He received a B.A. in Psychology and an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategic Marketing from San Diego State University. Along with his professional pursuits, Doug loves the outdoors. He is an active board member for Rock Creek Conservancy and is spearheading a community-wide initiative to plant hundreds of native trees in his Washington DC neighborhood.

Amy Ganderson -- Digital Marketing Director, The Nature Conservancy
As a Director of Digital Marketing for The Nature Conservancy, Amy Ganderson leads the development of strategic online marketing programs and campaigns designed to advance the Conservancy’s guiding marketing strategies to build reputation, influence conservation action and achieve fundraising goals. She manages the team that drives growth in social media, email, mobile, new business development, and online advertising. Amy began her career with The Nature Conservancy four years ago building their social media, online advertising, and web analytics strategy. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Amy worked in e-commerce for Discovery Communications. While at Discovery Communications, she managed paid search and developed partnerships with Amazon and eBay, both in conjunction with Discovery Channel's online store. She also launched a corporate sales business. Amy began her career in retail buying and planning for Perry Ellis International and Bloomingdale's Department Stores. Amy received an MBA from The George Washington University and a B.S. from Cornell University. In her spare time she juggles one-year-old twins.

Ashley Hansen -- Director of Nonprofit Services, Care2
Ashley works with nonprofits to win advocacy campaigns, strengthen their online fundraising program and drive traffic to their website. Since joining Care2 in 2011, Ashley has strategized with many nonprofits on the most effective way to engage with Care2's members. Prior to joining Care2, Ashley spent 10 years at the Student Conservation Association (SCA) where she helped hundreds of young people volunteer on public lands and start careers in conservation. Throughout her life, Ashley has visited over 200 public lands only to come home to find her favorite National Park, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, right here in DC. In addition, she presents at several conferences each year and has been an invited speaker to Federal leadership teams.

REGISTER to attend this FREE Expert Webinar on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th at 2PM ET

Strategies to Increase Nonprofit Donor Retention Rates

While all nonprofits recognize the value of cultivating donors over the long-term, they feel an incredible amount of pressure to implement short-term strategies that will raise money today. Unfortunately, many nonprofits don't feel like they have the luxury of focusing on fundraising strategies that will bring in long-term results, which has led to low donor retention rates. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, the commercial business customer retention rate is 94%. Guess what the nonprofit donor retention rate is? 49%. That is an attrition rate of 59%.

Between 2006 and 2011 donor retention rates decreased about 10%. Yes, you can attribute part of this decline to a bad economy, but I think this is also due to the fact that there are a lot more nonprofits competing for donors than ever before. In the last 10 years, the nonprofit sector has grown more than 60% in the U.S to an estimated 1.5 million organizations.

According to the study, only 16% of all donors gave more money the following year. And only 65 of the 2,377 nonprofits in the study had a retention rate of over 70%. These numbers are dismal and clearly indicate that nonprofits need to invest more time and resources cultivating new donors and retaining them. Here are four strategies you can start using to increase your retention rates tomorrow.

Personalize your communications to your donors

Some organizations feel they are already personalizing their donor communications because they address them by first name in a direct mail appeal or email appeal. Yes, that is a great start, but that is not enough. Donors want more. You need to understand their interests. This data can be gathered through surveys, tracking the issue they were recruited on, and the different types of actions they take with your organization. If you have a social CRM you can also track your interactions with donors and do a lot of listening.

Segment your list

Segmenting is critical to increasing retention rates. Why? Because it enables you to better personalize your communications and make it relevant to their expressed interests. If you have a good CRM system you can segment by issue area, donor level, and location, right down to the city zip code. For example, if you were a national animal welfare organization with chapters across the U.S. and you were trying to help raise money for a shelter in Washington, DC you would want to segment the list and send the fundraising appeal only to the people in Washington, DC since they were personally connected to the issue locally.

Always thank your donors and stay in touch

Many organizations have an automated thank you message sent when someone donates online. But that is not enough. Donors expect more from you. Send them a personalized thank you message. Tell them how their hard earned money that they donated to your organization will be spent and what kind of an impact their donation will have. Keep them updated on the impact of their donation. Pick up the phone and say thank you. On their birthday, call them and wish them a happy birthday and don’t ask for money. charity: water does this for their donors and it makes their donors feel appreciated and special. If you can’t afford to call all of your donors and wish them a happy birthday, no problem, send them a birthday e-card.

Move donors up the ladder

If you segment your donors right in a CRM, you will also get a complete snapshot of their giving levels, how often they donate, etc. This will give you the data you need to move them up the ladder. For example, when a donors contributes to your organization 4x a year or more, consider upgrading them to a monthly donor.

What are your favorite strategies to retain donors?

Ramp Up Fundraising & Monthly Giving with Social Media

Last week, Care2 held another great webinar about the benefits of cross-channel integration for nonprofits featuring Paul Habig of Sankynet, Sarah Alexander of Food & Water Watch, and Care2's own Eric Rardin.

Why should your organization integrate its donor channels?

-Increases donor response rate
-Increases the average gift
-Increases the long-term value of donors

Sankynet's Paul Habig provides tips for how to build social media into your email and website to spread your message, and how to identify the people on your email list that are on Facebook without annoying them. Food & Water Watch's Sarah Alexander sums up 10 key steps that your organization can take to launch an effective, well-integrated fundraising campaign.

For more tips like these, listen to the web recording here or view the slides below.

Monthly Donors, Social Media, and Cross Channel Integration: Critical Tactics to Boost Your Fundraising in 2013 from Care2Team

Don't forget to check out past presentations from Care2team.

Fresh, Innovative Ideas on Fundraising

Hey frogloop readers: Next week is one of the Care2 Team's favorite fundraising conferences: the DMA Nonprofit Federation's Washington Nonprofit Conference, and we hope to see many of you there! If you're not sure whether to attend, here are some great reasons to do so, from the DMA's Toni Cumberbatch:

Need fresh, innovative ideas to optimize your fundraising strategies? Then, make your way to the 2013 Washington Nonprofit Conference. Here are just a few of the benefits of attending:

• You’ll strengthen (and broaden) your knowledge of direct response fundraising. With 25 sessions to choose from, led by experts in nonprofit and commercial marketing, you’ll take away immediately actionable learnings.
• You’ll become more proficient in best practices in state-of–the-art fundraising. The fundraising gurus from HRC, Operation Smile, ASPCA, NAACP, St. Jude, and many others will share their knowledge.
• You’ll make valuable connections. From power networking events to a reception focused on critical legislative and regulatory issues affecting nonprofits … from the vendor hall to the mentoring opportunities … from the awards lunch to a small dinner, you’ll meet accomplished fundraisers with unique skills and experiences to share—a collaborative network you can tap long after the conference.
• You’ll help your company stay current. Many of the sessions will focus on interactive fundraising from small nonprofits, as well as large national nonprofits — and from the smartest and most creative minds in the industry.
• You can share what you learn after the conference. Combining your own notes and ideas with the session handouts provided by DMANF, you’ll have plenty of inspiration and information to share with your team when you return.
• The conference will help you earn your CFRE. Full participation in the conference is applicable for 7 continuing education points.
• The conference costs may be tax deductible. This conference is a continuing education expense taken to maintain and improve your professional skills, so the registration fees, travel, meals and lodging may be tax deductible.

So what are you waiting for? Register now for this insightful and engaging event. It’s a can’t miss!

Infographic: How To Create An Awesome Meme

Telling a good story is important to moving people into action. Amy Sample Ward and I talk about this in our book Social Change Anytime Everywhere, which is coming out next month. We have found that people respond best to advocacy campaigns that tell stories and use calls to action that connect with them on a human level. Basically skip the jargon, and talk to people like you were at an incredible dinner party. Unfortunately sometimes nonprofits are afraid to get creative, particularly when it comes to humor. Memes are a great way to talk about your issue and use humor to get your message shared. 

For example, if your nonprofit is going to experiment with creating a meme, it's worth noting the following data, according to this infographic How to Cook Up A Winning Meme that examimed over 100 sucessful memes from 1980 to today.

• 42% of memes are pictures
• 41% of memes are video and 29% orginated on YouTube.
• About 27% of memes orginated on websites and 14% on Reddit.
• Prior to 2011, male memes dominated, but in 2011 women memes began gaining more traction.
• Cats make up 7% of all animal memes, which are also quite popular. So if you are an animal welfare group like the Humane Society of the United States or have a connection to animals, this is especially important data.