What’s hiding behind your petition?

Finding donors through advocacyGeoff Handy, Humane Society of the United

StatesSheetal Persaud, hjc

#bridgeconf

Why advocacy is powerful for fundraising

Strategies for:◦ Recruiting and cultivating advocates◦ Converting advocates into donors

What We’ll Cover

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Advocate to Donor > The Opportunity

The opportunity

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Action Takers are Stronger Prospects

Non-donors who’d taken action online were 2.3x more likely to donate than non-donors in the email file who hadn’t

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Action Takers are Stronger Donors

Source: Charitable Memberships, Volunteering and Discounts: Evidence from a Large-Scale Online Field Experiment. May 2009, National Bureau of Economic Research, A. Lange, A. Stocking.

“Advocates will donate. Donors will take action.”

Humane Society mantra

All HSUS Online Donors

Have acted

62%

Have not

38%

HSUS Online Donors ExcludingCrisis Donors

Have acted

85%

Have not

15%

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Giving money and taking action are similar

Both are valid ways to help any cause

Advocacy actions, and advocacy victories, “prime the pump” for appeals◦ They tie mission and giving together◦ They enable the motivated advocate to take

another step

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Source: Convio, 2002

Acquiring advocates Asking early Multi-channel

follow up

Test various channels and strategies◦ Organic (e.g., tell a friend)◦ Social media and mobile◦ Events◦ Paid

Capture the right information

We’ll also talk about how non-advocacy focused organizations can acquire advocates

Acquiring advocates

90,000 letters mailed

If you can find high quality lists – paid acquisition of advocates can pay off

Multiple benefits◦ list growth◦ prospect recruitment◦ branding◦ advocacy

Paid acquisition

Care2, change.org Facebook ads Google ads/adwords Email list rental Online display advertising

Sources for paid acquisition online

At least get: ◦ First Name, Last Name◦ Email +permission◦ Zip

Try for ◦ Phone (make it optional)◦ Full address

Collecting enough information

Can at least do an append on this data for address/phone (US only)

Advocacy has a fairly wide definition. It can be a non-political engagement activity too, e.g.:

◦ Pledges◦ Messages of support◦ Thank you’s

It does not mean you need to re-characterize your organization if you are a 501(c)(3) or registered charity

Everyone can grow an advocacy file

How to convert advocates into

donors

Ask early in the relationship

Tie your ask to the advocacy action, ideally

Ask for a lower donation amount if advocate doesn’t respond to traditional ask amount

Ask through multiple channels

Advocate-to-donor conversion

Acquiring advocates

Asking early

Multi-channel

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Ask early in the relationship Option 1: Ask immediately

◦ Take Action Tell a Friend Donate◦ Take Action Donate◦ Take Action Choice of options

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Ask early in the relationship Option 1: Ask immediately

◦ Take Action Tell a Friend Donate◦ Take Action Donate◦ Take Action Choice of options

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Works with paid acquisition, too...

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Ask early in the relationship Option 1: Ask immediately

◦ Take Action Tell a Friend Donate◦ Take Action Donate◦ Take Action Choice of options

$6,415 came from the thank you page and email

12% of total campaign revenue!

1.85% conversion rate

$30.99 average gift (ask was $25)

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Ask early in the relationship, cont’d

Option 2: Ask within days◦Email Welcome Series Generic Tailored to the action they joined on

◦ Follow-up Action Take 2nd Action Donate

◦ Follow-up Appeal The one-timemonthly one-two punch

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Ask early in the relationship, cont’d

Option 2: Ask within days◦ Email Welcome Series

Generic Tailored to the action they joined on

◦ Follow-up Action Take 2nd Action Donate

◦ Follow-up Appeal The one-timemonthly one-two punch

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Ask early in the relationship, cont’d

Option 2: Ask within days◦ Email Welcome Series

Generic Tailored to the action they joined on

◦ Follow-up Action Take 2nd Action Donate

◦ Follow-up Appeal The one-timemonthly one-two punch

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DAY 2 Welcome

email

DAY 5Action

number 2 + donation ask

DAY 10Survey email

Group 1 Day 12

Monthly ask

Group 2 Day 18

Monthly ask

Group 3 Day 25

Monthly ask

HSI Welcome test (bullfighting)

List Users%

Donors

% Sustaine

rs

Group 1 3092 0.36% 0.16%

Group 2 3097 0.29% 0.06%

Group 3 3088 0.29% 0%

TOTAL 9277 0.31% 0.11%

Serve as an engagement device Help you understand the

motivation/demographic of the audience◦ Collect more information

Serve as a great springboard to ask for donations

Surveys in welcome emails

Ask early in the relationship

Tie your ask to the advocacy action, ideally

Ask for a lower donation amount if advocate doesn’t respond to traditional ask amount

Ask through multiple channels

Advocate-to-donor conversion

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Several Options For large buckets of newly acquired

advocates, try a dedicated welcome series based on the issue they joined on◦ Can include monthly giving, one-time giving, micro-

donation asks, and peer to peer invitations

Group advocates into issue-oriented groups, and segment your appeals to drive response over time

Use transitional language to move advocates into your “regular” communication/appeal stream

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Several Options For large buckets of newly acquired advocates,

try a dedicated welcome series based on the issue they joined on◦ Can include monthly giving, one-time giving, micro-

donation asks, and peer to peer invitations

Group advocates into issue-oriented groups, and segment your appeals to drive response over time

Use transitional language to move advocates into your “regular” communication/appeal stream

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Case Study: HSUS Wildfires Appeal

Sent to 192,000 “horse responders”◦ This group includes all who have taken action on

horse-related issues Content focused on wildfires’ impact on

horses

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Case Study: HSUS Wildfires Appeal, cont’d

Results:◦ Sent to 192,000◦ Open rate: 25.3%

Average disaster appeal open rate: 8.5-12.5%◦ Donation rate: 0.66%

Average disaster appeal donation rate: 0.04-0.05%◦ Raised $94,000 from 1,413 donors

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Several Options For large buckets of newly acquired advocates, try

a dedicated welcome series based on the issue they joined on◦ Can include monthly giving, one-time giving, micro-

donation asks, and peer to peer invitations

Group advocates into issue-oriented groups, and segment your appeals to drive response over time

Use transitional language to move advocates into your “regular” communication/appeal stream

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Example for people who joined through our Spay Day photo contest:

◦ “Thank you for participating in the Spay Day Pet Photo Contest! We are thrilled that you have chosen to join our community - here's how you can help more animals today.”

Ask early in the relationship

Tie your ask to the advocacy action, ideally

Ask for a lower donation amount if advocate doesn’t respond to traditional ask amount

Ask through multiple channels

Advocate-to-donor conversion

Three emails sent to 1.04 million advocates who had not donated in previous 24 months

3,380 donations totaling $141,500 ◦ Avg. gift > $40◦ Gift range $5 - $500◦ Donation participation rate:

Results

Ask early in the relationship

Tie your ask to the advocacy action, ideally

Ask for a lower donation amount if advocate doesn’t respond to traditional ask amount

Ask through multiple channels

Advocate-to-donor conversion

Acquiring advocates Asking early

Multi-channel

follow up

Email and web asks can get you so far...

To secure higher rates of conversion, bring other channels into the mix

These usually perform much better than prospecting files

Multi-channel conversion

Direct mail

3.24% direct mail response rate$59 direct mail average giftAverage response on prospecting packages 0.30%

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DM – tied to advocacy

If you are testing advocate lists in direct mail, pick segments that have:◦ Voluntarily given a full address◦ Taken additional action (e.g., made comments)◦ Have taken action recently

DM conversion

Phone conversion - Pros Best way to secure monthly gifts

Can cost-effectively link scripts with online behavior

Can cost-effectively link calling windows with online outreach

Can convert advocates who haven’t made a donation online

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Phone conversion - Cons

Up-front costs

External vendor(s) plus staff time to hire, manage

Training of call center staff or volunteers

Technology (donation processing, managing data)

Monthly Response Rate

Avg. Monthly Gift

OTG Response Rate

Avg. Gift

Cost per Monthly

4.6% $16.40 2.5% $34.40 $296

Case Study Email welcome series followed by phone

call 6-8 weeks after action

Costs per monthly donor (primarily DRTV driven) :

1998 - $80 2008 - $300

Amnesty example - Competition

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Calling advocacy lists

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%18.50%

8%9%

11% Recent Lapsed Monthly DonorOnline Petition OnlyE-newsletter SubscriberLong Lapsed Montlhly Donor

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Cost per monthly donor $75.00 1000 phone calls – 74 monthly donors

giving $9.66 every month

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Case Study: HSUS Advocate Telemarketing

Goal: Convert online one-time donors and advocate non-donors into monthly sustainers

Process:◦ Newly acquired online names were first invited by

email to become monthly donors◦ Then we called them. Callers were segmented by

the campaign on which they joined

Campaign # Contacted

% Converted

Breakeven Point (in months)

Factory Farming 309 14.2% 5.8

Animal Fighting 1,028 11.3% 7.6

Seals/Fur 558 16.4% 6.5

Puppy Mills 946 18.0% 5.6

All Issues/General 9,043 9.2% 9.6

Case Study: HSUS Advocate Telemarketing, cont’d.

RESULTS

Conversion doesn’t always happen right away

Key is to keep them active with ongoing communication

Ongoing stewardship

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Key Take Away #1

When acquiring advocates:◦ Collect enough information◦ Acquire in multiple ways◦ Remember: Advocacy does not always need to be

political/policy oriented

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Key Take Away #2

Ask quickly◦ Make the ask part of the action◦ Make it high profile◦ Follow up with an email welcome series with an

ask as part of the emails

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Key Take Away #3

Relate the ask to the action◦ What brought this person to you? So what might

motivate them to give?

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Key Take Aways #4

When using direct mail to convert:◦ Integrate with advocacy◦ Test a campaign update◦ Mail as soon as possible after the advocacy action

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Key Take Aways #5

When using telemarketing to convert:◦ Push for monthly giving◦ Refine your scripts with your best lists◦ Call people as soon as possible after the advocacy

action

Thank you!

Don’t forget to visit the Solutions Showcase!

Many of the ideas discussed today are on display at the Solutions

Showcase! #bridgeconf