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
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