Recent Avectra Blog Posts

In January, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) began offering free admission and membership. Visitors can enroll as a DMA Friend, the museum’s new “platform for engaged participation.” In a paper presented at the Museum and the Web conference in April, DMA Deputy Director Robert Stein and Bruce Wyman of USD Design/Mach Consulting said:

“One of the underlying goals of the program is to create long-term relationships with visitors while offering them value and benefits tailored to their experience and engagement with the museum. This long-term connection and repeat participation is seen as key to establishing the hoped for relevance of the museum in the lives of visitors.”

Instead of a transactional business (and membership) model based on the exchange of money for services, DMA built a new model based on relationships. Since any membership priced less than $100 was a net loss for the museum, they’re now focusing on member participation, believing revenue will come from members’ deeper engagement with the museum.

Like associations, museums have long had a traditional and predictable membership structure. But in the past few years, museums like the Whitney and the DMA, have tried new approaches to maintain, grow and, hopefully, deepen connections with their audience. DMA still offers higher-priced membership levels, but the Friends program is a way for them to connect with entry-level members. Could your association offer something similar to those who aren’t currently interested in paying for traditional association membership benefits?

Points, perks and badges

By scanning their membership card at checkpoints throughout the museum or texting an activity code upon entering a gallery, DMA Friends earn points and digital badges for activities such as asking staff a question, visiting a specific gallery, taking a tour or attending an event.

Points can be redeemed for perks like free parking, admission to ticketed exhibitions, shopping and dining discounts and behind-the-scenes tours. They can even be used like cash to pay for higher levels of membership. Most of these perks cost nothing extra for the museum to provide.

In April, DMA director Maxwell Anderson said they were signing up an average of 84 new members a day — more than 90 percent of whom were new contacts in their database. Based on activities and point redemption history, DMA can now send these members targeted communications about exhibits and events that may appeal to them.

Data delivers insight and member delight

To measure audience or member engagement, museums, like associations, have traditionally relied on qualitative surveys requiring considerable staff or financial resources. In addition, “such qualitative analysis is frequently designed with specific questions in mind, making the discovery of new patterns of participation slow and cumbersome.”

The new Friends program allows DMA to collect not only demographic data on its visitors/members but also data about their interests and habits – where they’re swiping their card, how frequently and which perks they redeem. Because of this actionable, and often real-time, data, the museum can create opportunities to interact with members. For example, if they notice that a large number of Friends have swiped their card in a specific gallery, staff will send a text to them offering a guided tour.

Make the human connection

Stein and Wyman believe: 

“…the heart of any successful engagement is the individual human connection that can happen in the museum. In large museums, this individual attention can be difficult; therefore, this project sets its focus on building an institutional infrastructure that can support many kinds of participation without getting in the way of a great museum experience.”

Associations have the same challenge. A “one-size-fits-all” approach works administratively but does it work for members? How can you offer a more meaningful, valuable and personal membership experience given limited resources?

Like DMA, associations can leverage technology to collect and act upon member, attendee and website visitor data. By seeing what data reveals about behaviors and preferences, you can offer your members and audiences the level of programs, services and products that aligns with their needs, interests and habits while deepening their engagement with the association.

A free membership level, like DMA’s Friends, is a way to connect with non-members who aren’t willing or able to purchase a traditional membership. In exchange for basic benefits, you can learn more about them while becoming part of their life. Who knows where the relationship might lead!

Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who is a bit obsessed with the museum world.

Richard Davis, Chairman and CEO of Avectra, shares his news and views from inside Avectra, well as the association and nonprofit world at large.

Memorial Day is nearly here and that can only mean one thing – summer’s here! And so we begin to enjoy all the wonderful things about summer: great weather, outdoor pools, picnics, baseball, golf, vacations… Oh wait, vacations – that’s a double-edged sword. Everyone likes (and needs) to have a chance to get away to relax and recharge but for the people back at the office it can mean extra responsibilities, a heavy workload, and sometimes utter confusion.

Many of us now work with smaller workforces and sometimes I come across associations that have only one person (usually in Membership or IT) who has a complete and deep understanding of their CRM. Clearly that person never gets a vacation! Or, perhaps, the office doesn’t have one centralized system housing all their data, but different databases (or Excel spread sheets) where different departments enter and maintain (probably different) data. That’s when you really wish you had the Power of One working for you.

With all of your member or donor data in one system, updates are entered in one place, saving numerous hours of staff time. There’s also a much better chance that your data is clean, current, and consistent. And that brings me back to the vacation dilemma – more people in your organization will know how to use your “one” system, so everyone gets a turn at enjoying a worry-free vacation.

And if any (or all) of your staff need training on your Avectra Social CRM before, during, or after Summer, we can help. We offer SWAT training days held at our offices or, if you prefer, we’ll bring our trainers to you. For example, last week we had an Avectra trainer conducting a SWAT day for a group in Michigan (see photo below).

Speaking of training and education, our recent presentations on our exclusive member/donor metrics tool, the Avectra A-Score™, at the AFP and NTEN conferences last month generated a great deal of interest. If you would like to learn more about them we have information and resources on our website.

Another fundraising concept we’ve been championing at industry events and via webinars, is crowd-contributing. If you missed our presentation on IdeaStarter™ when it launched at AUDC in March, or during presentations at AFP and NTEN, you can learn more about it by taking part in an upcoming webinar.

Building on the strength of crowd-funding, IdeaStarter is an exciting new way to raise more than just funds to get your project underway. It’s suitable and available to anyone with an idea they want to get started – an established organization with a special project or annual campaign, a local volunteer group, or an individual.

It can be all too easy during the summer to relax just a little too much and allow your mind to stagnate. What’s the perfect way to keep your mind active, while at the same time gaining some insights and new knowledge you can put to work at your organization? How about learning about a new industry trend, or taking a fresh new look at something already established. We have many resources from whitepapers and webinars to infographics and blog posts just waiting to be downloaded or accessed on your tablet to look at on a plane, train or beach.

And these days, industry events don’t pause for summer, and neither do we. Please visit our website for the current schedule of which nonprofit events and association events we’ll be attending in the upcoming months. Industry events are such a great time to catch up with old friends and meet new ones, as well as learning of the latest trends. I hope to see you at one soon.

We love to know what you’re interested in right now, so be sure to follow us on Social Media and share your thoughts with us:  Facebook      Twitter     LinkedIn     Blog

 Participants at our recent SWAT Day in Michigan.

 

 

You may remember that back in March, NTEN and Avectra partnered to conduct a research project to learn how today’s associations and nonprofits are managing their constituent, donor and member engagement data.

 You told us how you track and use your engagement data – that is, the actions, interactions and even conversations that you have with your constituents. This engagement data represents all the actions that occur outside of the typical (transactional and financial) data that are traditionally used for measuring and determining an organization’s health.

This first stage of the research was a short online survey of over 200 communications and fundraising professionals from nonprofits and associations. The accompanying infographic gives you an early sneak peak of the results of this survey. A more extensive report will be available soon.

Stay tuned for news of the next stage of the study, where we ask a select group of organizations about how they manage their data process internally.

We’d like to thank all of our survey participants who made this study possible. With your help we hope to share some real-world “case studies” of the data management practices, challenges, and success stories from the association and nonprofit world.

(Click image and zoom to enlarge)

Social media is no longer a “new and shiny” tool. Rather, organizations are setting goals and creating strategy for its use. The following statistics from the 2012 Nonprofit Social Benchmark Report are noteworthy and demonstrate continued growth in social media channels:

· 98 Percent of respondents have a presence on Facebook;

· The average respondent’s Facebook & Twitter communities grew by 30 and 81 percent respectively;

· Budgets and staffing for commercial social networks continue to climb and 28 percent of respondents “created a new social media position” to focus on their program.

The growth of social media impacts the success of peer-to-peer fundraising because event participants use social media to promote their own efforts. Participants “crowd source” funds through social media by telling friends and family why they’re raising money for a cause. An established nonprofit presence in social media will serve to strengthen such peer-to-peer efforts.

The use of peer-to-peer platforms to raise money also continues to gain traction. According to the Run Walk Ride Fundraising Council, the top thirty “thon” fundraising programs raised $1.68 billion in 2012. Yet there remains plenty of room for expansion. Run Walk Ride Fundraising Council President David Hessekiel explains: “Double-digit growth by programs in the middle and lower reaches of the Run Walk Ride Thirty Survey show that there is still substantial room for growth in this field.”

How might you join the growth in peer-to-peer fundraising? To start, make sure you have the basics in place.

Choose your platform. Explore in-house options available through your CRM or consider a standalone platform such as Avectra’s crowd-contributing Idea Starter™.

Rob Wu of Causevox recommends asking the following questions when choosing your platform:

· Can you customize the platform for branding?

· Is the platform easy to use?

· Are there content creation tools to help you optimize your search engine optimization (SEO)?

Create a tangible fundraising message that is consistent with your brand and packed with emotional punch! What’s compelling about your cause? An irresistible message is the only way people will notice your campaign.

Prioritize reach. Robert Wolfe, Co-founder of Crowdrise reminds us: “No one will attain reach without participants having an audience for their broadcast…While it’s important to know how to tell your story, as noted above, it’s essential to tell your story to as many people as possible.”

Use social media to broaden your nonprofit’s reach and broadcast individual peer-to-peer fundraisers’ stories. Develop a plan to support your peer-to-peer fundraising efforts including:

· Schedule recurring blogs about your “Team’s” campaign and progress toward its goals, key messages, use of funds, and emotional stories from your participants.

· Recognize individual efforts, especially the “champions”, who are building a team and wide constituent network on social media platforms.

· Not all participants will understand how to tell their story via social media. Offer suggestions and tips to help them reach their friends and potential supporters.

· Use your Social CRM to monitor the feedback and comments received from nonprofit posts about the campaign and on participants’ fundraising pages. Who are these new supporters? Integrate this information into your donor database.

Peer-to-Peer fundraising is about creating a platform for your most involved supporters to share their passion and generate awareness of your nonprofit. Through social media, participants create a community that offers their friends a way to become part of the solution. Although the “cat is already out of the bag” with many nonprofits already successfully using peer-to-peer fundraising events (see list below), there’s still plenty of opportunity to activate your own peer-to peer network using social media.. Join in!

 

The top ten programs by total gross revenue in 2012 were: 

1. $407.5 million – Relay for Life, American Cancer Society
2. $126. 8 million – Race for the Cure, Susan G Komen for the Cure
3. $107.0 million – March for Babies, March of Dimes
4. $97.8 million – Heart Walk, American Heart Association
5. $82.3 million -  Bike MS, National MS Society
6. $81.0 million – Walk to Cure Diabetes, JDRF
7. $77.4 million – Team In Training, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
8. $68.0 million – Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, American Cancer Society
9. $60.6 million – Jump Rope for Heart, American Heart Association
10. $57.5 million – 3-Day for the Cure, Susan G. Komen for the Cure

 Published by the Run Walk Ride Council.

Top thirty list.

Becoming a digital association is not for the weak of heart, but, the prognosis for your association is gloomy if you don’t.

At the digitalNOW conference, I learned about an association that is in the midst of making that transition – the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). Stephen J. Welch, Senior Vice President, Communications at ACCP, walked us through their journey so far. He said, “The heavy lifting is yet to be done” and it’s going to be more expensive than they initially projected, but their board is still “on board.”

The online world is changing everyone’s habits and expectations, and doctors have been quick to adjust. In late 2011, ACCP conducted a readership survey and found that 65 percent of their members had, or were planning to have, an iPhone and 59 percent  had, or were planning to have, an iPad by the end of 2012.

The Amazon model – the knowing portal — has also set new expectations for online experiences. We’re used to seeing targeted and personalized communication, advertisements and search results, even though the platforms don’t always get it right – I’m talking about you, Facebook.

ACCP saw other changes in their industry. Healthcare professionals had more demands on their time, and their pay was decreasing due to cuts in reimbursements. Members were moving to a continuous educational update model, instead of taking a test every ten years. It was time for ACCP to make some big changes.

ACCP’s goal: Develop an integrated and personalized online experience across all platforms to inform, engage and empower their customers and bring them a one-stop knowledge portal.

They set out to make these changes to:

• Make it easy for members and customers to find the right information.
• Provide value that meets their needs in a changing educational environment.
• Cut through the noise to provide “must-have” engagement opportunities.
• Create a one-stop shop for education, maintenance of certification, content, research and other relevant information that’s accessible anytime, anywhere via digital delivery.

At the outset, they underwent an IT audit and identified areas of weakness that needed to be addressed through a technology strategy. Then, they created a plan to completely overhaul their IT infrastructure and platforms to revamp their ability to develop, store and deliver content with a digital-first approach.

They developed a content strategy with the aim of reinforcing their core value proposition, positioning ACCP as the leading source of educational content for their industry and increasing collaboration. They’re using a unified taxonomy based on the ACCP education curriculum.

They are rebuilding their technology infrastructure from the ground up and moving as much as they can to the Cloud. Stephen said, “When you build a house, you put in the foundation first — the AMS. However, pressures from our leadership and membership dictated that we build the rooms first and add the foundation later.” They’re in the process of migrating to their new foundation, Avectra Social CRM.

The “rooms” (integrated platforms) of their new “house” are:

• MemberFuse-powered online community launched in March 2012. Member use and engagement continues to grow. They’re developing content around case discussions. The mobile-optimized version of the ACCP e-Community launched last December.
• Content management system and website with integrated search: all sites will be mobile-optimized, moving ACCCP toward their “information anytime, anywhere” goal.
• Public education website.
• iPhone and iPad apps.
• Multimedia publications site with improved search, browse and “related content” recommendations.
• Learning management system for educational content delivery, online learning, testing and assessment.Web-based quality improvement tool for chest physicians to help them improve their practice through the application of data reports and peer comparisons. Stephen said, “Data is key to ACCP’s future endeavors. It’s the building block in our “essential resource” concept.

 They’re moving forward in phases and making progress. “We are doing it backwards, but it’s working,” said Stephen.

Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who loves seeing associations moving forward even when the path is twisty.

We all know that there are a number of tools out there to raise funds – whether it’s to recruit volunteers, raise funds for a special gala, a walk-a-thon, or a capital campaign. Avectra recently launched IdeaStarter™ to offer organizations and fundraisers a free peer-to-peer option to raise time, money and resources for their cause, and that is just one example of a tool to use. But, it’s not just about the technology or HOW you raise the money. It’s about what you can do to humanize and acknowledge the people working hard to reach your nonprofit’s goal, whatever it may be.

Have you really thought about how to reward, recognize and strengthen relationships with those people working so hard to raise money, gather volunteers and other resources for your organization?

Individuals who participate in peer-to-peer fundraising efforts are very special people.  Indeed, they really are!  Acting independently, these participants dedicate resources, time and themselves to your mission.  They’re both super heroes and “connectors”, spreading your story across their networks while often participating in a rigorous event. Participants trust that your nonprofit is making a difference and wisely allocating resources to advance mission.  So what are you doing to deserve this trust and help your peer-to-peer fundraisers attain their goals?

Here’s a look at five ways some of the most successful nonprofits in peer-to-peer fundraising strengthen these relationships.

1. Offer different types of peer-to-peer events

The American Cancer Society has a “Relay for Everyone” since “(the relay’s) greatest power lies in the synergy created by all of the Relay events taking place worldwide – in more than 5,200 communities and 20 countries…each year more than 4 million people…take part.”

2. Encourage individuals to create their own events and offer tools to help. After all, not everyone wants to run a marathon!  The Susan G. Komen Foundation offers “Passionately Pink for the Cure” with a page that shares instructions for creating a fundraiser.

3. Give participants the “Why”, not just the  “Ask”

The National MS Society offers a “personalized tool kit” for helping individuals express why “they connect” with MS: for example, “I connect because my aunt lives with MS and she’s always been an inspiration.”  The society also provides engaging information about MS so participants can speak intelligently about the cause.

4. Help “spread the word”

The March of Dimes’ annual “March for Babies” provides participants with an excellent list of options for telling their story and expanding reach by “adding dynamic fundraising badges, banners and more to your blog, website or email signature.  Use mobile device and social media to increase your reach.  We have tips on how to get started….” What a plethora of options!

5. Champion your champions

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society pulls out all the stops to make a participant’s training exciting, fun and well-supported: “Once you sign up, you’ll be training with our huge network of certified coaches who will have weekly group runs with you and your team. You’ll even have mentors for fundraising support as well as your own website for online fundraising.”   Further they understand that life is busy and demanding and, therefore, offer additional training options for encouraging participation:

Many nonprofits will host special events for “Team” captains to assure an active rapport with these “connectors”.  Offering prizes and awards are another way to add spunk to individual efforts.  Children’s Hospital of Colorado Foundation awards special biking gear to recognize repeat riders in its “Courage Classic”. In turn, participants appreciate (and hopefully share!) the recognition for their efforts.

Peer-to-peer fundraising is all about strengthening and broadening relationships. In addition to clear social media goals, take care of those champions that are telling your story!

Amy S. Quinn is a published author and freelance writer focused on innovation in the non-profit sector.

If you haven’t jumped on board with a Peer-to-Peer fundraising program, it’s never too late since this platform capitalizes on a core reason many people make donations: trust.   The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as first: “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed.”

At the core of peer-to-peer fundraising, individuals are asking family, close friends and even acquaintances to take their hard-earned cash and support a cause they may or may not know much about.  What supporters do know is that the participant who is raising money believes strongly in the cause.  Why else would someone “go out on a limb” and ask for a monetary gift in addition to run a marathon, walk sixty miles, and or shave their head for charity.  Asking for money and committing to a peer-to-peer fundraising event is not for the faint of heart!

Giving on behalf of “personal ties” is a widely recognized behavior segment.  In “Money For Good” published by Hope Consulting, “personal ties” is one of six segments defining “why people give”. Further, it’s often the reason many nonprofits become established! Founders who want to address a need or improve the world ask family and friends for help.  Eventually as the nonprofit grows it moves beyond this initial circle of supporters, but in the beginning, a trusted circle of relationships form the foundation of giving.

Peer-to-peer fundraising platforms embody a similar process and level of trust which is amplified through social media. They communicate their “truth,” the “why I’m doing this” story, to potential supporters and back it up with action.  In return donors appreciate the sincerity of the Ask and feel connected on an emotional level to a cause.

Trust comes full circle, too.  When an individual is willing to participate in a peer-to-peer event, not only do they believe in a cause, but they are also demonstrating their confidence in the nonprofit and its work.  In some ways the ubiquitous ribbon used for all types of peer-to-peer events is a visual for this symbiotic relationship.

Individuals championing your cause are very special fundraisers.  They enable relationships between multiple individuals and a nonprofit based on trust and the belief that a nonprofit is doing good work. With today’s social media platforms, they access a “crowd” to spread their story and evangelize about the nonprofit’s mission.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher and poet, said, “Trust Men (and Women) and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.”  As you develop your peer-to-peer fundraising programs, remember the power and potential of these relationships.

Amy S. Quinn is a published author and freelance writer focused on innovation in the non-profit sector

National Volunteer Week is an annual celebration of the contributions volunteers make to their organizations and communities.  

And it started on Sunday. What’s that I hear?

“Oh crap, I missed it again?!? Arrgh, it’s already halfway over!”

Fear not. It’s all fixable. Here’s what you do. Pick and choose.

1. Be prepared for 2014. This one’s mandatory: mark your calendar with next year’s dates, April 6-13, 2014. Later, develop a plan of action and timeline leading up to that week.

2. Send out the alarm. Immediately let all staff know it’s National Volunteer Week, so they can express their personal thanks when talking to members.

3. Personal thank-you emails. Ask any staff who works with committees and other volunteers to send a personal thank-you email to them. These questions might help them come up with a message:

• How do those members help move the association toward its goals?
• How do they help you get your job done?
• What do you love most about working or meeting with them?
• When you think about the time they take away from their jobs and families to do association work, what thoughts come to mind?
• What group activity, event or accomplishment do you look forward to in the coming year?

4. Website home page. Grab some home page real estate on your website and beg someone to create a thank-you graphic. As much as I hate suggesting this, if you don’t have the talent on staff or the budget to outsource it, consider a crowdsourcing site like Fiverr. Sorry, designer friends, I’ll never suggest that again, but we’ve got an emergency here!

5. Newsletters. Find out what newsletters and other communications are scheduled for email this week. Can you insert a thank-you message in any of them?

6. Social media updates. Ask your social media colleagues if they can schedule a few thank-you updates for the rest of the week. Make it easy for them by providing sample copy they can edit.

7. Blog posts. Write and publish a blog post about the impact volunteers make on the association and its community. If you can, get someone else to do the same, or interview them and write the post yourself.

8. Videos. Do you have a video camera? Go around the office asking your colleagues what volunteers mean to them, or use the questions above. Post the video on your YouTube channel, get the link out via scheduled email blasts or social platforms, and post it on your home page.

9. Arts and crafts for office creatives! Make cards, signs or art projects to photograph and post on Instagram, Pinterest and other online platforms.

10. Blast thank-you email. If you track volunteer activity in your AMS, send a special email to all your volunteers – not only the ones on committees, but anyone who has helped at an event or with other activities.

11. Special treatment. If there’s a smaller group of volunteers who have gone above and beyond, send them a small gift. Even a Starbucks card will put a smile on their face. Or give them a special promo discount code to use as they wish.

12. Postpone. If you’re in hair-on-fire mode and there’s no way you can do any of these things, that’s all right. Schedule your own Volunteer Week at a more convenient time. But if you do that, make sure you do it every year.

Don’t wait for Volunteer Week to show your appreciation. Encourage everyone to get in the habit of thanking volunteers throughout the year. Even better, show your appreciation in other ways:

• Give volunteers the tools and support they need to get their work done.
• Prevent “martyr syndrome” by encouraging leaders to delegate work and train others to follow in their footsteps.
• Provide opportunities for volunteers to learn new skills and stretch their comfort zones.

Peggy Hoffman at Mariner Management says this week is a good time “to reflect on what volunteering means to your organization. How is it working for your organization, for you as a volunteer manager, for your volunteers, for your mission? What needs to be changed? What can be changed?”

How can you encourage more members to volunteer? I don’t mean volunteer for committee service, but rather any short-term or ad-hoc task — micro-volunteering. Many members have no desire to serve on a committee, but they’re just waiting for someone to ask them to contribute in a way that works with their lifestyle and schedule.

Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who always forgets about National Volunteer Week until Peggy Hoffman reminds her.

 

Mastering the basics is always a good strategy for improving results. For retaining donors, the three most recognized prerequisites are:

• Thoughtful and timely recognition;
• Clear and compelling definition of how donations will be spent;
• A compelling impact story about how gifts make a difference and advance mission.

These are the Big Three, the big “Kahuna” to reel in on your fishing line of donor loyalty.

Yet relationships are not always straightforward. They require time to grow and only develop when intentions are genuine. Both sides need a sincere interest in each other. Furthermore, “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”¹ Donor relationships thrive on recognition and genuine emotions. Isn’t this true for our friendships, too?

 In that regard, here are some additional answers to the quest for donor loyalty. Even if you’ve done well executing on the basics, pay attention to these suggested nuances for stronger relationship growth.

Know a donor’s history with accuracy. Make sure the Ask string and communication is appropriate with the life stage of this donor. Use your CRM to track interactions and automate processes so the right actions occur for each and every donor.

Segment messaging and content. There’s nothing worse than receiving information that doesn’t match your interests, such as sending dog lovers information about cats. As Kivi Leroux Miller, author of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide, said in a recent workshop, “Phenomenal content will draw people to your organization!”

Respond with the right channels. Although donors might use multiple channels dependent upon the situation, they usually have a preferred channel (including offline options for older generations). Absolutely remember to include Social Media as a channel, since, it continues to expand exponentially (Twitter Followers experienced a 264 percent increase!²).

Ask! If you don’t know which channel donors prefer, or what other interests they have in your cause, ask them! And ask early – right at the beginning of the relationship so you can get things straight. Remember, if you ask, you must respond with the right actions! So make sure you can deliver on your promises. If you cater to preferences from the beginning, supporters will notice.

Create Memories! Life is busy for everyone. When creating events and designing communications, make the interaction fun and interesting. We only have so much “bandwidth”. Creative outreach will keep donor attentions satisfied.

Share Community. Consider what being a member of your nonprofit community might mean to a supporter. Everyone likes to feel included and a part of something bigger than they can achieve individually. Utilize social media to expand the network and make supporters feel included.

I hope that you’ll review and “noodle” these suggestions for retaining donors. Consider what else is possible to cultivate these dear relationships. In all cases, like friendship, cherish your donors, big and small, and the same will come back to you and your organization.

 

 

Amy S. Quinn is a published author and freelance writer focused on innovation in the nonprofit sector.

 Notes:

¹Pg 155, quote of William James, Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi;

²“2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study”; M+R Strategic Services and NTEN

We complain about cable companies, but they have more subscription options than associations have membership options. When you join an association, you usually have one option for membership that’s defined by your place within an industry or profession – industry professional, vendor or student. 

However, when you sign up for cable, you can stick to the basic package or add HD, premium, sports, international or other packages to it. Like associations, you get a lot of channels (benefits) you never use, but with the emergence of new disruptive TV technology, that may change one day.

If you belong to an association, think about your membership. Does it completely fit you? Are you taking advantage of all the benefits offered? Don’t you wish you could choose a membership plan that better reflected your behavior and needs?

I started thinking about these questions after attending a digitalNOW session by Sheri Jacobs, CAE, President and CEO of Avenue M Group. Sheri introduced me to a membership structure I had never seen before – one based on the member’s desired experience: Whitney Museum’s Curate Your Own Membership (CYOM).

Whitney members start with the Core Benefits for $85. They can add one of the CYOM series (for $40 each) to their membership:

• Social – invitations to receptions/exhibition previews and other city cultural events along with guest passes
• Insider – behind-the-scenes tours, gallery talks and presentations plus quarterly recommendations from curators and art insiders about city cultural activities
• Learning – invitations to lecture series, educational emails and preferred registration for public programs
• Family – admission to family programs, Kids Passport, half-off stroller tours and guest passes

As I listened to Sheri’s presentation, I kept thinking, “I would love my art museum to do this. Heck, I would love my associations to do this.” 

Changing membership at the Whitney

On the Museum 2.0 blog, Nina Simon asked Kristen Denner, Whitney’s Director of Membership and Annual Fund, about this new model:

“We wanted to find a way to really connect with our members and understand what experiences they value most at the Whitney. And we also wanted to respond to the general consumer desire for customization. I think museum visitors are ready and eager for museums to catch up to retail and the for-profit world and recognize them as individuals rather than homogeneous groups.”

Doesn’t this make a lot of sense when you substitute “museum visitors” with “association members?”

Here’s the thing: this interview is from September 2010. Is the Whitney that much ahead or are we just woefully behind?

The transition to CYOM began with focus groups to learn about the types of experiences that current and prospective members would value as part of membership. A cross-departmental team identified unmet needs and created new benefits to meet those needs.

They hoped this new approach would allow them to tailor their enewsletters and invitations to different membership segments and, most importantly, foster an emotional connection with members.

One year later, Denner said, “We far exceeded our goals for the first year and we are seeing a higher level of engagement from our members.” You can read another interview with Denner at Associations Now. 

What about associations?

Following the Whitney’s example, identify the behavior, needs, desires and interests of your members and prospects. Asking questions like “What do you want to get out of your membership?” may not be enough; look at their behavior both inside and outside the association. What experiences do they value? How can you provide those experiences?

What do your members and prospects care about?

• Keeping up on news? Learning? Keeping their license up to date?
• Volunteering? Being a leader? Being an advocate?
• Hanging up a membership certificate?
• Finding a mentor? Helping others?
• Meeting peers? Meeting leads? Socializing?
• Entering or transitioning into your industry? Getting a job? Getting ahead?

Do members who live near your headquarters have a different membership experience than those who live far away? Do members want a virtual or face-to-face experience or both? A passive or active experience?

How do they like to spend their free time? Many associations shy away from anything having to do with the “personal,” but many members may not mind mixing personal with professional, especially given life’s time constraints.

Just as your members have different TV viewing habits, they have different associating habits too. It’s time to think about offering a new menu of membership experiences based on what different segments of your membership value the most. 

Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who is thinking about the membership benefits and experiences she values most.