DMAW Sustainer Day Cameron Popp, WETA September 20, 2018

Transcription

1 DMAW Sustainer Day 2018 Cameron Popp, WETA September 20, 2018

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3 What we know about WETA sustainers: Thousands 45 Unique sustainers by fiscal year 37,000 active sustainers $5,000, K $450,000+ monthly revenue K K 15 $600, K K K

4 Thousands Yearly sustainer growth since 2014 has accelerated K 7.8K K 1 2.2K 2.8K

5 Thousands FM Pledge But that growth is NOT evenly distributed by sustainer origin. 6 5 TV Pledge Other 4.2K 4.6K Online 4 Canvass 3 WETA Passport 1.5K 0.3K 0.7K 1.2K K 2.2K 1.8K 1.8K 1.2K

6 TV Pledge Premiums: Self-help Canvass Direct mail TM Web WETA Passport

7 A few depressing findings from a recent study of 115 nonprofits by NextAfter Fundraising Only 1/3 of organizations offer EFT payment on their forms. 58% of organizations did not change direct mail strategy for sustainers compared to onetime donors. Almost half made no attempt to recover a failed credit card payment.

8 Two ways we lose sustainers: Cancellations will happen Failures are a different story entirely

9 Stopping failures and limiting the damage of those that do fail is the best step for improving sustainer revenue retention. 1) Automatic credit card recycling 2) Stop-loss communications 3) EFT Conversion

10 Automatic credit card recycling at WETA 36% of failed sustainers automatically recaptured in FY18 6,200 sustainers automatically reinstated Annualized, that s $1.1 mm in revenue

11 Stop-loss program communications series 1 st month since failure 2x weekly recapture s In-house phone call from Sustainer Care Associate Concurrently running automatic recycler process 2 nd month since failure Weekly In-house phone call from Sustainer Care Associate Direct Mail reinstatement 3 rd month since failure Direct Mail reinstatement 4 th month since failure Writeoff

12 Stop-loss program results have we made a difference? 60% of eligible (non-recycled) failures recaptured 2,000 sustainers reinstated in FY18 Annualized, that s $300,000 in revenue

13 Sustainer recapture tracks closely with failures over time Sustainer Failures Sustainer Recaptures 0 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

14 % of sustainer failures recaptured over time 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% FY18 40% 30% FY17 20% 10% 0% Days since payment failure

15 In a single month, for every 1000 sustainers to WETA: 982 successfully charge 8 cancel 10 fail BUT, we recapture 6 of those 10

16 How important is EFT? Target Analytics benchmark survey for Public Broadcasting: First-year EFT sustainer retention is 79%. Credit cards retain at 55%. Bankrate.com survey: the average US adult keeps the same primary checking account for 16 years.

17 Make the Switch Campaign series, too.

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19 Make the Switch video

20 Make the Switch 198 total conversions to EFT. Promotion attracted 53 new sustainers. 44 monthly upgrades, as well. Adding retention plus upgrades results in 176% LTV boost for converted sustainers.

21 WETA s closely-held secrets for sustainer retention Don t lose them in the first place. If you do, get them back quickly.

22 Cameron Popp Director, Direct Response Fundraising

23 Sustainer Retention Beth Dahlman, Vice President

24 About M+R M+R is 140 smart people who mobilize supporters, raise money, and move the media, the public, and decision-makers to help nonprofits achieve real, lasting change. We work with a lot of great organizations tackling issues we care about like Planned Parenthood, Oxfam America, American Cancer Society, Feeding America, World Food Program USA and Union of Concerned Scientists.

25 Benchmarks + The 12th Benchmarks Study includes data from 9 sectors. + SO MUCH DATA. And pretty charts. And jokes. + We analyzed data from over 154 nonprofits. + Read the entire Study at mrbenchmarks.com

26 Why do sustainers lapse? First things first

27 They mostly* really like you One of our largest clients did an analysis and found that 85% of sustainer lapses were due to passive means (such as expired credit cards). Only 15% were proactive cancellations. *Donors recruited via incentive sites behave a lot differently than organic sustainers

28 Strategic Takeaways Two Guiding Principles for Sustainer Growth Over Time Make sure your tech is working for you You can probably ask for more

29 Keep them on the file Step One

30 If you only remember one thing about keeping sustainers on file: Credit. Card. Auto. Updater.

31 Encourage Sustainers to Give through EFT (bank account) or PayPal Or another system where you don t have to worry about expiring cards! + PayPal donors have tended to retain better than credit card donors + But watch out for fees and sometimes we see lower average gifts + PayPal might also improve mobile conversion

32 Follow Up For those who slip through the autoupdater cracks series for expired cards + Individual s (and calls too) if you can handle the volume + Usually easier to just start a new gift + Use opportunity to increase giving amount and/or switch to PayPal/EFT

33 The 15% Acknowledge and Thank Show Impact Great Customer Service

34 Common Practices

35 Dedicated Thank Yous Common Practices + Immediate receipt and thank you at start of gift + Some clients do monthly receipts + We don t have hard data on the impact on retention but it doesn t seem to hurt + Annual tax receipt or report of giving + Often combined with an appeal

36 Exclusive Content Common Practices + Special versioning in standard messaging + Dedicated branding for communications + Larger programs sometimes have dedicated publications that thank and report out results + Dedicated contact person

37 Abbreviated Appeals Schedule Common Practices + This is a common practice because we *think* it provides a better experience for supporters, but mostly untested! + Other experience suggests organizations likely could be more aggressive with asking for more

38 Newer Trends

39 Measuring Donor Satisfaction Newer Trends

40 Loyalty Building Language Newer Trends

41 New Tech Thank Yous Newer Trends New tech is making it easier to scale personal engagement + Text messaging and Peer-to- Peer texting tools + Direct to voic thank you calls

42 Under Exploration

43 Impact Ads Under Exploration Would showing monthly donors digital ads (Facebook, display, sponsored articles) that demonstrates impact improve retention over no ads or conversion-focused creative?

44 Data Modeling for More Tailored Experiences Under Exploration Use data modeling and other analysis to look at which donors are worth the effort to retain. Tailor additional offers such as pausing or downgrading gifts based on these.

45 Increase Value Step Two

46 If you only remember one thing about upgrades: Ask for more, and ask more often.

47 Remember they love you! + These donors tend to have higher engagement and commitment to your organization and mission -- if you have a clear need sustainers will likely be the first to want to help! + High response rates to appeals + Frequently they are giving *without* being asked

48 Upgrades: Two Ways Reply to this Pros: + Easy for donor + More personal interaction Cons: + Hard to scale due to extra staff work required Fill out this Form Seems to work as well as reply to but not aware of hard testing data + Pre-fill as much information as you can + How to present the upgrade amount is a good place for experimentation

49 Even more revenue! + Start a second sustaining gift + Would be the best fit if you have a special urgent need or a restricted fund of some kind + Tried with a client and found response rates were lower but average gift was much higher than a regular upgrade, overall revenue was roughly equivalent + Midlevel Ask + Starting around $100 a month most organizations coordinate with their midlevel giving programs on ask, incentives, benefits, etc.

50 Questions?