Planning Your Membership CampaignUsing Fundraising Fundamentals

Presentation by Jessica Keenan Smith

My Background◦ 20+ Years in non-profit marketing

◦ Veteran of the Wharton External Affairs Department throughout the Penn Making History Campaign

◦ Founded online resource, LivingWellWithEpilepsy.com

◦ Currently acting as Director, Education and Member Svc. for American Neurological Association

Why Fundraising Fundamentals?

What to ExpectLearn about commonly used fundraising tools: ◦WIIFM Principle◦The fundraising life-cycle◦Donor pyramid◦Donor pipeline

And how they can make or break your membership marketing.

Fundraising vs Membership

Fundraising vs Membership RESONATE:

◦ Who is your audience and what is most important to them (not you)?◦ Is your content relevant and interesting?

EDUCATE:◦ What key metrics does your audience need/want information on?◦ Can you show measurable results—show how their support/ affected results?

ENGAGE & MOBILIZE:◦ Determine how your audience wants to communicate◦ Make it easy for them to act◦ Bear in mind environmental/community factors

The WIIFM

The WIIFM The basic principle of What’s In It For Me is inherent to both membership and fundraising.

◦ Today’s consumer is focused on ‘Me, Myself and I’

How to differentiate your association.◦ Elements of a great experience:

1. what customers see2. what customers hear3. what they smell4. what they touch5. how they are physically affected

The Cycle

Donor Life Cycle

Fundraising Basics Target the right prospects:

◦ Focused on renewals from the year before as our primary target market

Develop a strong case:◦ Worked with board members and committee leadership to clarify the needs of the membership

Custom approach:◦ Rather than mail hard copy invoices, we emailed the members directly and encouraged them to call if they preferred

a hard invoice.

Engage the right people:◦ We interacted with the members directly and engaged messaging from the president wherever possible.

Ask:◦ When necessary we encouraged board members to remind peers to renew

Keep donors engaged

Fundraising vs MembershipTarget

Prospects

Develop strong case

Custom approac

h

Engage the right peopleAsk

Say thanks

Keep donors

engaged

Fundraising

Target Audience

Tailor Messaging

Custom approach

Determine Recruitment

MethodAsk

Say Thanks

Keep members engaged

Membership

The Pyramid

Fundraising Pyramid

Engagement Pyramid

Fundraising Pyramid

Member Types vs Donor Types MEMBER TYPES Board Members Senior Fellows Fellows Members Corresponding Members Corresponding Fellows Academic Neurology Faculty Honorary Members

DONOR TYPES Board Members

Major donors

Alumni

Family of alumni

Prospective donors

Faculty and staff

Honorary degree holders

The Pyramid

The PipelineTier # of Members Needed Membership Type/Description Membership Fee Prospects Cumulative $ Amount Description

1 100 Members - PhD $150 400 $15,000 Untapped resource data to be built

1 100 Fellow $390 400 $39,000 Continue to build through Liaisons

1 200 Members - Assistant Professor $150 800 $30,000 1500 Residents in Database

2 100 Members Renewal $150 400 $15,000 Database Renewals

2 400 Fellow Renewal $390 1600 $156,000 Database Renewals

2 50 Corresponding Fellow Renewal $315 200 $15,750 Database Renewals

2 50 Corresponding Member Renewal $150 200 $7,500 Database Renewals

3 100 LYBUNT Fellows $390 400 $39,000 Last year but not this year

3 100 SYBUNT Fellows $390 400 $39,000 Some year but not this year

4 10 Corresponding Fellow $315 40 $3,150 New Corresponding

4 10 Corresponding Member $150 40 $1,500 New Corresponding

1220 $360,900

The Case

The Timeline In previous years, the association had leaned heavily on paper invoicing and had begun the process in January.

In 2013 we began the membership renewal process in November and leaned heavily on email correspondence.

I reviewed the full universe of members and segmented it into a reasonable pipeline/pyramid

We continued to message and pivot as needed throughout the year

The Results

The Results

Why it works◦ Maintain the long term view◦ Attend to short term goals◦ You can actually measure ROI◦ Retaining current donors saves money and builds reputation◦ Acquiring new donors is more costly

How you can start

Start with Data Who are your members?

◦ Age◦ Gender◦ Location◦ Interest◦ Length of time in the association◦ Level of seniority

More Data Who are your LYBUNTS?

◦ Last Year But Not This year

Who are your SYBUNTS?◦ Some Year But Not This year

Are renewals easier or more difficult than recruiting new members?

Even More Data Who are your Non-member Prospects?

◦ Is your prospect pool big enough◦ Do you need to think outside the box to recruit new members?

How many members did you have last year?

What % increase or decrease have you seen in membership?

Now the Budget

Then look at the budget How much did you earn in membership dues last year?

What about the year before?

Do you need to increase projections to pay for other programming?

How much did you bring in from each member type?

Are those numbers high enough? Could they be higher?

Build your pipeline Are there prospects you haven’t considered?

Is your association open to new membership categories?

How can you engage current members to bring in new members?

Layout a timeline Take a look at your communication timeline from start to finish

Plan out your membership communications (including email).

Make sure you are making the most of member benefits◦ Open and close of abstract deadlines◦ Award deadlines◦ Annual meeting registration

Don’t Forget Don’t lose sight of the WIIFM principle

Associations live and die by membership calendars.

But our members don’t think about the membership cycle at all. Nor should they have to.

It is our responsibility to remind them why they should renew or join.

Questions

Thank You

Jessica Keenan Smithtwitter.com/jessicaksmithLinkedin.com/in/jessicaksmith/livingwellwithepilepsy.commyana.org