National Geographic Society:

Engaging New Donors at an Established Nonprofit

Sarah Stallings, Kerri Kerr, Margot O’Leary

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Sarah StallingsDirector, Annual GivingNational Geographic Society

Kerri KerrSenior Vice PresidentAvalon Consulting Group

Margot O’LearyAccount DirectorAvalon Consulting Group

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Our Challenge …

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Grow the National Geographic Society’s annual philanthropic revenue.

Optimize long-term member value and engagement to create a robust and healthy pipeline of committed prospects for Major Giving and Planned Giving … without negatively impacting Magazine renewal rates.

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Our Solution:Contributing Membership

Contributing Membership: A Pipeline to Higher Level Giving

Membership plays a vital

role in the overall

fundraising continuum:• Revenue Diversification

• Supports the Mission

• Major Donor Pipeline

Planned Gifts

Major Donors

Renewed Contributing Members

New Contributing Members

Prospects

General Public

To get major and planned

gifts, you must build up the

donor pyramid.

Why Direct Mail and not all Online?

98% are raising no revenue

on social media

Online up 8.9% in 2014Blackbaud 2014 Charitable Giving Report

Less than 10% of giving is online

Direct mail is 80%

32% of online donors will

give offline the next year

Direct Mail: Effective and Trustworthy

“93% of individual

donations still come through

traditional offline

channels.”

- The Next Generation of American Giving: The Charitable Habits of

Generations Y, X, Baby Boomers and Matures, Blackbaud

Direct Mail: Effective and Trustworthy

Acquisition cut

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Consistent investment over time is the key to steady growth.

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Build a multi-channel Contributing Membership program to complement existing National Geographic marketing efforts with consistent messaging and offer.

Incorporate best practices of nonprofit membership organizations that will build upon, not compete with, the best practices of multi-media content.

Define and develop ‘metrics for success’ that will help benchmark our progress.

Generate actionable test results to inform future strategy.

Our Path

Benefits-Based/Tiered Membership

Model

Messaging is based on benefits and “what’s in it for me?”

To be successful, benefits must offer real value

More dependent on key events and insider access

Results in a more transactional relationship, especially at lower giving levels

Tends to result in more marginal

commitment and lower retention rates

Institutional messaging focuses on mission

Tangible need drives the philanthropic case for support

More investment in educational materials required to inform members on need

Benefits (if any) still support—but don’t drive—retention

Results in a stronger member relationship

with the organization and higher retention

Messaging:

Finding the right balance between a benefits-based and mission-based case for support

Mission-Based Membership Model

Mission-Based

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Pilot Acquisition Campaign:Creative

Pilot Acquisition Campaign: Creative Approach

Concept #1: Letter from the Field/Photopak

Concept #2: RSVP/Invitation

No premiums were offered in either package since donors recruited

via premium incentives tend to exhibit weaker long-term value than

those responding to a purely philanthropic offer.

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Pilot Acquisition Campaign:Data

Data: Direct Mail Universe

Direct Mail Control universe

• Broad select including National Geographic magazine actives with 60-89 age overlay, plus

Digital Member & Expedition Traveler lists

• Response model to be built for future mailings

List Selection Net Mailed

House List

Control Fundraising Universe Response Model Build 165,904 Digital Members 0-48 mo. Last order, with mailable address 17,560 Digital Members with mailable address 4,619 Expedition Travelers 0-48 months 4,967 Nat Geo Mag Subscriber. Abacus 1+NP trans 0-24 mo 3x+ paid trans 0-12 mo 4,504 Nat Geo Mag Subscriber. Abacus 1+NP trans 0-24 mo 2x paid trans 0-12 mo 8,087 Nat Geo Mag Subscriber. Abacus 1+NP trans 0-24 mo 1x paid trans 0-12 mo 21,887 Nat Geo Mag Subscriber. Abacus 1+NP trans 0-24 mo 0 paid trans 0-12 mo 21,669 Raiser's Edge Lapsed Donors 12,217 TOTAL 261,414

Data: Email Universe

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Pilot Acquisition Campaign: Results

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Today

Any Guesses???

Results: Direct Mail

RSVP package beat From the Field package at a 99% statistical confidence level:

• 290% stronger response rate

• 26% cheaper package

• $53.72 cost to acquire was well within acceptable range to allow the National Geographic

Society to return the investment within 2-4 years (industry standard).

• Strong initial average gift translates into higher long-term value

Every list performed better in the RSVP package

Winner!

Package Net Response Average Gross Total Net Net/

Mailed Rate Gifts Gift Income Cost Income Donor

From the Field 130,707 0.10% 141 $56.14 $7,916 $63,804 ($55,888) ($396.37)

RSVP/Invitation 130,707 0.39% 508 $45.76 $23,244 $50,535 ($27,291) ($53.72)

RSVP email raised more revenue and recruited 207% more new Contributing

Members

From the Field email had higher open and click-through rates; however, RSVP

had higher conversion rate and that was the main goal of the campaign.

QTY RESP. GIFTS AVG. FULFILLED TOTAL NET Net/

SENT RATE GIFT REVENUE COST REVENUE DONOR

From the Field 640,302 0.01% 42 $83.69 $3,515 $3,504 $11 $0.26

RSVP 640,894 0.02% 129 $40.84 $5,268 $3,497 $1,746 $13.53Winner!

Results: Email

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Results were higher than expected and had great potential.

Initial campaigns brought in 820 new donors – doubling the

number of existing donors in the program.

Pilot Acquisition Campaign: Overall Findings

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Now What …

Next Steps: Convert these new joins into appeal and

renewal responsive NGS Contributing Members.

• Direct mail

Acquisition

Additional gift appeal asks for new

Contributing Members from pilot campaign

Renewal ask for existing Contributing

Members

Reinstatement ask for recently lapsed (1 year)

Contributing Members

• Email

Corresponding e-campaigns to match direct

mail campaigns

Stand-alone and cultivation campaigns

Solidify Retention via Direct Mail

Appeal (New Joins from Pilot Campaign)

Very successful Annual Fund technique to new

joins from the October-2013 pilot acquisition

campaign:

12% response rate (2-4% industry

standard)

Strong $74 average gift indicating high-

value, appeal-responsive file.

Strong response immediately following

recruitment bodes well for subsequent

giving & strong retention.

Solidify Retention via Direct Mail

Renewals/Reinstatement

Two effort annual series to existing Contributing Members yielded expectedly softer response rates.

Average gift high with one $1,000 gift demonstrating potential for major donor upgrading.

Solidify Retention via Email

eAppeal(new joins from pilot campaign)

eRenewal/eReinstatement

Build on Prior Acquisition Testing

RSVP Control

RSVP winner of pilot campaign

message testing & the new “control.”

Test #1: Control w/ RSVP Teaser Only

To boost the control’s response rate, a

panel with only the RSVP teaser was

tested against the control.

RESULT: Tests wins with a 20% higher

response rate.

Build on Prior Acquisition Testing

Test #2: Control with Labels

To determine whether the inclusion of

self-addressed mailing labels would

boost the response, a panel was also

tested against the control.

RESULT: Control remains due to

higher cost of the labels.

Validate Returns from NGS Models

Decile Quantity Gifts Income Resp. Rate Avg. Gift $/M CPM Net/M NPD Total Cost Net

1 7,795 53 $2,375 0.68% $44.81 $305 $375 ($70) ($10.34) $2,923 ($548)

2 7,795 33 $1,550 0.42% $46.97 $199 $375 ($176) ($41.61) $2,923 ($1,373)

3 7,796 17 $600 0.22% $35.29 $77 $375 ($298) ($136.68) $2,924 ($2,324)

4 7,795 17 $645 0.22% $37.94 $83 $375 ($292) ($134.01) $2,923 ($2,278)

5 7,795 11 $380 0.14% $34.55 $49 $375 ($326) ($231.19) $2,923 ($2,543)

6 7,796 14 $535 0.18% $38.21 $69 $375 ($306) ($170.61) $2,924 ($2,389)

7 7,796 13 $490 0.17% $37.69 $63 $375 ($312) ($187.19) $2,924 ($2,434)

8 7,795 11 $300 0.14% $27.27 $38 $375 ($337) ($238.47) $2,923 ($2,623)

9 7,795 9 $296 0.12% $32.89 $38 $375 ($337) ($291.90) $2,923 ($2,627)

10 7,796 6 $185 0.08% $30.83 $24 $375 ($351) ($456.42) $2,924 ($2,739)

Total 77,954 184 $7,356 0.24% $39.98 $94 $375 ($281) ($118.89) $29,233 ($21,876)

Highly ranked individual was older, suburban male with higher net worth

Build on the Appeals: Diverse Formats

Leverage Long-Range Forecasting

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Today

The Contributing Membership program has generated net revenue for the Society within two years, with no negative impact on Magazine subscription rates!

The Acquisition program continues to perform well:

Package testing has resulted in a new Member Card control with the possibility of a Survey co-control, dependent on upcoming test results.

Outside list testing was successfully rolled out in 2015 with co-ops and several nonprofit lists showing promise.

High-dollar potential: in 2015 alone, 69 $1,000+ gifts were brought in via acquisition direct mail.

From a start of fewer than 800 donors two years ago, the file is currently 28,000 strong and on a trajectory to end 2016 at 50,000.

Today …

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Final Thoughts

The Contributing Membership program has been a huge success! In just two short

years, this start-up has grown into a sophisticated, data-driven and mission-

advancing program with strong long-term value.

The program is not purely transactional – Contributing Members are the ultimate

brand loyalists whose philanthropic support positively impact all NGS program

areas.

The mission based model is working well for the National Geographic Society as

evidenced by the tripling of the donor file since launch. Its high re-solicitation

average gifts bode well for continued strength in long term value metrics.