ona camp phoenix 2014 - join the club
TRANSCRIPT
NOT GREAT
SO GREAT
VOSD STAFF
CEO
V.P.
Director of Corporate Development
Membership & Events Manager
Part-Time Program Manager
Managing Editor
Deputy Editor
5 Full-Time Reporters and 4 Freelance Reporters
2 Paid Editorial Interns
VOSD REVENUE
$1.6 million revenue this year
Foundations: 38%
Major Donors ($5,000+): 35%
Individual Members ($35-$5,000): 15% (1,971 members)
Community Partners, Media Partners, Sponsors: 12%
BASICALLY CRUSHIN’ IT
THE KEY QUESTIONS
Do you need the money?
Do you have a loyal audience who appreciates your work and
recognizes that you’re producing it?
Do you, or can you, collect their contact info so you can email
them?
Can you commit to managing a relationship with members?
SURVEYS + FOCUS GROUPS
News consumption habits: How often, what topics, what device?
Qualities: What do they value most about your organization?
What is your most popular product?
What would motivate them to support you?
Demographics: Sex, ethnicity, age, education, employment, income,
neighborhood or ZIP code
Affinities/hobbies: What do they do? What do they care about?
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
People didn’t understand the nonprofit news model.
They didn’t know how they could help.
They didn’t know the difference between being a member and a
subscriber.
We had done a great job telling other people’s stories but never took
the time to craft or tell the VOSD story.
OUR STORY
Voice of San Diego is a member-based nonprofit
investigative news organization that gives concerned
citizens the tools they need to engage in important
conversations about their community. We are unlike
any news outlet in San Diego because we dig deeper
to uncover the truth and devote the time necessary to
turn the chaos of news into a story people can access
and understand.
OUR STORY, CONTINUED
We believe concerned residents are the true Voice of
San Diego and it’s their collective voice we represent
in our honest and irreverent approach to reporting. We
are building a community of educated San Diegans
who dare to ask tough questions and demand
answers. Join our community and Raise Your Voice by
becoming a sustaining member today.
STEP ONE : DEVELOP YOUR BRAND + THEME
Raise Your Voice membership program –“I am the Voice of San Diego.”
STEP TWO: ITEMIZE YOUR EXISTING INVENTORY
Web content
Newsletters
News alerts
Magazine
Events
Access and experiences
STEP THREE: DETERMINE NEW MEMBER
EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS
Member Report – weekly email blast from CEO
Inside Scoop – preview of big investigations
One Voice at a Time conversation series
Brews & News panel discussions
VOSD Quarterly Magazine
VOSD Roundtable – high-level donors
STEP FOUR: PACKAGE YOUR BENEFITS
Conversation Starter - $35-$100Special delivery of: Morning Report, Culture Report, Inside Scoop and Member Report. Invitation to member events including Member Coffees and Brews & News and special recognition on our website.
Inside Voice - $101-$500All the above, plus a subscription to VOSD Quarterly magazine, free admission to One Voice at a Time and Meeting of the Minds events.
TOP-TIER BENEFITS
Speaking Up - $501-$1,000All of the above, plus a household membership and a free ad to plug your favorite cause on the VOSD website and magazine.
Loud & Clear - $1,001-$5,000All of the above, plus special invitation to a roundtable discussion and dinner with VOSD board members and the VOSD Experience member outing, sponsor VOSD memberships for local classroom or group.
PRO-TIPS
Choose benefits you can easily fulfill.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Assign fulfillment to someone and hold them
accountable.
Research and get to know members.
CATEGORIZE THE PIPELINE: FROM POTENTIALS
TO MEMBERS
Informed: people who read our content on the website
Involved: people who subscribe to our newsletters or
comment on our site
Invested: people who give us money
BUILD YOUR DATABASE
Make sure you’re collecting and storing as much information as possible about members and potential members:
• First and last name
• Email addresses
• ZIP codes
• Affinities and content preferences
• Event attendance
• Affiliations
BUT HOW?
Develop methods for capturing this data:
• Require subscriptions for email blasts
• Require registration for online commenters
• Require pre-registration for events
• Capture info at events with sign-up sheets
• Encourage social media followers to sign-up for
special offerings
• Add design elements on site to entice sign-ups
MANAGE YOUR TECH
WordPress: web platform
Givalike: donation processor
MailChimp: email provider
Predictive Response: automated renewal emails
Eventbrite: event registration
Survey Monkey: surveys
SalesForce: customer relationship management (CRM)
PRO-TIPS
Hire a CRM consultant
Learn from best practices
Don’t discount the importance of customer
relationship management
Maintain a clean database
RECRUITMENT GOALS
Determine membership revenue goal ($230,000)
Determine how many new members you need each
month (60 new members)
Renew existing members (80 percent retention rate)
Track progress with solid metrics
MEMBERSHIP BREAKDOWN
TARGETED COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Potential members:
• Three emails per month (emotional, intellectual, competitive approaches)
Existing members:
• 90, 60, 30 day renewal reminders
• “We miss you” expired donors
• Lapsed donor phone calls
• Quarterly campaigns (Spring, Politifest, Year-End)
USE EVENTS TO CULTIVATE MEMBERSHIP
Create events that can bring your stories to life.
Heavily promote events to member community and
beyond to raise awareness.
Include audience engagement opportunities.
Encourage existing members to bring guests.
Give special benefits to members: discounted or free
admission, etc.
Work toward more members-only events.
MEETING OF THE MINDS
ONE VOICE AT A TIME INTERVIEW SERIES
BREWS + NEWS PANEL DISCUSSIONS
POLITIFEST CIVICS FESTIVAL
WEAVE MARKETING INTO YOUR JOURNALISM
Don’t freak out!
Remind people you are nonprofit, member-based
Weave membership “ask” into all personal appearances
Place “donate” option at end of articles
Remind people of your impact (quarterly emails to major
donors)
INCORPORATE MEMBERS INTO WEBSITE
WEAVING MARKETING INTO JOURNALISM
Include pitches at the end of articles:
REMEMBER WHO YOU’RE SERVING
“The attributes of a person who contributes to political
campaigns, who wants to change the world, who
cares passionately about the community – that’s
the kind of person who gives.”
-Evan Smith
Texas Tribune CEO and Editor in Chief
