Sustainer Week +/- 2
We love sustainers and not just the 12x variety. Any recurring payment will do – quarterly, semi-annual, annual.
Everybody wants more supporters on auto-renew. But the cost to acquire is high and you pay it all up front. That cost to acquire can be psychologically daunting.
You don’t need to sign up more sustainers. You need to sign up more sustainers who stick around.
Unfortunately, quantity, not quality, is the dominant metric. But why? I can think of a couple reasons,
- Quantity is super easy. We can all count.
- Quantity matters. You can’t make an impact with a handful of really high-quality donors.
This produces a high cost, pay for quantity world with lots of loss in the first 90 days. There has to be a better way.
Our understanding of Quality needs a reboot.
- Using retention data to judge quality is like driving the car through the rearview mirror.
- Using age and payment amount as the upfront indicator of quality is like cutting a cake with a sledgehammer, you need a more refined approach.
We’re kicking off Sustainer Week at the Agitator/DonorVoice and like all good statisticians, our week is only an estimate, it’s really a week’s worth of sustainer posts +/- a post or two.
We’re also shamelessly promoting a deeper learning session that we’ll host on October 26th.
You can join for free and learn how to take action to prevent some of that early donor loss by making the sign up and onboard experience better and more tailored.
You’ll learn,
- How to get missing data about your supporters as part of signup and onboard process
- Use this data to better assess quality and know who’s at risk before they quit
- Help acquire more quality folks from the start
- Tailor supporter experience to get beyond one size fits nobody journeys
- Have tailored journeys delivered automatically, outside the limits of CRM but without missing any data or reporting
Kevin
P.S. Please consider Signing up here
2 responses to “Sustainer Week +/- 2”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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hi Kevin, thank you, always great to focus on sustainers. I registered but then it went to your general page so not sure if it went through as it went to your general web site? Can you check on it? I’ll add this to my email newsletter to share as well. Cheers, Erica
Hi Erica,
You’re registered, thank you. And thanks again for promoting the session in your newsletter.