Who Gets The Most Loyalty?
This week, a brand you’ve all heard of — and probably enjoyed — announced it was beginning its first ever loyalty program.
Here are some quotes from the brand’s spokesman, Mike Giresi, as reported in DM News. Try to guess the brand.
"We’ve been talking about this for quite some time."
"Creating a loyalty program now is imperative to create a stronger relationship with [Brand’s] highly-engaged customer base, especially given the current economic conditions.
"Over the years, people have said they want more of an experience from [Brand]."
"It’s critically important because we are a discretionary product and we have to have a compelling reason for people to give their share of wallet to [Brand]."
"Competition in the [???] segment is fierce and feels like it’s growing at an exponential rate.”
Can’t you imagine a very similar conversation occurring in nonprofit organizations these days. Maybe in yours!
Before I identify the brand, consider the following chart from Donor Loyalty: The Holy Grail of Fundraising, one of our DonorTrends white papers. We asked donors about their loyalty to a variety of products, services and relationships. Here are the percentages who expressed "High Loyalty" to each:
- My doctor – 64%
- A TV show – 57%
- My current employer – 55%
- A sports team – 52%
- My primary news source – 51%
- A beer or soft drink – 48%
- A political party – 44%
- My make of automobile – 43%
- My telephone service – 37%
And where do charities and causes fit in?
Fully 70% of respondents claim "High Loyalty" to a cause or charity they support! That’s encouraging.
Hmmm! Is that degree of loyalty reflected in your nonprofit’s retention rate? Do you think your nonprofit inspires more loyalty than our featured brand today? Do you think you have as big a base of brand missionaries amongst your donors?
The brand is Godiva. Think about Godiva, or some other brand that you are especially loyal to. Why or how has that brand earned your loyalty? Can you see any of those factors applying to how your donors might feel about your organization.
Ponder all this. Come to some conclusions. And then join me and Roger on June 4, 2pm eastern, when we discuss Donor Loyalty: Curb Your Attrition in our next live webcast. We’d love to hear your views. You can sign-up here.
Tom
P.S. Our Editors Brief webcast and our various DonorTrends white papers are free to The Agitator’s Premium subscribers (you do need to register to get your access code). Others can sign-up for the webcast, or purchase our white papers, or join our Premium service here.
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