Building a Prospective Member Database

Building a Prospective Member Database

by Bunnie Riedel, Host of Nonprofit Conversation

I recently received a question from a reader regarding how to build a prospective membership database.  It seems the organization did not keep good records and he was trying to sort it out.  But he also wondered how they could get prospect names for potential membership.  If you just don’t have a very good prospect list, there are several things you can do to get started.

Buy a list from a similar organization.

In this instance, the organization was a small community historical museum.  I would look at similar kinds of organizations in the community, such as the other types of museums.  Are there other types of historical “societies” in the community, such as Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), railroad societies, antique car clubs, genealogy clubs, etc?  Any group, association or organization that may have an interest in history.  Can you buy a list of their members?  In instances where like minded organizations already have established lists, there is often “list sharing” that goes on.  

Some organizations might be hesitant to turn over their lists, feeling somewhat territorial or afraid of losing members to the other organization.  I understand that fear, however, I know from practical experience that cross pollinization of organizations has the opposite effect.  Between two or three or more organizations that sell or trade lists, memberships or donations actually increase.  For example, I support a horse rescue farm and my husband supports the local humane society.  Our goal is exactly the same, to help do what we can to alleviate animal suffering and encourage animal adoption.  It would never occur to us to choose one or the other, we think both are important. 

 

Partner with a similar organization.

Host an event at your organization for the members of another organization.  Think of the example of the historical museum.  What if they host the annual meeting for the members of the railroad society or the antique car club?  They will have accomplished a couple of things, first they will have built good will with the other organization, becoming real “partners” with them and they’ll have gotten all those members into their museum. 

You can easily capture the attendee’s names and contact information by hosting a raffle or drawing and having them write down their contact information and put it in bowl.  This is something you see all the time at trade shows, vendors raffling away gifts to those who leave their business cards.  

Look at affiliation benefits.  Here the museum offers a discount to members of the railroad society on tickets or gift shop purchases.  Perhaps you create a coupon that they have to fill out with their contact information in order to get the discount.  Or you provide cross membership benefits “If you become a member of the railroad society you will receive a year’s membership in the historical museum for half price,” or vice-versa.

Host a conference together.  Or offer discounts on your conference to their members and again, vice-versa.

Trade advertising in each other’s newsletters or on your website.  If online, make sure the click-through includes a sign up form.

Buy a table or a booth at similar organizations’ conferences or meetings.  Make sure you’re giving something away, even if it’s a discount coupon. Again, capture those names by hosting a raffle or drawing. 

Enlist those already affiliated with your organization.

I love “member-get-a-member” campaigns.  That’s when you ask your members to bring in new members.  If you sweeten the pot, say offer a premium for every member they bring in or offer a contest with a really great grand prize, your success will be better.  

Has everyone on your board turned over their address list yet?  They should.  Or at the very least, they should send a letter to their friends and colleagues asking them to join or support your organization.  I would provide your board members with the sample letter, outside and return envelopes.

Finally…

There are a lot of great minds out there that read this blog.  Please post your suggestions and comments below.

Leveraging Social Media?

Mark Buzan is back with us again on that topic that is all the buzz...social media. Do you know that in the last six months Facebook has exploded with older users, cause groups, politicians and Nonprofits? I just keep finding Facebook to fascinate. I like the way it pushes information out at me and how I can push information out to my "friends." Mark explores how you can use social media to keep your organization in the communications loop, recruit new members and even fundraise. Bunnie

Leveraging Social Media?

(Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and podcasts - what are all these internet forums and are they really applicable to non-profits?)

by Mark Buzan, Action Strategies

Interestingly, it is the internet’s depth and vastness that mystifies many association executives. Sadly, I hear many associations express veiled excuses for not involving social media in their outreach efforts. Commonly thought of as the domain of Gen-Yers, and twenty-somethings, social media and internet viral marketing offer practical and sensible applications for all audiences. Social media strategy depends from case to case and will require an investment of time. Used correctly, social media can:

· Build networks and community, connect and mobilize members on the key issues confronting your association
· Build a donor base and gather emails
· Tell your story –Put a face and a personality to your organization
· Share information and resources quickly
· Promote brand and cause

If carried out correctly, viral web marketing techniques can be very effective in boosting your member list and getting your organization’s name and message out. Many non-profits are using “Tell a friend” buttons or links on their websites and email newsletters. Whether used for connecting or recruiting members and donors, and developing advocacy can take different channels through the various goals sought.

Recruiting members and soliciting donations:

The very essence of making online “friends” and developing a base of followers through social media extends this ability far beyond the reach of the amount of people or prospects you could physically reach in one day. With one of my charitable clients, the Success Factory, we have just begun an online campaign through Facebook to raise money and build word-of-mouth awareness for its employment training programs. Using the “Causes” application, Facebook is allowing board members and staff of this brand new organization in one full sweep to: 1.) Demonstrate the mission of the Success Factory, 2.) Engage other Facebook members to recruit their friends as supporters of the cause, and 4.) Allow a forum of communication for Success Factory supporters, thereby spawning the creation of new innovative ideas.

Facilitating communication between association staff, members, supporters and the board
The concept of sharing ongoing association business with the entire world on Facebook is less than appealing. To answer this situation, there are social media options such as Ning.com and Google Friend Connect that can create either a separate network for an association or integrate social networking elements right within an association’s website. The Canadian Table Soccer Association is one association that has effectively utilized Ning (http://tablesoccerca.ning.com/) as an opportunity for members to connect, share ideas, and announce events.

Within an association website, there are means a communications team can take to ensure that it remains current and relevant for members. Using Google Friend Connect, a free set of customizable tools offered by Google, associations can embed html code within their website that easily invites friends from social networks and contact lists to visit and join your site.

If associations are not blogging, they need to begin. Integrating a blog into your web presence provides regular information for members and board to follow. For those associations less inclined towards a full blog, Twitter comes to the rescue offering a micro-blog option. Creating an account is free and each blog entry is limited to 140 characters. As a result, your association’s ability to be found in search engines is increased.

Building recognition with the Media and Influential Bloggers

The internet is crawling with bloggers on issues as vast as the internet itself. Social media also changes the presence of how non-profits present information to journalists. With the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), I have been working their media relations and internet teams to promote collaboration between these two fields. Journalists will also be kept up to date with every story development of via an RSS subscribe option. Even the delivery of traditional press releases changes with social media. Instead of the typical boiler plate press release, a photo was embedded along with clickable links over to the organization’s website. To best ensure the internet is leveraged as a communications vehicle, make sure the message you devise is clear, well presented, and easy-to-follow. This includes replying to personal messages and posting constant updates. Online profiles can be time-consuming, but their targeted visibility is unparalleled.
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Mark Buzan is Principal and Chief Magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service Strategic Communications, Public Relations and Public Affairs Consultancy for non-profits and associations. His blog can be found at: http://actionstrategies.blogspot.com/

Writing an Effective Membership Renewal Letter

Writing an Effective Membership Renewal Letter

by Bunnie Riedel, Host of Nonprofit Conversation

Some time ago, in the blog “Membership Renewal and Retention” (http://nonprofitconversation.blogspot.com/2009/01/membership-renewal-and-retention.html) I promised I would offer a sample membership renewal letter. And my Google Analytics is telling me that people are frequently searching for sample membership renewal letters, so I guess I better make good on my promise. Rather than providing a sample, I decided to provide step-by-step instructions because every nonprofit is different and it would be impossible to write a pristine one-size-fits-all letter.

Additionally, we have spent a great deal of time here discussing social media and technology, so now I’d like to advocate for good-old-fashioned-letter-in-the-mail membership renewal letters. There are a couple of reasons. Strictly sending a membership renewal via email will lower returns. People are inundated with email and the likelihood the recipient will delete the email without reading it is high. Your email may be seen as just another communiqué from the organization and easily dismissed. And while people are also inundated with postal mail, your chances are much better the recipient will add your renewal letter to their “bill” pile and write the renewal check while taking care of their usual obligations. You can do both, email the renewal letter and mail the renewal letter, that way all your bases are covered.

The Greeting

It is important to personalize the greeting. The address block should look like any business letter you do and the greeting should be “Dear Person’s First Name.” Example “Dear John.” If you are in a culture in which using a person’s first name is prohibited, then at least use a proper “Dear Mr. Smith.” But don’t use “Dear Member” or “Dear Supporter.” You should establish that your organization has a personal relationship with the member and that they are important to your organization and not just some anonymous check writer. Mail merging is a simple process, if your membership person doesn’t know how to do it, they need to learn.

The First Paragraph

The first paragraph must be an acknowledgement and a thank you to the member for their loyalty to your organization. Do not jump into “It’s membership renewal time!” Write a few lines thanking them for their past membership because after all, you are grateful for their membership, without it you wouldn’t have an organization.

Second and Third Paragraphs

Briefly tell them what the organization has accomplished in the past year. When I say “briefly” I mean “briefly.” Your organization may be the greatest on the planet but people do not have time to read a dissertation on its accomplishments. Personally, I am a fan of bullet points. And I am a fan of the rule of three’s (it’s actually an obsession I have). Tell me three great things you did with their membership dollars.

“Your membership enabled us to accomplish so much this year.

• We were able to beat back legislation on Capitol Hill that would have prohibited farming collectives in the Tennessee Valley. Our defeat of this legislation means that family farms will continue to thrive just as they have for over 150 years.

• We held our first-ever conference on “Why Water Matters” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over 300 people attended the four day conference and we were able to award 50 conference scholarships to graduate students from universities throughout the country.

• We developed a media relations campaign with public service announcements for television and radio on why water conservation is so important. The “Waste Today, Thirst Tomorrow” campaign aired on over 400 television stations and 1,200 radio stations throughout the nation. The video public service announcements garnered a Telly Award as “Most Effective TV Campaign by a Nonprofit.”
  
  We’re proud of what we’ve been able to do and we could not have done it without you!"

Next Paragraph

Now tell them what you have planned for this year. Note, I said, “this year.” Not the next two or three or five years. You need their membership commitment to accomplish even greater things in the coming year. List a few of those great things you are going to do. Again, bullet points are my preference; short, sweet, bullet points. Also show some excitement about what you have planned…you just can’t wait to get to the projects! If some of what you have planned is continuing the programs you are already doing, that’s fine, but do emphasize why those programs are so necessary and important.

Finally “The Pitch”

The pitch or closing the deal,, whatever you prefer to call it. This is not the time to be shy, ask them to renew their membership and make it urgent “Please renew your membership today!” This is the paragraph (or two) where you might even include a premium for renewing quickly, such as: “If you renew your membership in the next two weeks, we will send you our lovely low-flow shower head so you can begin to conserve water right away!” This is also the place where you can ask them to renew at a higher level or add an extra amount to their membership.

The Close

Thank them again, let them know that if they need anything they can contact you and you will be happy to assist. The closing must be from the highest officer (Executive Director) or Chair of the Board, not the membership director. Make it warm and friendly, I think “Sincerely” is just fine but you can go beyond that with a “Your partner in water conservation, Jane Doe” if you choose, just make sure it’s not cheesy.

Technically

Here are some technical points:

• Try not to go over 2 pages. I once was in a seminar in which a direct mail consultant said the appeal letter had to be 4 pages. I completely disagree. People do not have time to read 4 pages, the mail package will cost you a lot more and nowadays, people see lots of paper as being wasteful. I recommend 2 one-sided pages so it has some weight, but if your organization is highly concerned about conservation, you can do a double sided letter (not my first choice).


• Do use recycled paper and envelopes, people notice things like that.


• Include a return envelope. You don’t have to provide postage and in fact, I recommend you do not provide postage as some will view that as waste. If they really like you, they will spring for the stamp.


• Be sure the outside envelope has “Address Correction Requested.” While you have to pay the return postage, in the long run it helps keep your list clean.


• Don’t forget to include the membership application.


• Be sure the signature of the Executive Director or Chair is in blue, not black. Even while most people understand that the membership letters are computer generated, having the signature in blue makes it look more personal.


• Be sure to send a thank you note, it can be brief, but acknowledge their membership. Many organizations like to provide membership cards, you can do that, but it’s very expensive, so unless having a membership card entitles them to some discounts or special events, you don’t need to do that. A nice thank you will suffice.

In the previous post I talked about when you should mail, how often you should mail, etc. You cannot mail one time and expect good results, you just can’t. Read the Membership Recruitment and Retention post mentioned at the top of this one for a membership renewal mailing strategy.

And, please do write me if you have any questions or need assistance info at riedelcommunications dot com

Thanks for reading! Bunnie