International Museum Membership Conference. IMMC 2016... · 2016-11-18 · 15 Membership Month...

1 Cover Page

International Museum Membership Conference:

Maximizing your Museum’s Online Fundraising Program

Presented November 8, 2016

Avalon Consulting Group, Inc.

All rights reserved, 2016

Avalonconsulting.net

2

Here with you today…

David Saunders, Director of Membership

National Museum of the American Indian

John Perell, Director of Direct Response & Shared Services

Friends of the Smithsonian

Elizabeth J. Wilson, Assistant Director of Advancement

National Air and Space Museum

Allison Porter, President

Avalon Consulting Group

(also representing the National Museum of African American

History and Culture)

3

In today’s session…

Find out how these sure-fire online

strategies can grow your program’s

revenue and level of engagement.

How to integrate online and direct mail

channels for the maximum effect.

Review actual case studies that cover

creative development, testing, and key

performance metrics.

4

8.30%

9.20%

7.80%

8.00%

8.20%

8.40%

8.60%

8.80%

9.00%

9.20%

9.40%

Arts/Culture Industry

Online Revenue Growth

Arts/Culture Industry

Online Giving Trends –

Online Arts and Culture vs. Overall Industry Highlights from Blackbaud’s 2015 Charitable Giving Report

5

Individual Giving Trends – The more channels a member

gives in, the higher their retention and income/member.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

DM, TM,Web and

Email

DM andEmail

DM andWeb

Email andWeb

DM and TM DM Only

Income/Member Retention

Chart above represents members who gave at least four gifts.

6

Yr 5, $234

$0

$40

$80

$120

$160

$200

$240

$280

Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5

Direct Mail Joins

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13

Yr 5, $367

$0$40$80

$120$160$200$240$280$320$360$400


Web Joins

Individual Giving Trends – Web joins usually have much

higher member value than direct mail joins.

7

Case Studies

9

Situational Analysis:

Members and revenue increased dramatically

through the opening of the museum in 2004, and

then experienced a sharp decline.

NMAI has been hard at work to stabilize the

program since this time, with online outreach as

a key part of that strategy.

10

As with most organizations, NMAI web joins have notably

higher values than DM joins, but there are very few of them

on file.

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80


Direct Mail Joins

FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80


Web Joins $70 Avg

Cumulative Member Value Subsequent to Initial Gift by Channel and Join Year

11

NMAI web joins have slightly higher retention than direct

mail joins.

23%

21%

15%

13% 11%

24% 23%

18%

16%

13%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

DM Joins Web Joins

Average Cumulative Retention of New Joins Over Five Years

12

Successful Strategies Used to

Drive NMAI Online Revenue

13

• The inaugural campaign collected 6,376 email

addresses and 9,597 signatures in two days.

• A three-effort follow-up Welcome Series

acquired 8 new members with a $46.88

average gift.

• In addition, 60 people in this group have

joined through DM acquisition efforts, raising

$3,175 (42% of the cost of the petition

implementation).

• While the immediate conversion rate is low,

this effort expanded the pool of leads for

future eAcquisition campaigns

eAcquisition List-Building Efforts: Online Petition Campaign

Focused on Stereotypes

14

CALENDAR e-series includes 5 efforts:

1) Help us pick a photo for our calendar cover

(soft ask after voting)

2) Last opportunity to vote on cover

(forward of email #1)

3) Announce the winning image

4) Join/Donate/Renew to receive your

calendar

5) Last chance to reserve your calendar

Campaign has been mailed for 4

years now, raising more revenue

each year.

Multi-effort Calendar Voting Campaign

15

Membership Month e-series includes 5

efforts:

1st of the Month – Kick off campaign

highlighting goals and end of month

deadline

Mid-Month – Update on progress,

reminder of deadline

Beginning of Last week of Month –

Increased urgency – close to goal and

impact of support on important work

2nd to Last Day of Month – Campaign

ends tomorrow – reiterate goal and

importance of support

Last Day of Month – Final chance to give

and be a part of Membership Month.

Multi-effort Membership Month

Campaign

Raises more revenue each year!

16

Integrated eRenewals

• Copy and art correspond with direct

mail.

• 8 effort series helps drive online gifts

but also serves as a reminder for the

direct mail notices.

• 12% of renewal revenue comes from

online renewals (email and web).

18


After years of file and revenue growth, revenue and

file size had been on a slow decline from 2007 until

2014.

To meet higher revenue demands in 2015 and

beyond, the Friends program needed to return to

a revenue and file growth scenario – and online

fundraising needed to be a key part of that

growth.

19

Friends program saw more than twice the industry average

growth in online fundraising in 2016

FY15 FY16 % Growth

Total $ $1,619,316 $1,948,851 20%

Total # Gifts 11,703 12,981 11%

Avg. Gift $138 $150 9%

Note: Friends of the Smithsonian online fundraising is managed by their

online strategy and implementation consultant, M+R

20

Growth was driven by Email and Web campaigns

FY15 FY16 % Growth

Email-driven $489,279 $641,889 31%

Web-driven $456,283 $636,264 39%

DM/TM-driven $673,754 $670,698 0%

21


Drive Friends Online Revenue

22

eList Building:

History Quiz

Promotion Channels:

3 emails to current

member file

1 email to other SI

units

Social media

promotion

2,580 new names

11,407 quiz takers

23

eList Building:

Science Quiz

Promotion Channels:

3 emails to current

member file

1 email to other SI

units

Social media

promotion

2,525 new names

11,310 quiz takers

24

eList Building: Wild Wonders Quiz

Co-branded with The

Nature Conservancy

Promotion Channels:

3 emails to

current member

file

The Nature

Conservancy

Other SI units &

Social media

promotion

~10,000 new names

25

Email sign-up lightbox #1

404 names

(all new

subscribers)

194,882

unique

visitors

26

Email sign-up lightbox #2

704 names

(all new

subscribers)

198,883

unique

visitors

27

Search Advertising is a growing source of gifts and revenue

FY15 FY16 % Growth

Ad Spend $26,723 $45,798 71%

# Gifts 364 703 93%

Attributed

Revenue $55,977 $85,152 52%

Avg. Gift $154 $121 -21%

ROAS 2.1 1.9 -10%

28

Calendar Year End Campaign

• Promotion Channels:

9 emails

Si.edu banner & lightbox

• $207,782 raised

• 1,229 gifts

• 67% growth YOY

• Highest drivers of revenue:

Email appeals

Si.edu banner & lightbox

Email Renewals

29

24 Hour Campaign


3 emails

• Contrived urgency during a

typically slow month

• $10,585 raised

• 143 gifts

30

Fiscal Year End Campaign


6 emails

Si.edu banner and

lightbox

• $60,446 raised

• 524 gifts

• 20% YOY growth

31

Transactional-style Email

in Fiscal Year End Series

Highest response rate and

revenue of the fiscal year end

series

32

Quick Donate Button Test

• Control

• Test -- Winner

Response Rates:

Test: 0.082%

Control: 0.070%

33

Call to Action above the Masthead Test

• Control

• Test

Response Rates:

✳ Test: 0.04%

✳ Control: 0.04 %

Click Rates:

✳ Test: 0.25%

✳ Control: 0.25 %

34

Homepage Test

• Control

• Test

✳ No statistically significant results for overall audience for conversion rate, avg. gift or revenue per recipient

35

Donation Form Test

Test to see if more case on

the donate page would

drive higher response.

No statistically

significant difference for

conversion rate, avg. gift

or revenue per visitor

37


Program was looking to integrate online best

practices into its strategy.

As an added challenge, the program

experienced a very successful Kickstarter

campaign in Summer 2015 that required rapid

adjustments as response took off.

38


Drive NASM Online Revenue

39

National Air and Space Museum and

Kickstarter: A Campaign to Conserve Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Spacesuit

40

What is a Kickstarter Campaign?

Kickstarter is a global fundraising platform that helps bring

creative projects to life.

Project creators set a fundraising goal

Offer rewards for gift amounts ranging from $1 to $10,000

30 day campaign uses video, e-mail, social media platforms, and

media outreach to gain attention

Projects must reach their funding goals to receive any money

Opportunity to reach a new and diverse audience

41

The Project: Conservation of the Armstrong Spacesuit

Project aimed to raise funds to conserve, digitize and display

Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit

Project Goal: $500,000

42

“Reboot the Suit” Campaign: Advance Planning

Advance Prep Work:

create video messages

announcing and promoting

the campaign

create a schedule for email

and social media messaging

conduct media outreach

Secure matching gifts

create rewards and plan

fulfillment

Planning and implementation require significant staff time and resources!

43


Partners and Collaborators:

Kickstarter

SI Office of Advancement

NASM Board of Directors

Smithsonian Enterprises

SI Digitization Team

Astronauts

Celebrities

NASA

Existing Donors

44


• time messaging as major

milestones are reached

• set new stretch goals

• encouraging participation

if donations are lagging

Need to be nimble once campaign starts to:

45

Campaign Launched!

• Original goal to reach $500,000 was achieved in Day 5

• Stretch goal of $700,000 was added in Day 8

• 9,477 responses, almost all new donors to NASM

46

Now what?

Work continues once

campaign goal is reached:

Fulfill rewards

Provide regular project

updates

Conserve and digitize the

spacesuit

Convert supporters into on-

going NASM donors…

47

Converting Kickstarter Supporters to NASM Membership

Post-campaign engagement

• Kickstarter Outreach

– Several update emails per week during campaign

– Monthly emails after end of campaign

• NASM Outreach

– Donors under $99

– $100+ Donors who were given complementary NASM memberships

48

• $100+ contributors

asked for an

additional gift

• $99 and under

asked to join NASM

membership

All contributors sent 3-part

Welcome Series

49

Included in direct mail

acquisition

– Received 1 gift of $50

Also included in Membership

Month, Anniversary, and Wall of

Honor e-acquisition campaigns

– Received 60 totaling over $5,000

Under $100 Contributors

50

Included in calendar, annual fund,

and wall of honor direct mail and

email appeals

– 13 gifts totaling $2,000

Renewals

– Sending 1st and 4th direct mail notices

– Sending all email notices

$100+ Complimentary Membership Recipients

52


NMAAHC, the 19th Smithsonian Museum,

opened on the National Mall on September 24,

2016.

Maintaining a strong and stable base of

membership support beyond 2016 is a

priority for the new museum, and using a

multi-channel strategy is critical to

minimizing the drop-off in revenue and file

size post-opening.

53

As with the other Smithsonian programs, NMAAHC’s

web joins have a higher value than direct mail joins

$0$20$40$60$80

$100$120$140$160


Direct Mail Joins

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14

$147 avg. (Year 5)

$0$20$40$60$80

$100$120$140$160


Web Joins

Cumulative Member Value Subsequent to Initial Gift ($25 or More) by Channel and Join Year

$205 (Year 5)

54


Drive NMAAHC Online Revenue

55

• Online display ads run in August

on Facebook and various

websites targeting visitors to the

Membership web pages as well

as people in the general DC area

• 1,093 new people were added to

the email list.

To date 60 people have

donated total of $3,475

• 1.4 million ad impressions were

made

• Facebook conversion rates were

above industry standard.

• Paid advertisements had more

reach than organic posts

eAcquisition List-Building:

Online Advertising Campaign

56

:

eAcquisition List-Building:

ePetition Sites

• Online petitions were run on

Change.org and Care2 petition

sites on:

Black History Month

50th Anniversary of the

March on Selma

50th Anniversary of the

signing of the Voting Rights

Act.

• 49,524 new emails added

• 259 donors contributing $18,226

in less than one year

• Also added to direct mail

acquisition resulting in additional

$2,890 from 62 new members

57

:

Interactive Welcome eSeries engages prospects

within three weeks of securing an eMail address

A 3-effort Welcome Series is sent to

new member prospects, including

outside list building efforts and

organically acquired eSubscribers.

• Effort #1: sent as an auto-

response to eSubscribers,

including a video

• Effort #2: sent one week later,

and includes a survey

• Effort #3: sent two weeks later,

as an Acquisition effort

58

:

eRenewal Series Drives 12% of Yearly Renewal Revenue

6 effort series helps

drive online gifts but

also serves as a

reminder for the direct

mail notices.

59

• Goal of 100 new members by

June 30, but surpassed goal

after the third email new goal of 225 was set for the

remaining emails

• Campaign acquired 382 new

members

• Also sent to current members

asking for additional gift

• Raised almost $150,000

Membership Month

60

:

eCultivation efforts serve as

engagement tools throughout the year

• THANKSGIVING: an e-card was sent on day

before Thanksgiving wishing people a happy

holiday.

• BIRTHDAY: an email was sent on December

16th, marking the anniversary of legislation

creating the Museum, including a soft ask in the

callout, raising $2,385.

• BESSIE COLEMAN: an email on the first

African American female pilot was sent during

Women’s History Month in March, raising

$3,015.

61

In Conclusion…

Members who give online are very valuable – make sure you’re maximizing

your online opportunities!

Consider new ways to grow your online list:

Petitions

Homepage overlays

Crowdfunding

Once you have an email address, engage the warm prospect through a

welcome series

Once they join, continue to engage through a variety of online and offline

campaigns with the right mix of solicitations and cultivation

62

Questions?

63

Maximizing Your Museum’s Online Fundraising Program

David Saunders Director of Membership

National Museum of the American

Indian

[email protected]

202-633-6602

Allison Porter President

Avalon Consulting Group

[email protected]

202.429.6080 x 102

John Perell Director of Direct Response &

Shared Services

Friends of the Smithsonian

[email protected]

202-633-2027

Elizabeth J. Wilson Assistant Director of Office of

Advancement

National Air and Space Museum

[email protected]

202-633-2606

International Museum Membership Conference. IMMC 2016... · 2016-11-18 · 15 Membership Month...

Documents

Transcript of International Museum Membership Conference. IMMC 2016... · 2016-11-18 · 15 Membership Month...