© 2011 Convio, Inc. 1

All Roads (Should) Lead to Sustainers

presented by

David Glass, World Wildlife Fund

Sally Heaven, Convio

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Agenda

• Introduction• The Sustainer Landscape• Case Study: World Wildlife Fund• Who to Ask? When?• Tips

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Introductions

Who are we?

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Sally Heaven, Convio David Glass, World Wildlife Fund

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Introductions

Who are YOU?

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THE SUSTAINER LANDSCAPE

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It’s a Jungle Out There

• Acquisition is tough and getting tougher• Renewals and lifetime value are flat• Direct mail is a mature channel• Donor loyalty is on the decline

…are you depressed yet?

Sources: Fundraising down from 2007 – Giving USA 2011, The Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University, 2011 and Target Analytics Donor Centrics Index of National Fundraising Performance: 2011 First Calendar Quarter Results

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Sources: Convio’s Generational Giving study, 2010 and 2009 Washington Nonprofits Conference

The Good News

• Sustainers have:– Greater Lifetime Value (LTV)– Greater Loyalty– Revenue you can forecast and count on– Are more likely to make a planned gift– Gen Xers are twice as likely to make a

sustaining gift

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I’m Huge in Europe

• In Europe, sustaining giving is the default– Most donors give via EFT/ACH– One-time giving is not always even an

option– Can we bring this spirit to U.S. nonprofits

and donors?– Canada’s already on its way…

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Why So Valuable

• A subscription model• A lifetime donor• A lifestyle choice

– Convenient, easy, self-managed

• A sustainable choice– Fewer resources, no postage

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Why So Valuable

• 1-2% of your members as sustainers can drive 5-10% of annual revenue, with minimal ongoing expenses

Example:- 500,000 members- $25,000,000 revenue- 10,000 sustainers @ $15/mo

= $1.8 million = 7.2% of total revenue

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WORLD WILDLIFE FUNDCASE STUDY: HOMEPAGE SUSTAINER ASK

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WWF Case Study

• David, if sustainers are so important, then why don’t you make your main donation page a sustaining ask?

• Okay, we did!– But first we tested it.

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Control Page – 50%

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Test Page – 50%

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Test Goal & Details

GOAL: can we increase sustainers without harming one-time gifts?

DETAILS: A/B split from Donate Tab

50% to one-time / 50% to sustaining

- similar look and feel

- but some differences to help minimize accidental gifts

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Test ResultsForm Donors Revenue Donor

ChangeTotal Conversion Rate

CONTROL - one-time

361

6.6%CONTROL - link to monthly

65

TEST - link to one-time

307 -10% -15%

6.5%TEST - monthly

141 +191% 117%

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Test Results

• If the value of a sustainer is 3 times more…• The test form:

– Lost 50 one-time donors– But gained 76 from sustainers

• Total Return is >3x higher!

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WHO TO ASK? WHEN?

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Who to Ask? When?

• What do you want your donors to do?– Join a select group?– Give to a special campaign?

• Surefire way to Not Get Sustainers• Beware the Downgrade

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Who to Ask? When?

• High Asks…and Higher Asks• When to upgrade?

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TIPS

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Sustainer Programs

• Premiums can boost participation• Branded programs help donors feel like a

part of something

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Don’t Leave Money on the Table

• Convio Luminate Online™ feature that enables “card recycling”– Allows you to retry failed cards– Allows you to process expired cards– Who uses it?– Contact Convio Client Care

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Where to Begin?

A Plan of ActionCalculate your average gift for last year

Use Google Website Optimizer to test 3 donation forms

Form 1 pre-selects as minimum the average gift

Form 2 pre-selects a HIGHER amount

Form 3 pre-selects a LOWER amount

Analyze your results!

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Wrap-Up

• David Glass– david.glass@wwfus.org

• Sally Heaven– sheaven@convio.com

• Evaluate us! Session code 1105