Getting New Members
With KPFT’s spring pledge drive just a month away, I wanted to float some pitch ideas out to volunteers. This comes from the PledgeWell site.
Strategies for Capturing New Givers
There are probably as many ways to get New Givers as there are ways to prepare pasta. But we’re going to focus on using pledge drives.
- Strategy: Simplify your pledge drive message. Make it easy for listeners to decide to give.
Pledge drives are about the act of giving.
If we could stop right there, securing New Givers would be easy.
But we have to concern ourselves with when a listener pledges, how much she pledges, how she pays and when she pays. Because we are concerned about these issues, we add layers of complexity to the act of giving. We offer premiums, challenge grants, bank draft plans, credit card plans, charge card incentives, and chances to win valuable merchandise and vacations. And that’s just the beginning…
Each layer of complexity makes it more difficult to produce a pledge drive with a clear, focused message for New Givers. The more complex we make it, the more we ask of the listener, and the longer it takes to get him to pledge.
- Strategy: Allocate 75 percent of your pitching time for New Giver appeals.
The odds are against getting New Givers to call in during the pledge drive. If you want more than half of all pledges to come from New Givers, you’re going to have to dedicate more than half of your effort to getting them to call.
Scott Borden, Director of Programming Operations at WNYC, says, “A good new member pitch is a good renewal pitch, but a good renewal pitch is not necessarily a good new member pitch.”
When it comes to making the CASE for giving, this is true. The reasons for supporting Public Radio don’t change once someone becomes a Giver.
ALL of your CASE messages should be targeted toward or inclusive of New Givers. Those messages will still resonate with Repeat Givers who might make a pledge during the drive.
- Strategy: Use a Pricing Structure Designed to Get New Givers
On average, New Givers pledge 10 to 20 percent less than Repeat Givers [e note: KPFT's average pledge is about $120]. The higher you push your pledge levels, the more you shift the thrust of your message to Repeat Givers.
If more than half of the pledge levels you mention on air are above the average pledge for New Givers, you are probably discouraging some listeners from giving. Pitching for higher than average pledge levels probably slows down the decision to give as well. The consequence is that more on-air fundraising time is needed to generate the necessary calls from New Givers.
It’s okay to pitch “New Member” or “New Subscriber” levels on the air. Several stations, including WJHU in Baltimore and KJZZ in Phoenix, are doing this with good success. Almost all who pledge at these levels are New Givers. Those who are not are predominantly giving additional gifts. There is almost no “downgrading” of renewal levels.
- Strategy: Use Challenge Grants as an Incentive to Call
Challenge grants and matching grants add value to the listener’s pledge. A $35 pledge becomes more valuable when a business or listener will give more money because someone became a New Giver. The act of giving spurs even more giving. It’s an extra benefit that has proven to work.
Most premiums do not work as New Giver incentives. On-Air Fundraising Partnership research shows that most listeners who take premiums are Repeat Givers.
For premiums to work as a New Giver incentive, the price points have to be much lower than usual.
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