One more thing about the $50 million raised via text messaging after the Haitian earthquake:  Convio’s survey stressed the generational differences between those who texted (or who considered it) and those that gave some other way.  They found that while 77% of US donors were aware of the Haiti text-to-donate efforts, 17% of Millennial respondents and 14% of Gen Xers said they actually made a donation using text message, while only 3% of Boomer and Mature respondents did.

While it is a compelling storyline that younger people are giving, especially since — as Vinay says — non-profits have already “optimized fundraising with seniors,” what would be of more interest to me is how long these people will stick around.  (Read on …)

Last week at the combined DMAW/AFP-DC “Bridge” conference, I presented on how non-profits that rebrand themselves — changing their names or logos — can best continue to raise funds from their existing supporters and prospects by avoiding the confusion the new brand can create.  This is a topic you’ve heard us talk about on this blog before both here and here.

Abny Santicola, Managing Editor of Fundraising Success magazine (and website) took the opportunity to discuss the issue with me after the presentation and she video taped it!  It’s posted for your viewing enjoyment on their website.

Background
A few months ago, CBA Vice President Brooke Coneys wrote an article entitled: “What’s in a Name? I Should Know,” in which she described the testing we conducted for Tucson’s KUAT television and radio properties as they incorporate their stations into a new entity called Arizona Public Media or AZPM.

In the summer of 2008, we tested using the original station name and logos against the new AZPM brand in acquisition, add gift and lapsed fundraising campaigns.  We’d like to bring you up to date on the test results and progress in incorporating the change of brand into the membership fundraising program. (Read on …)

Public broadcast organizations are struggling mightily with drop-off in their membership. They’re not the only ones, but they have begun to focus on the problem as an industry priority.

So it’s surprising that more organizations aren’t trying new ways to use their member data. Specifically, the tried-and-true concept of direct-response segmentation can yield big jumps in renewals. It just takes a little work. Okay, maybe a lot of work. But it’s worth it.

(Read on …)