1. Panel:
Allison Porter
Elizabeth Bruns
David Saunders
Nancy Sturm
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2. NMAI Analytics Case Study Presented by:
David Saunders, Director of
Membership
National Museum of the American Indian
4th Street and Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20026
SaundersDF@si.edu
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4.  Established in 1991 as part of a 15-year capital campaign to open
three facilities in New York, Suburban Maryland, and Washington, DC
 Current membership of 40,000 households nationwide
 70% of members live outside the DC and NYC metropolitan areas
 300,000 individual members have donated more than $54,000,000 over
the past 21 years
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5. Post opening, file size began to shrink rapidly, from
more than 80,000 in 2005 to approximately 55,000 in
2008
Museum Opening
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6. Primary Reason for Decline
 Natural drop-off in members after the initial fundraising push to
open the museum
 Decrease in budget: between 2005 and 2009, acquisition
funding was reduced by 24%
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7. $5,000
$4,000
$3,000
Thousands
$2,000
$1,000
$0
FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08
Mail TM Web
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8. $74 $71
$67
$64 $63
$45 $43
$40 $38 $37
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
DM Acquired Web Acquired
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9. Consumer Confidence Index Comparisons
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10.  Stabilize File Attrition
◦ Identify new prospect lists
◦ Reactivate lapsed donors
◦ Improve results through testing and cost reduction
 Increase Member Value
◦ Decrease dependence on premiums
◦ Expand multi-channel integration and cultivation
◦ Develop improved upgrading strategies
 Maximize Efficiencies for Cost Savings
◦ Use of gang printing and standardized package formats
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11. 16,000 $600,000
14,000
$500,000
12,000
$400,000
10,000
8,000 $300,000
6,000
$200,000
4,000
$100,000
2,000
0 $0
FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11
DM New Joins WEB JOINS Acquisition Reinstates Investment
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12. Different ask strategy: little impact on
donor value
• To date the $22 Ask and $25 ask donors look very similar.
• The $22 Ask brought in 21% more donors.
• These numbers are from the acquisition campaign mailed in November 2008.
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13. Oct 2009 Plain
Carrier Test
Increased response by 10%
Social
Justice
Control
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14. Dec ‘10 Survey w/ Premiums & Teaser Test
Rev/m 60% higher than no premiums and 32%
higher than Control
Oct ‘10 Member Card
Test
23% lower RR% than
control
Not a winner
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15. May ’11 Survey w/ Premiums & Teaser Re-Test
Rev/m 35% higher than package with label only
and 32% higher than Control
Co-Control rolled-out Feb ‘12
Aug ’11
Postcard Test
23% lower rev/m
than note card
control
Not a winner
Feb ’11 No Insert and 2
NC Test
Removal of insert and NC
decreased RR%
Not a winner
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16. Appeal Revenue has
steadily increased
between FY09 and
FY11
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17. July 2011 Appeal: Calendar
Highest Response in FY 11% - 6% increase
over FY10
exceeded budgeted Net Revenue by 40%
Soft ask included in
Sustainer Segment –
highest performing
segment at 9.8%
Sept 2011 Appeal:
Calendar Follow Up
Additional appeal effort in FY11
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18. Five out of six packages in the series were
reformatted from an 8 ½ x 11 format with a
separate letter to an 8 ½ x 14 letterhead with a
tear-off reply
Copy refreshed and personalization added to
highlight longevity and status
Moved benefits listing to back of letter and
elimination of benefits inserts
Lapsed panels added
Increased print quantities from 6 to 12 months
when possible
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19. • eRenewal revenue from
monthly efforts has
increased 86% since
FY09 and has not
negatively affected DM
E-Appeals continue to have high renewals
average gift ($82.03) versus DM
average gift ($54.77)
Direct mail is still the dominant channel.
Direct mail joins are giving 67% of web
income.
In FY11, 46% of web join giving was to
traditional channels.
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20.  FY09 DM major donor upgrade invitation strategy expanded
with the addition of a TM follow-up invitation and an additional
DM effort.
 New TM Invite upgraded 42 members to the $1,000 level
 Net Revenue from combined DM and TM upgrading
efforts increased by 356% over the previous year,
$97,837 vs. $21,473
 Introduction of a TM sustainer invite and a follow-up DM invite
brought in 172 new sustainers in FY09 vs. 37 in FY08
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22. FY06 FY08
FY07 <$15 11%
13%
14% $15-24 81%
$15-24 21% $15-24 65% $25-49 6%
2% 8%
$50-99 $50-99 -4%
-7% $50-99 -3%
-29% $100-249 -24%
-24%
$250-500 -43% $250-500 -26% $250-499 -26%
FY09 FY10 FY11
16% 17% 23%
$15-24 41% $15-24 57% $15-24 57%
2% 5% 6%
$50-99 -7% $50-99 -8% $50-99 -1%
-17% -13% -8%
$250-500 -32% $250-500 -19% $250-500 -9%
Net Downgrade Net Upgrade
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23. 1.6
$69 $71
$65 $67 $66 1.4
$60 $64
1.2
$46 $48 $47 $47 1.0
$44 $45 $45
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11
Average Gift Income/Member Gifts/Member
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24. 100%
80% 78.7%
65.4%
60% 59.8%
40%
25.5%
20%
FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11
Overall Overall w/Reinstates Multi-Year First-Year
Overall retention is down slightly from 61.4% to 59.8%.
Multi-year retention is fairly steady at 65.4% compared with 66.6% in FY10.
First-year retention was 25.5%, down from a strong 29.8% in FY10. It is very close to the FY09 number of 25.7%.
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25. • Members continue to give over a long period of time. As some members drop off the file, the remaining
members upgrade their giving. This shows the long-term impact of Acquisition where each year builds upon
the last -- revenue is compounded year after year. A drop in quantity one year would impact revenue in
future years.
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26.  Current acquisition levels are still not enough to maintain file size
 FY13 renewals income is projected to decrease 14%
 Although the decline in income and member counts is slowing (13%
attrition rate in FY08 compared to 4% in FY11) and first-year
renewal rates are up, more investment in acquisition is unavoidable
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27. NTHP Case Study Presented by:
Elizabeth Bruns, Director of
Membership
National Trust for Historic
Preservation
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Elizabeth_Bruns@nthp.org
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28. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit
organization, works to save America’s historic places.
• These are the places that tell our stories, offer unique and memorable
experiences today, and promise a vibrant future for the generations of
tomorrow.
• We take direct, on-the ground action to preserve historic buildings and sites
when they are threatened. We advocate on Capitol Hill and in statehouses
and town halls nationwide for legislation that protects historic properties.
And we work people who are passionate about saving historic places to
preserve and protect your part of the American story.
• The National Trust currently has approximately 200,000 members and
supporters.

29. Member attrition is more pronounced than income
attrition because retained members tend to give more
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30. Despite increase in other channels, direct mail remains
dominant.
• In FY11, direct mail was 82% of membership income.
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31. First-year retention is strong at 43.6%.
This retention
graph looks at
active members
on file at the
start of the year
who give a gift at
some time
during the year.
• Retention compares quite well with other organizations. The weakness in Overall Retention with
Reinstatements is due to lower Acquisition quantities during the recession.
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32. What’s old is new: the ongoing discussion
about the level of investment in acquisition
NTHP’s investment in the acquisition program has
been on the decline, resulting in insufficient donors to
keep the file size stable.
With strong performance metrics, NTHP has an opportunity to invest in the
program with confidence.
NTHP needed 12,000 in true new DM Acquisition joins in order for the direct
marketing membership program to remain flat. NTHP only brought in 5,159
true new joins in FY11—nearly 7,000 short of what is needed.
The case for increased investment was brought to the leadership and
approved!
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33. FY12 Testing:
Colored Carrier Acquisition DM Campaign
Testing
Package Description Drop Counts % Resp Net/Mbr
C - Membercard Control 27,008 0.59% ($27.16)
G - Membercard Test #3 (Bold Blue
24,293 0.90% ($15.35)
Carrier)
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34. FY12 Testing:
Reply Device Appeal DM Campaign
Testing
Notecard Appeal –Reply Device Test
Adding the reply device produces a substantial
increase in response rate (7.11% w/reply vs.
3.57%-no reply) and in gross revenue ($88,499
w/reply vs. $50,275-no reply).
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38. LWV Case Study Presented by:
Nancy Sturm, Senior Director of
Development
League of Women Voters of the U.S.
1730 M Street, N.W., #1000
Washington, DC 20036
nsturm@lwv.org
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39.  The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan grassroots membership
organization working in all 50 states and 800 communities to improve our
democracy by promoting civic participation in government and public policy at
the national, state and local level.
The League is :
• Best known for its nonpartisan work to register voters, educate
voters about election processes, issues and candidates, and
improve all aspects of elections.
• Protecting eligible voters from voter suppression efforts and
barriers to voting, through advocacy, litigation, public
education, etc.
• Expanding the electorate so that it includes under-represented
populations: e.g. youth, minorities, low-income individuals, new
citizens.
• Advocating for transparent and accountable government and for
sound public policy on issues, from health care to climate change
to immigration and more.
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40. Acquisition is an investment that compounds over
time
This shows the long-term impact of acquisition and how revenue is compounded
year after year. A drop in quantity one year impacts revenue in future years.
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41. Direct Mail is still the predominant giving channel
• Online income has more than doubled from FY09 to FY10.
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42. INVESTMENT VS. NEW JOINS ACQUIRED
Due to robust acquisition performance, FY12 has lowest net loss
investment and is closest to approaching FY05 new join level.
With list rental income, acquisition is close to breakeven.
NOTE: Investment does not include list rental or sustainer income.
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43. ACQUISITION
August and September mailed Voter Protection
package, without tests, to capitalize on extraordinary
performance.
August’s 1.50% response rate is 81% higher than
budget, and best of FY12.
Revenue is 83% over budget, despite 2% fewer
names mailed.
Cost/donor is low at $3.94 (vs. $16.41 budgeted). September is best
Second Match & Deploy effort brought in 23 new cost/donor of FY12 at
joins with $22.33 average gift. $0.61.
$23.83 average gift is
highest since FY05.
With 127% more gross
revenue and 18% more
names mailed, net
exceeded budget by 79%.
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44. AUGUST APPEAL
August focused on “War on Voters,” mailed
official-looking envelope.
4.39% response rate and $46.10 average
gift are highest since FY09 (second
highest response since FY05).
Gross and net revenue are 23% and
30% over budget.
Coordinated e-appeal raised 106% higher
than budget with strong 0.65% response
TEST: rate (0.28% budgeted).
 Removing “obstruction” teaser tested
against control. Control has 4% higher
response rate, and average gift is near
even with $1000+ gifts removed. Avalon
recommends keeping control.
 One-word subject line was tested. Control
has higher response rate (0.62% vs.
0.50%), $12.06 higher average gift and
won at 90% confidence.
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45. LEADERS FOR DEMOCRACY DM & TM INVITATION
Annual multi-channel invitation was enhanced through
targeted modeling with prosperous results.
DM: Invitation was sent in special UPS envelope with highly
personalized messaging.
Modeling worked: 4.18% response rate was 97% higher
than budget and $521.81 average gift was 4% higher
than goal.
Both of these factors lifted gross 106% and net 693% over
budget!
DM brought in 26 gifts over $1000 — including one for
$5,000.
TM: Share called successful upgrade campaign .
TM’s 23% pledge rate exceeded budget by 8%, and gross
and net revenue exceeded budget by 37% and
44%, respectively.
TM generated four gifts over $1000.
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46. JANUARY APPEAL
January mailed traditional start of
year survey in official-looking black
and white carrier.
5.33% response rate was 33%
higher than budget.
$35.05 average gift was on par with
FY10.
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47. ANNUAL FUND APPEAL & FOLLOW-UP
Annual Fund raised $178,754, exceeding
gross revenue budget by 14% and net
by 20% with strong 3.71% response rate.
 $58.78 average gift was 17% above
budget.
 FY11 was top performing Annual Fund
in four years.
Follow Up came in at 79% of gross and
80% of net budget.
 Average gift was 7% higher than
budget.
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48. Don’t forget to visit the Solutions
Showcase!
Many of the ideas discussed today are on
display at the Solutions Showcase!
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