Revise the Strategy

The Challenge
Northwestern Memorial Foundation (NMF) already knew its desired outcome when they called Mary Kaiser on a referral: to increase renewal rates dramatically among annual fund donors. They had already undertaken the issues analysis that showed their annual donors were renewing below industry-standard levels, and that more than a third of their current major donors had first made a gift lower than $1,000. The logical conclusion was and is that a loyal base of donors under $1,000 produces a fertile source of major gift prospects in the future. Once given the directive from the top to increase that loyalty in the form of renewal rates, NMF turned to Mary Kaiser to help figure out how exactly to get it done.

Kaiser Group Inc. Solution
Mary helped them reconsider how to handle donors below $1,000, and made recommendations for how to greatly expand communication with them. NMF took our recommendations for implementing donor-centered stewardship strategies immediately, even those that required some internal restructuring and cooperation. We also helped re-strategize their solicitation strategies among renewing donors and prospects. One strategy was as simple as sending warm and welcoming acknowledgments within two weeks of the gift.

Results
Before the first full year is complete, NMF raised an additional $102,000 from this group of donors. They also doubled or almost doubled everything else: number of donors participating, renewal rates of those donors, and renewals of $1,000+ donors who had lapsed. Impressively, their "recapture" rate of lapsed donors tripled from 8% to 25%.

Because of these results, NMF reached their mandated renewal goal three months early and will surpass it by the end of the fiscal year. In addition, we increased the cost effectiveness of their program by "mailing smarter": they mailed 13% less and earned 31% more.