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April 8, 2009
Should churches offer "premiums" to encourage online giving
I recently subscribed to a magazine that offered me a free gift if I completed the transaction by a certain date. This is what the direct marketing industry calls a "premium." And its wide acceptance and use confirms it works.
Traditional non-profit fundraising appeals have also utilized this technique. Just listen to the latest public radio or television membership drives, and you'll hear: "All members giving at "x" level, get "y."" The bigger the giving, the better or "more valuable" the gift.
As the fundraising world looks to the internet as the new frontier, some are wondering if this mainstay approach to growing your giving base will translate into the digital giving experience too. According to one study, the simple answer is yes.
Recent research confirmed that this technique still works. In most cases the best results come with the increase of new givers, the most difficult and costly segment to recruit. Nonetheless, the research also confirmed that a premium helped increase the average gift or overall response from current or existing donors.
"Offering a premium significantly boosted response rates and average gifts for two of the four organizations. The other two organizations saw a significant increase in either the response rate or the average gift. On average, response rates rose by 95% and average gift size increased by 37% when a premium was offered.1 That translates to nearly twice as many new donors, on average!"
Should the church consider employing this technique as well? As churches seek to expand their giving base to fund their complex ministry budgets, is there room within the practice of the church to offer a premium to attract new givers and encourage more consistent and larger gifts from existing giving base?
Before I answer that question, I want to hear your thoughts. Hit the "comments" button below or send me a reply via e-mail.
Posted by bstroup at April 8, 2009 12:21 PM
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