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Dogs show
the way in supporter relationship management
 Kate Hoelter, Fundraising Manager
from The Lost Dogs’ Home shows that you don’t need to be a large
organisation or have a big brand to develop a successful
fundraising program and a loyal and passionate supporter
group.
In May 2003, The Lost Dogs’ Home (LDH) faced decreasing annual
fundraising income and a shrinking donor database. At the time we
had approximately 8,000 active donors and our fundraising income
was in the order of $500,000 pa. We knew that to provide vital
services to lost, abandoned and injured dogs and cats well into the
future, we needed to secure a reliable income stream.
We teamed up with data-led fundraising experts Pareto
Fundraising to develop our strategy. The most cost-effective answer
was to develop a donor loyalty program. The Home already had a
regular giving program, but we needed to actively build this
through marketing it initially to existing donors and then to
prospects.
Overall, our plan was to increase the average recency, frequency
and value of our donors, then to grow the database. We went to our
supporters first and using a proven, strong pack – highly
personalised, data driven and with a very clear message as to why
regular giving was the right thing to do to help dogs and cats -
5.8% converted to regular giving (with a ROI of 6.61). This success
gave us the confidence to invest in acquiring new donors directly
onto regular giving.
Over four years, testing different lists, various mail packs,
online acquisition and a small face-to-face test, we built our
regular giving program ‘Friends of PAWs’ (PAWs is an acronym for
personally authorized withdrawals) from 97 regular givers to 8,602,
giving an annual gross income of $1,617,395.64.
This is an incredible achievement for the Home, with regular
giving income alone equivalent to three times the total gross
fundraising income for the 2002/03 financial year!
We invested substantially in building this very successful
loyalty program, and we really needed to get maximum value from our
new donors and a return on our investment.
Working with Pareto Fundraising, we came up with a donor
communications program that not only made donors feel appreciated
and valued but communicated clearly what they could expect from us,
and what we needed from them to help our dogs and cats. At the same
time the program gave lots of positive feedback and opportunity for
dialogue.
All new members of the PAWs program are sent a welcome pack,
which includes a warm and personally signed letter from the
Managing Director, a colorful brochure full of case studies, and a
feedback form.
All communications to LDH donors are data-driven and highly
personalised. Strategies such as donor surveys help us to gain
information including pet names and opinions on animal welfare
issues that can be used to further personalise communications.
While this approach is successful and appreciated by donors, it
has its challenges. The Home has had to develop strict data
protocols to ensure our database is accurate and consistent. Data
such as pet names must be current, as writing to donors about their
deceased pets is definitely not good donor care.
Our database is highly segmented, and every communication
received by each segment is personalised, relevant, timely and,
where applicable, refers to their type of support. For example,
PAWs supporters are acknowledged as regular donors when they
receive cash appeals, and if they are a bequestor this is also
mentioned. If they have recently upgraded through a telemarketing
program, they are also thanked for that. It gets complex, but for
great donor relationship building and ROI, it’s worth the
effort.
Our donors get a Christmas card and newsletters, but it is the
January Donor Care mailing, a one to one, personal and heartfelt
thank you from our Managing Director, Dr Graeme Smith that is vital
to reducing attrition and maximizing value from our supporters.
We feedback on what the Home has achieved with their support the
year before, we talk about our fundraising programs and events, and
our hopes and plans for the current year that we want to achieve
with their continued support.
We include a feedback form which has been embraced by our
supporters, many of whom write the equivalent of an essay to share
their ideas, their pet stories and their gratitude for our work.
Again, it is time consuming to record and, where appropriate,
respond to their feedback. But done right, it is the essence of a
good SRM program – a two way conversation between the supporter and
the charity.
If you want to find out more about The Lost Dogs’ Home or make a
donation visit dogshome.com. or contact Kate at kate.hoelter@dogshome.com
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