Reigniting Growth for Amnesty International: Analyzing Decline and Prioritizing Donor Strategies

1. The Sky is Falling – Reigniting Growth in a Direct Response Program Tricia Hart, Amnesty International USA Julie Wilson, Integral Joe Manes, ABD Direct

2. About AIUSA • Global movement of 7 million people fighting injustice and promoting human rights. • Membership organization with sections in 33 countries. • The US and UK have historically been the largest sections. #Bridge16

3. Revenue remained stable after 2009, but donor counts decreased slightly every year. #Bridge16

4. 2013 – another 16% drop in revenue with a 15% drop in donorsThat’s a 27% drop in donors in 5 years… #Bridge16

5. In 2013, the program faced: • Donor Counts Dropping • Income Dropping • Staff Turnover • Negative Donor Feedback

6. Nothing Made Sense! In 2012-2013, heavy investment in new donor acquisition had added over 85,000 new donors. Yet the numbers don’t lie…this program was in serious decline.

7. Understanding what happened is key to fixing…but where do we focus our efforts? • Why are we declining? • New - Are we investing correctly in acquisition? Have we been acquiring the right kind(s) of donors? • Existing - What is happening here? How are we treating them? • Both - What quantitative v. qualitative data is available? • How do we stabilize declines? • Which donor segments or programs need to be prioritized?

8. In 2011, Amnesty’s 15-Year Acquisition Control… #Bridge16

9. Was Beaten by a New Package: #Bridge16

10. The new Violence Against Women package saw greater RR% which drove greater income, when compared to Gold Foil Control. What would you do? #Bridge16

11. Managing today’s decisions using long term measures of success… The initial test took 3.25 years to break even.After 12months, just 22% of the Violence Against Women donors gave another gift. This package’s donors just didn’t retain.After this test, the Lo$ Retest had a higher response rate than the control but a LOWER average gift…it took 4.5 years to break even.

12. Managing today’s decisions using long term measures of success… It is important to note…throughout it’s use, the Violence Against Women package continued to see improved response rates, when compared to original Gold Foil Package. However, subsequent Activation worsened. #Bridge16

13. For years, AIUSA continued to mail the Violence Against Women package, in spite of the lower value and activation rates compared to the Gold Foil label control. In March 2014, we audited the program and discontinued the package completely. #Bridge16

14. Poor ROI on Acquisition Was Not the Whole Quantitative Story… The initial analysis also dove into high level trends… - Years on file (new v. existing performance) - Giving level (Hi$ v. Lo$) - File composition - Retention, etc. Then deeper dive into each program…

15. Historically, 5+ Years donors made up 77% of AIUSA revenue. With that, they were also responsible for 80% of the $3.5MM gap between 2012 and 2013. #Bridge16

16. New v. Reinstates Mix • 38% of that $3.5MM revenue gap came from a decline in reinstated donors • Deeper dives found that the proportion of Lapsed donors mailed in Acquisition had dropped from 30% to 22% in 2013 - - So not only was there a lower investment in acquisition, but fewer Lapsed were being mailed • Lapsed donor value & activation were reviewed, and we immediately increased their mail volumes, resulting in increased response and revenue from this group

17. Retention of active donors was down in every lifecycle & dollar group

18. The $100+ donors were responsible for $2.3MM of the $3.5MM drop… (21% of the donors lost were responsible for 64% of the gap) #Bridge16

19. What Next? How Do We Both Stop the Attrition and Get Members Back? Qualitative Data Was Hopeful and Helpful: A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research project reported Active and lapsed members both feel very positively toward Amnesty International. 95% of Active Donors and 88% of Lapsed Donors had a favorable view of the organization.

20. I Like You, But… • There is a perceived lack of clarity and focus around Amnesty International’s mission. • Members—especially lapsed—do not believe that Amnesty International is ineffective; they just do not know enough to be sure if it is effective. • Members did not think Amnesty International focuses on the wrong issues, but they believe Amnesty International takes on too many issues.

21. #Bridge16

22. #Bridge16

23. Special Donor Conference Calls #Bridge16

24. Newsletters & “Success” Postcards #Bridge16

25. The Challenge: Mapping a Donor Journey That Matches Message to Mission. • Reengage with Movement Messaging • Create a Narrative Arc to Engage and Educate Donors • Combine Fundraising Techniques with Greater Program Content • Identify and Time Pillar Appeals #Bridge16

26. Integrated Membership Drive

27. Create a Year-End Fundraising Campaign Featuring a Year-In-Review Report…and a MATCH! #Bridge16

28. CoordinatedAdvocacy Campaign #Bridge16

29. Remember those 5+ Years on File folks? #Bridge16

30. And those $100+ peeps? #Bridge16

31. Retention of 12m active donors is now at or above industry standards, and donor value has also increased. (sound of mic dropping) #Bridge16

32. #Bridge16

33. CONTINUED VIGILANCE IS VITAL! • What we monitor • Campaign Performance – daily • Cashflow – daily • Donor Counts - weekly • Retention – weekly • File Composition - quarterly • New Donor Activation - quarterly • Reinstated Donor Activation - quarterly

34. NEXT CHALLENGE = Grow! • What’s Next for Direct Response? • Messaging • Getting Back to $20MM! Amnesty International is a global movement of people fighting injustice and promoting human rights.

35. Tricia HartNational Director of Direct ResponseAmnesty International, USAthart@aiusa.org Julie WilsonDirector of Strategic PlanningIntegraljwilson@integral-dc.com Joe ManesSenior Vice President ABD Directjoe.manes@abdata.com Don’t forget to visit the Solutions Showcase! Many of the ideas discussed today are on display at the Solutions Showcase!