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Allyson Kapin 4 min read

Five Symptoms that May Indicate that your Nonprofit Is Suffering from List Decay

Symptom 1: Churn rates are above 19% annually.

Tips: Identify strategies to minimize your churn rates such as timing action alerts to coincide with breaking news, crafting short and catchy subject lines, telling a good story, and giving members opportunities to take meaningful action on your issue. Remember, every email should be about participation and can often go beyond just clicking a button to sign a petition. Have you asked people to comment on a great blog post that is getting good traction? Experiment and see what resonates with your list.

Symptom 2: Not replenishing the members who left your list.

Tips: Utilize list building campaigns such as paid advertising, online petitions, social media outreach, and “viral” marketing to recruit new members.

Symptom 3: Online members not moving up the ladder of activism.

Tips: Many nonprofits segment their list into three categories:
1. Super-activists (a member that takes multiple actions over a calendar year)
2. Activists (a member that takes a couple of actions over a calendar year)
3. Non-responders (a member that rarely takes action online).

If your members are not moving up the ladder of activism, consider the following. Look at what you’re asking your members to do. How can they help your nonprofit and advance your mission besides signing petitions or donating money? Are their offline events they can attend? Can they volunteer? Write a letter to the editor?

Symptom 4: Your average donation online is less then $71.

Tips: Check out these solid strategies to engage donors from Madeline and Jenn at Watershed.

Symptom 5: Not surveying your online list once a year.

Tips: Consider framing survey questions around:
1. What issues do you think our organization should take on? The key is it to make online members feel like their opinions count and that you care.
2. What motivates your members to take action and donate money?

What tips can you share that would help nonprofits energize their online list?

 

 

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Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.

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