CI with sections — Lindsey Latham

Improving Engagement to Increase Donor Retention

Client
Conservation International

Timeline
December 2022 - June 2023 (32 weeks)

My Role
Lead User Researcher / Email Designer and Copywriter / HTML Writer

Team
Digital Fundraising Manager / Director of Individual Giving / Brand and Communications

User Group
1,400+ Monthly Donors (‘Sustainers’)

Skills
Survey Design and Deployment, Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis, Email Design, HTML Writer

Tools
Adobe DreamWeaver, Email on Acid, Fundraise Up, Google Suite, EveryAction, Luminate

Overview

Conservation International has more than 1400 monthly donors (‘sustainers’), who donate over $300,000 each year. These donors provide a predictable and reliable source of unrestricted revenue - or funds which can be allocated by CI where needed most.

🚩 Problem

We were experiencing a decline in number of monthly donors and an increase in their email unsubscribe rates, reducing our annual revenue.

A lack of data and outreach restricted our understanding of why.

🎯 Goal

Identify why sustainers are canceling their donations, test different email strategies to increase engagement and reduce unsubscribe rates, and ultimately boost donor retention through data-driven campaigns informed by donor insights.

🔬 Key Word Definitions

Susainters: donors who contribute monthly through electronic auto-donations

Fundraising email: emails with an ask for recipients to make donation

Stewardship email: emails without donation asks, created for engagement (e.g. newsletters)

Before this research…

Conservation International had not tracked monthly donors, completed research, or done targeted outreach. This group lacked personalized stewardship, benefits, and support, contrary to our donor-first policy and unlike other donor groups with dedicated internal teams. Because of their lower average monthly donation, CI executives and board members often overlooked these donors, risking loss and missed engagement opportunities.

Key Insights

Monthly donors had high engagement rates and desired tailored communications that clearly connected their sustaining gifts to specific projects.
Tailored communication changes achieved a 50.2% decrease in unsubscribes and a 30.85% increase in email clicks.
Findings validated our hypothesis

Business Impact

Catalyzed long-term strategy including the launch of the new sustainer identity “The Current” and the development of new member benefits to drive deeper engagement.
Demonstrated to stakeholders that monthly donors were an untapped segment with significant potential, validating the importance of investing in this audience

Methodology and Processes

I crafted a study using the Double Diamond framework to answer our research question.

Process Breakdown

Phase I: Discover

In February 2023, I attended an Association for Fundraising Professionals event on motivations behind why monthly donors cancel their gifts. Inspired to review our donor data, we found a steady decline in number of monthly donors and an increase in their email unsubscribe rates, resulting in loss of revenue. Our lack of data and outreach restricted our understanding of why this was occurring. We conducted primary research during this phase to discover why.

Email Engagement and Donor Behavioral Data Analysis

Using Luminate, we analyzed email engagement—open rates, reading time, and number of emails received by sustainers. We identified recent unsubscribers and the emails they unsubscribed from. Then, we cross-referenced unsubscribers with sustainers who canceled monthly donations in the past 12 months through records in Raiser’s Edge.

Survey Design and Deployment

Concurrently, I designed and deployed a survey to our 1400+ sustainers. A survey allowed us to reach our entire sustainer base time efficiently and cost effectively and was built to be scalable for future outreach.

The questions focused on three categories:

Sustainers’ donor experience: How satisfied are you with your current experience as a monthly donor?
Current engagement with CI materials and information: How do you stay apprised of CI’s work, if at all?
Conservation priorities and biggest interests: Which CI initiatives excite you most?

The survey was piloted by two team members on the Individual Giving team before launch.

Stakeholder Interviews

To ensure proposed solutions would align with both donor expectations and internal objectives, I conducted interviews with the VP of Individual Giving, Director of Individual Giving and the Digital Fundraising Manager.

I focused my questions on three key areas:

Historical context: What strategies have been tried in the past, and what challenges were faced?
Organizational priorities: What outcomes are most important to leadership (e.g., donor retention, email subscription rates, donor experience)?
Donor experience goals: How should we make monthly donors feel supported, recognized, and motivated to continue giving?

We learned that a majority of donors want more information about their donation impact and stay informed about our work via email. I proposed customizing the monthly donation email receipt, which is already sent each month as required by law.

I believed that tailoring these communications could quickly strengthen our donor connection at no additional cost. These changes could allow us to increase donor engagement through their preferred method and give them the content they desired.

Current Email & Challenges