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Over a year ago, M+R released the results of a test in which we dropped the price of membership with a major nonprofit from $35 to $25 for a limited time for subscribers who had never become members.  We teamed up with two University of Maryland economists to roll out the offer and analyze the results.

Reducing the membership to $25 and – here’s the key! – telling supporters it was a special discount raised just a hair more, but it got more people donating. This tactic reduced the average gifts, but increased response rates, securing first-time gifts from more people. Check out the full results from the original study.

But there was still a big question hanging over our heads: Would the donors who gave to the discounted $25 membership perform as well in the long-term, or were they just fair weather fans who would always need a special offer to get them to open their wallets?

We took a deep dive into this nonprofit’s data to find out, looking at 18 months worth of online and offline giving for the donors to the $35 and $25 offers from the original test.
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With direct mail and other fundraising channels hitting the skids, nonprofits are looking to boost online revenue in any way they can – trying out new tactics to get that all-important first donation from non-members.

This one might have crossed your mind: “What if we lower the minimum cost of membership?”  M+R and two economists from the University of Maryland partnered with a major nonprofit to run a test.  In an email appeal to people who had never become members, we reduced the minimum membership amount from $35 to $25.

What did we find out?  Framing is everything. (more…)