The most successful membership programs excel, in large part, because they know how to strike up the conversation with prospective donors.
Instead of would you like to make a gift? great membership programs approach us with questions like: what concerns you more: drilling in the Arctic, or deforestation in the Amazon? They ask our opinions: Where do you stand on health care? They pique our curiosity: How well do you know your rights? They even stop us in our tracks sometimes: Do you think this child deserves to eat dinner tonight?
We all know this as good membership and marketing people.
Or do we?
We strike up all these great dialogues via our emails, newsletters, blogs and Facebook pages. But more often than not, our offer to engage our donors through these channels happens via one conversation-killer:
Join our mailing list.
It’s good to question our strategies every once and a while. Often, we validate the way we do things. But sometimes, we find better ways to do them.
What do you think? Is there a better way than “join our mailing list?”
