A Nonprofit Cancer Center is Attracting Support With a Loyalty Program That Recognizes Not Only Large Gifts, But Continuous Giving – Regardless Of Amount.

When money is tight, even the worthiest causes feel the pinch. But The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found a way to boost donations even as other charities are seeing declines. M. D. Anderson has created a multilevel loyalty program that rewards members not only by their gift size, but by their longevity as a donor regardless of amount. And it’s proving to be the institution’s single largest source of unrestricted money.

A close-knit circle

To most people, loyalty marketing means frequent flyer miles or credit card incentives. But M. D. Anderson’s donor loyalty club relies on a more subtle and personalized approach to cultivating relationships with long-term members. Consequently, the donor loyalty club is winning over a growing number of members.

The club offers an assortment of membership tiers — from its Century Club to its President’s Associate Gold Level — which are defined by donors’ cumulative gift sizes over a 12-month period. Meanwhile, M. D. Anderson also offers its “Partner’s Circle,” which is open to members who’ve given to the institution consistently for five years or longer.

The Partner’s Circle sprang from the observation that people who gave a little bit of money continuously throughout their lifetime often ended up bequeathing the institution significant donations from their estates, says Cindy Lappetito, vice president and general manager at loyalty-marketing company Epsilon, which created M. D. Anderson’s direct marketing campaign and donor loyalty programs. “The Partner’s Circle gift program was a way to recognize those folks and reward them,” she explains.

Giving thanks

But the Partner’s Circle isn’t M. D. Anderson’s only expression of gratitude. Annual stewardship letters are mailed to donors each August. These letters serve to express appreciation for the donor’s commitment to M. D. Anderson and reference various ways in which the Annual Fund was utilized throughout the year. Recently, these stewardship pieces have also included useful refrigerator magnets, referral cards with the institution’s important phone numbers, a cancer-screening insert and a “Donor Bill of Rights.”

In November, M. D. Anderson also sends Thanksgiving greeting cards with artwork created by a pediatric cancer patient who participated in the M. D. Anderson Children’s Art Project.

Unusually, none of these mailings included a donation appeal. “We are careful not to ask people too many times for money,” says Michael Frick, associate vice president for development. “We never want them to think that short-term money is more important than our long-term relationship.”

All together, M. D. Anderson mails four appeals to approximately 100,000 active donors every year, in addition to sending about 2 million pieces aimed at acquiring new donors. These mailings are continually tested, tweaked and personalized, Lappetito says. “As we continue to add personalization and localization to our control package, it performs better,” she adds. For example, M. D. Anderson has found that a mail piece is more likely to generate a response when it mentions the city in which the recipient lives, contains a map with that location marked with a star and notes how many patients in the recipient’s area have been treated at M. D. Anderson.

Star power

M. D. Anderson also added a loyalty-building component to its donor acquisition package last year. The institution sent out a “Star Card” featuring a potential donor’s name, membership number and a design based on the Lone Star of Texas. The card doesn’t provide discounts or generate rewards points, but M. D. Anderson hopes it fosters a sense of belonging among recipients.

The Star Card mailings allowed M. D. Anderson to increase the number of new donors it acquired last year, despite a down economy, Lappetito says. And when Epsilon compared the response rate to a that of a control package without the Star Card, the company found that the mailing that contained the card generated a 19-percent greater response, with no change in average gift size. In addition, the mailing generated a cost-per-dollar-raised — which is the total cost of the mailer divided by total revenue — that was 8 percent lower than that of the control package.

The Star Card was not especially flashy or expensive. In fact, slick campaigns almost never work as well for M. D. Anderson as do low-gloss, high-touch mailings, Frick says. “Sometimes what looks like a gorgeous, unique and strong package [one that wins design awards] is terrible for fundraising,” he says.

“Something plain and relatively simple and inexpensive is far more effective.” Lappetito concurs. “Every year we test new direct mail packages, including four-color pieces in glossy envelopes. But they never work as well as the plain-but-personal approach.”

The personal touch

Indeed, when donors make their first contributions, M. D. Anderson mails them a personalized “welcome kit” that asks about the areas of research and patient care in which they are most interested. In addition, all subsequent mailings include donors’ names and addresses as well as variable data copy that creates relevant messaging for donors. Copy includes their Donor Loyalty Club levels and the areas in which they live.

Also key to the strategy is the tone of the mailings. Some conversations with donors make appeals to their emotions, others to their intellect — but they are always measured and informative. For instance, while a letter might tell the story of a patient who has recovered from cancer, it also will include specific details about some of M. D. Anderson’s latest research. “We will not use alarmist fundraising at all,” says Frick, explaining that such scare tactics are inconsistent with the goals of the institution. “Cancer is a serious topic, and we approach each letter as an educational opportunity.”

Not only does M. D. Anderson get to discuss its efforts with donors; it also gets a chance to learn more about its mail recipients. Frick says cultivating both opportunities has helped M. D. Anderson develop strong donor relationships: “It’s this combination of personalization, respect and recognition that fosters continued donor participation.”