Marketing Lessons from Phantom Canyon

30 Jun Marketing Lessons from Phantom Canyon

1 July 2025

By David Allen, Development for Conservation

I still have my first Nature Conservancy workplan. There were half a dozen goals the most important of which was “Triple the TNC membership in Oregon.” The goal, by the way, was met two years later and mostly because I stayed out of the way – but that’s another story.

About the same time, in Colorado, TNC was making an enormous bet on Phantom Canyon. Phantom Canyon was a spectacular roadless canyon, a rim-to-rim sanctuary encompassing four miles of the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River, about thirty miles west of Ft. Collins.

And it had a marketer’s dream of a name. The bet was that using direct mail to raise money for the “Phantom Canyon” would be so compelling that non-members from all over Colorado would become new members overnight.

I was watching this closely of course, as a TNC newbie, because we had our own project we could use to chase in new members in Oregon – Clear Lake Ridge.

To a certain extent, they were both successful. And to a certain extent, they both failed. They succeeded in that they attracted new support from people who had not given before. And all the metrics we use to evaluate direct mail success were stellar – percentage response, average gift, cost of raising a dollar, and so on.

But they also failed, and the failure wasn’t truly realized until several years later. Because all these new people who gave to see the project completed were satisfied when the project was completed. In that sense, it was very transactional.

They didn’t renew.

The same thing happened with Obama’s Yes We Can political fundraisers. MoveOn.org was supposed to reinvigorate the Democratic Party with $1, $2, and $5 contributions. And what happened? Obama got elected, and the deal was done. No one renewed.

The national statistic everyone talks about is that less than half of people who give one year return to give the next. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project estimates that the overall donor retention rate across all nonprofits in 2024 was 42.9%.

If your organization’s renewal rate is more than 50%, you will be tempted to feel pretty good about it. I think you should tell yourself a different story – one that aims at 75% instead.

I believe nonprofits everywhere are seeing renewal rates less than 50% because they are making the same bet TNC made with Phantom Canyon. They are reaching for the transactional. They believe someone interested in protecting a certain place, or making an impulse decision after attending an event, will automatically make the leap to loyal mission donor a year later. From an email solicitation.

And most people won’t.

One lesson we learned at TNC that I have carried with me since is that the closer you can make the renewal solicitation to the original solicitation, the more effective it will be. Consider the implications:

If the original solicitation was by letter, a renewal letter will bring a higher response than an email.

If someone joins at an event (or at a Farmer’s Market booth), they are more likely to renew at another event – if they ever go to another event.

If the first solicitation was for Phantom Canyon, drip feeding update information a renewal letter about Phantom Canyon will boost results.

And there’s nothing magic about waiting 12 months. Why not send a renewal request after three months instead? Before they’ve had a chance to forget about how Phantom Canyon was protected by TNC?

So, to improve your organization’s renewal rate, consider the following:

Recruitment Source – What, specifically, stimulated their first gift? You will benefit from using different renewal strategies for each source.

First Renewal Rate – Keep careful track of first renewal rates for each source. You may decide to doble down on one recruitment strategy because it recruits more long-term donors, and cut back on another, because it does not.

Conversion Challenge – Consider the challenges of “converting” transactional donors (including project or campaign donors, event donors, and so on) into mission donors – donors who will give for years and leave the land trust in their will.

Also, understand how many (or what percentage) of your current donors are in their first two years of membership. Consider that they may not know anything about the organization, including its mission, its projects, what an easement is and so on. They are going to need some special communications attention to better understand WHY they will want to say Yes when asked to renew.

For example, Board members could call all new members within a month after they make a first gift.

Or you could print a special “new member” edition of your newsletter and mail it to them. Consider that such an edition could have really basic information about how things work and how to engage further. It could have a shelf life of a year and could be mailed two or three weeks after thank-you letters.

Or you could have an open house (or open preserve!), hosted by Board members to welcome new members into the community.

Or … ??

Please feel free to offer your own ideas in the comments below.

Because 42.9% isn’t good enough.

Cheers, and have a great week!

-da

PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.

Photo by Adrian Campfield courtesy Pixabay