Case Study - Taking the Drama Out Of Fundraising
PROBLEM: A performing arts company was searching for a way to let their patrons renew tickets easily and quickly while also decreasing the time spent and costs associated with manual ticket sales.
To increase future ticket sales, they also needed to survey current patrons.
Any information obtained from the survey or ticket sales (including credit card information) had to be held in strict confidence.
SOLUTION: An on-line solution was developed that allowed patrons access to their subscription on-line.
The site was designed to download quickly and navigate easily.
To protect the information the site was linked to a secure server.
Each patron was contacted by phone and direct mail explaining how the new system would work, and asking for each patron's email address to be included into the new program.
Each respondent was assigned a temporary User ID and Password, which could be changed and personalized at anytime.
Once at the site and logged in, patrons could do the following: 1.
Donate money to the nonprofit organization, and immediately receive a receipt for taxes via email response.
2.
Order tickets directly on-line using a credit or debit card.
3.
Complete an Esponse patron survey, and in return they would receive a discount on their next ticket purchase.
4.
Check the schedule of events, which were updated every three weeks.
5.
Immediately contact and respond by email with questions or comments.
6.
Review the current of past editions of the monthly newsletter.
Only electronic versions were available, another advantage of electronic communications.
7.
All those who contacted the performing arts company through the site were immediately and automaticallysent a return email stating that their message had been received.
RESULTS: 1.
The original customer database was cleaned, deduped and put into best postal order for any direct mail use.
All email addresses were added as they were received.
The database is continually updated.
Each employee has access to the nonsecure information in the database, but only a select few can actually change, add or delete data.
2.
For patrons who requested it, all future communications were made via email, saving the performing arts company the time and money associated with direct mail printing and postage.
3.
Future advertising is now targeted to specific individuals and groups based on the on-line response to survey questionnaires.
4.
Internal costs associated with manual ticket sales were virtually eliminated.
At the same time, the efficiency and speed of ticket sales and processing were dramatically increased.
5.
All orders, renewals and surveys were kept in strict confidence 6.
The company began taking advertising from similar but noncompeting organizations, which added to the profitability of the project.
7.
Unsolicited fundraising increased 14% within the first year as a direct result of online donations.
To increase future ticket sales, they also needed to survey current patrons.
Any information obtained from the survey or ticket sales (including credit card information) had to be held in strict confidence.
SOLUTION: An on-line solution was developed that allowed patrons access to their subscription on-line.
The site was designed to download quickly and navigate easily.
To protect the information the site was linked to a secure server.
Each patron was contacted by phone and direct mail explaining how the new system would work, and asking for each patron's email address to be included into the new program.
Each respondent was assigned a temporary User ID and Password, which could be changed and personalized at anytime.
Once at the site and logged in, patrons could do the following: 1.
Donate money to the nonprofit organization, and immediately receive a receipt for taxes via email response.
2.
Order tickets directly on-line using a credit or debit card.
3.
Complete an Esponse patron survey, and in return they would receive a discount on their next ticket purchase.
4.
Check the schedule of events, which were updated every three weeks.
5.
Immediately contact and respond by email with questions or comments.
6.
Review the current of past editions of the monthly newsletter.
Only electronic versions were available, another advantage of electronic communications.
7.
All those who contacted the performing arts company through the site were immediately and automaticallysent a return email stating that their message had been received.
RESULTS: 1.
The original customer database was cleaned, deduped and put into best postal order for any direct mail use.
All email addresses were added as they were received.
The database is continually updated.
Each employee has access to the nonsecure information in the database, but only a select few can actually change, add or delete data.
2.
For patrons who requested it, all future communications were made via email, saving the performing arts company the time and money associated with direct mail printing and postage.
3.
Future advertising is now targeted to specific individuals and groups based on the on-line response to survey questionnaires.
4.
Internal costs associated with manual ticket sales were virtually eliminated.
At the same time, the efficiency and speed of ticket sales and processing were dramatically increased.
5.
All orders, renewals and surveys were kept in strict confidence 6.
The company began taking advertising from similar but noncompeting organizations, which added to the profitability of the project.
7.
Unsolicited fundraising increased 14% within the first year as a direct result of online donations.
Source...