Harry Lynch, CFRE and Martha Schumacher, CFRE

1. Top Ten Chapter Marketing Tips: Renewal, Retention and Acquisition-OhMy!AFP Leadership Academy 2009Friday, October 2, 2009 11:00A - 12:30P, Emerald 4 Harry Lynch, CFRE and Martha Schumacher, CFRE 2009 leadership academy

2. Welcome and Introductions 2009 leadership academy

3. Setting the Stage What is marketing? 2009 leadership academy

4. What We’re Covering Today 2009 leadership academy

5. Top 10 Marketing Tips 2009 leadership academy

6. 1. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: www.afpnet.org • Model/Sample Chapter Communications plan summary: http://www.afpnet.org/ModelChapterCommPlan • AFP Information Exchange: http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter • 50th Anniversary chapter toolkit: http://www.afpnet.org/AFP50/ChapterToolkit • Online membership toolkit: http://www.afpnet.org/Membership/OnlineToolkit • NPD talking Points: http://www.afpnet.org/About/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3116 2009 leadership academy

7. Online Membership Toolkit (sample contents) 2009 leadership academy

8. Online Membership Toolkit (sample contents) 2009 leadership academy

9. Online Membership Toolkit (sample contents) 2009 leadership academy

10. Online Membership Toolkit (sample contents) 2009 leadership academy

11. 2. Renewal Tip #1: Reinforce the value of chapter and international benefits. • Chapter benefits - bookmark, mentor program flyer, attendee examples • Tried and true AFP benefits including the Resource Center, the Code of Ethics, the Donor Bill or Rights, educational programming • New AFP benefits including free Ready Reference Series, Information Exchange, new AFP website and digital Advancing Philanthropy 2009 leadership academy

12. Promote Member Benefits! 2009 leadership academy

13. Emphasis on Benefits 2009 leadership academy

14. Promote Member Benefits! 2009 leadership academy

15. Resource Center Brochure 2009 leadership academy

16. 3. Renewal Tip #2: Hold a renew-a-thon. • Board and other key volunteer involvement • Donated location and phone access • Prizes for most renewed, most calls made, etc. • Provide food! 2009 leadership academy

18. 4. Retention Tip #1: Encourage chapter and international involvement. • Engaged and involved members stay members. • Assign a committed chapter leader - perhaps a past president or board member - to be your volunteer services ambassador. This person will identify individuals interested in volunteer opportunities and connect those individuals with the appropriate chapter leaders. • Provide current chapter leaders with networking and educational opportunities - like the Leadership Academy! • Promote volunteer opportunities at the chapter and international level. 2009 leadership academy

19. Provide Volunteering Opportunities 2009 leadership academy

20. Provide Networking Opportunities 2009 leadership academy

21. Mentoring Opportunities 2009 leadership academy

22. 5. Retention Tip # 2: Stewardship 101 – Good old-fashioned relationship building. • For most members, the first face of AFP is their local chapter. Capitalize on neighborhood belonging and affinity. • Event greeters • Board members stationed at each table • Individual follow-up 2009 leadership academy

23. 6. Retention Tip # 3: Ask for input, use it and report back. • Surveys - brief chapter survey, Survey Monkey • Town hall meetings, hot chocolate forums • Get feedback and incorporate it • Let your chapter know what you’ve done with their input 2009 leadership academy

24. Using Feedback to Improve 2009 leadership academy

25. 7. Retention Tip #4: Stewardship 102 – Tailored and meaningful recognition. • Apply and adapt successful stewardship techniques from your “day job.” As we all know, in these times effective retention will be difficult (if not impossible!) without outstanding stewardship. • Decide what type of communication makes the most sense for your local members – targeted personal calls, e-cards, notes, and/or text messages. • Recognize outstanding volunteer service and financial sponsorships at all events and in all written/online materials. 2009 leadership academy

26. Meaningful Recognition 2009 leadership academy

27. Meaningful Recognition 2009 leadership academy

28. 8. Acquisition Tip #1: Make it personal. • Meet people where they are – for example, hold a Young Professionals Happy Hour. • Provide incentives for current members to bring not-yet-members to your next event. • Consider a chapter mentoring program – if you don’t already have one – to draw prospective members with the promise of becoming a mentor or mentee. • Making it “personal” is not what it used to be! Use social networking to beef up your chapter’s membership recruitment program. Share ideas, photos and/or passing thoughts on Facebook and/or other networks. (See Tip #10 :-) 2009 leadership academy

29. The Personal Touch Matters 2009 leadership academy

30. 9. Acquisition Tip #2: Create strategic partnerships to help you. • Partnership can result in increased exposure and enhanced services. They also present important cross-marketing opportunities. • Make sure that the partnerships you create will potentially benefit your chapter as much as they benefit your partner. • Share event expenses and pro-bono services. 2009 leadership academy

31. 10. Acquisition Tip #3: Help people connect through social networking. • AFP International is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Ammado. • Keeping everything updated will take a dedicated volunteer who LOVES social networking. • Motivate your “missionary” members to educate, engage and invite. 2009 leadership academy

32. AFP on LinkedIn 2009 leadership academy

33. AFP Facebook Page

34. AFP on Twitter 2009 leadership academy

35. Tweeting to Promote AFP Events 2009 leadership academy

36. Promote Events Via Facebook 2009 leadership academy

37. Promote Events Via Facebook 2009 leadership academy

38. 10 + 1. Media outreach. Be proactive, be agile and think beyond the usual sources. • Be proactive. Many organizations wait for media to come to them. That won’t work for your chapter or anyone else, for that matter. • Smaller papers and trade publications are hungry for content – reach out to them. • Tell your story/a story, engage. • Be relevant – understand what they need and provide meaningful information. • Designate a chapter media spokesperson – but make sure they know what they’re doing! • Find reporters who focus on nonprofits and philanthropy in your area. • Reporters are like anyone else – they need good old-fashioned relationship building too! 2009 leadership academy

39. Chapter Membership Recruitment and Retention Plans 2009 leadership academy

40. Like-Sized Chapter Breakouts Network/Info Share/Lessons Learned Additional Ideas from Session Attendees Use Constantcontact.com to disseminate information regularly; also consider waiving chapter dues fee as part of a special recruitment effort. Consider hiring a chapter administrator or an executive director to free up the time of the Board and volunteers to market your chapter and build relationships. Use creative titles to market your programming (ie. Chicks, Checks and Charities, Tales from the Crypt, AFP: It’s All About ME etc) Employ innovative ideas to reach different audiences (ie. Speed networking with young professionals, The Color of Money diversity event, Schmoozapalooza, to connect younger fundraising professionals with senior level professionals etc). 2009 leadership academy

41. Next Steps Post-session posting on afpnet.org at: www.afpnet.org/LAhandouts. 2009 leadership academy

42. Thank You! Harry Lynch, CFRE CEO Sanky Communications 589 Eighth Avenue, 10th Floor New York, NY 10018 hlynch@sankyinc.com 212.868.4300 x15 AFP Staff: Kathy Compton, Chief Marketing Officer kcompton@afpnet.org/703.519.8457 Pat Bjorhovde, Director Chapter Services, Western U.S. pbjorhovde@afpnet.org/520.299.4315 Martha Schumacher, CFRE President Hazen Inc. 906 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Washington DC 20003 hazeninc@earthlink.net 202.210.9459 2009 leadership academy