Imagine you’re throwing a party. You’ve got a plan for the food and the venue, and you’ve got a cute little invitation all designed. Now, it’s time to curate the perfect guest list. You look through your contacts and messages for inspiration, and I mean, sure, you could invite your best friends. The people you talk to regularly. The people who really like you and support you. But isn’t that just too easy? Wouldn’t you rather just invite the people who only talk to you occasionally?
Okay, you got me —that’s actually pretty crazy.
When you’re sending invitations, you’re going to send them to the people who know and love you. So, let’s imagine for a moment that instead of inviting people to a party, we’re inviting them to upgrade their support to midlevel giving. (Oh right, this is a fundraising blog!) Believe it or not, the same strategy applies.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—members are the lifeblood of the visitor-based organization. They’re your loyal base, a consistent source of revenue, and they sing your praises. So, when you’re considering an upgrade invitation to midlevel giving, there’s no better place to start.
Of course, knowing members are strong supporters is only the first step. Next, you need to identify which members are most likely to deepen their support and find the right moment to ask them to do so. You want to ask the right people at the right time.
When we partner with clients, we take a close look at the full active member file and identify prospects who may be good candidates for becoming midlevel donors based on a range of factors including total years of membership, giving history, and more. When it’s time for those prospects to renew their membership, they receive a special upgrade invitation in place of their first renewal notice. This approach works well because the ask comes at a time when members are already primed to support the organization through their renewal.
The invitation is designed to feel more elevated than a standard renewal package. Often, we’ll use larger envelopes or higher-quality paper to convey the importance of the package. While membership renewals may use brighter, more colorful imagery or even playful puns, these upgrade invitations feel more like a typical fundraising appeal. They thank the member for their loyal support, acknowledge that it’s time for their membership renewal, and request that they consider deepening their impact by upgrading. The letter would then explain all the ways their upgraded support would further the organization’s mission. Sometimes, we’ll even include a lift note that tells a specific mission story. The renewal email that members receive at this time mirrors the same language and feel used in the mail, so it’s one cohesive ask.
The approach works because we create a special opportunity to support the organization they care about. If they’re not ready for more right now, that’s okay. If the member does not respond, they simply fall back into the general renewal cycle, receiving the next scheduled renewal notice, as usual. They can still show their support as general members, and we give them plenty of opportunities to do so. Not every recipient will become a midlevel donor right away, but the strategy still produces meaningful results.
We’ve employed this strategy with many of our membership clients, and we consistently see strong results. Whether or not the members actually upgrade to midlevel support, we see that they have higher renewal rates and higher average gifts than the general renewal audience. In fact, one of our clients rolled out this strategy for the first time last year, and an incredible 94% of all prospects who received the upgrade package either upgraded to midlevel giving or renewed their membership. And the number of members who upgraded to midlevel giving increased by 89%.
If you’re curious about how we design these packages or want to learn more about this strategy, please feel free to reach out! Stay tuned for the next installment in our membership series, which will focus on gift membership campaigns.
