5 Tips for Turning Supporters into Donors

Broadview Media has a long history (195 years of it to be exact!) of publishing important news and stories on spirituality, justice, and ethical living. The magazine currently has over 18,000 paid subscribers; of those, 5,000 are former or current donors. Many of these donors have been supporting the magazine with annual donations and monthly giving. But those numbers mean 72% of their faithful subscribers have never made a donation.

The fact that Broadview receives donations from one in four subscribers is impressive. But many publications have been hit hard in recent years as readers move online. As a result, the revenue from subscribers and donors just wasn’t enough to sustain the organization. To make the situation worse, the team received the news that Broadview’s denominational grant would be significantly reduced. They also had to face the challenge that Bill C-18 blocks the sharing of news content (Broadview’s bread and butter) in Canada on two of the world’s most popular social media platforms. That’s when the Broadview team reached out to ST.

Lemonade from lemons

With these significant threats before them, Broadview chose to see challenges as opportunities – opportunities to make a case to their ardent supporters (otherwise known as subscribers) that they could be part of saving their beloved Broadview, and faith-informed journalism in this country, by becoming a donor.

To the faithful, Broadview is so much more than just a magazine. It’s a community of like-minded people who support progressive spiritual perspectives and is a trusted, award-winning source of news. Beyond the magazine, Broadview offers digital content, podcasts, internship training, a reading club and discussion groups, and is a trusted source of news to some of Canada’s most needy populations.

Broadview’s First Gift Campaign:
Maximizing reader revenue by turning subscribers into first-time donors

To address the abovementioned challenges, Broadview partnered with ST (Stephen Thomas Ltd) for their First Gift campaign. It focused on acquiring the first donation — no matter how small — from current magazine subscribers who have never donated. The strategy was to test donation messaging, married with best practices, to motivate subscribers to make their first philanthropic gift in addition to the price of their subscription. This campaign was also used to generate benchmarks Broadview would share with other Canadian magazines with charitable status. And perhaps even more importantly, the campaign would generate awareness among subscribers that Broadview is a charitable organization that needs donor support to remain viable, something even their most ardent subscribers likely didn’t know.

‘Tis the season to accelerate revenue

The First Gift campaign would unfold in two waves, starting in the December 2023 issue of Broadview magazine as a full-page print ad, arriving in mailboxes in the first week of November.

The second wave of the campaign rolled out across multi-channels and included:

1. a full page in-magazine ad (Jan/Feb 2024 issue, which subscribers received in December), as well as a direct mail piece.
2. An email series of emails each for Giving Tuesday and Year End which went to subscribers and other contacts for whom Broadview had emails.
3. Text message series to mobile phone numbers to support the Giving Tuesday campaign.
4. A series of digital ads aimed at an audience that might know of Broadview but may not have been donors or subscribers.

The creative for the print ad used a recent Broadview magazine cover itself and a clever headline to reinforce the idea that subscriptions don’t “cover” the cost of producing the magazine. The copy also highlighted the fact that trusted journalism is being threatened and delivered a strong call for donations, using a matching gift offer for new donors who joined the recurring giving program. The social media ads doubled down on the notion that journalism is being threatened and that donations are needed to sustain the Broadview organization. While ST developed the creative for all of the above, Broadview produced direct mail in-house, supporting the overall strategy consistently.

The Big Story: Results

All told, the end of year campaigns raised over $100,000 more than expected, with the Giving Tuesday campaign more than doubling the original revenue target. More than 90 new recurring donors signed up, and over 7% engaged with the SMS messaging test.

In fact, we’re not the only ones who believed this was a great campaign – Broadview received a 1st place award from the Canadian Christian Communicators Association for it!

What tips we can learn from Broadview Media

1. See challenges as opportunities: Running any business is a challenge these days. That’s just reality. And of course, that’s truer than ever for non-profit organizations and journalism. Arguably, no two categories face more challenges than non-profits and Fifth Estate news. By viewing challenges as opportunities rather than burying our heads in the sand, we can find solutions that can turn the tide.
2. Think creatively: At ST, we like to develop creative that is relevant to the audience being targeted, respect the media channel for what it’s meant to do, and reflect the brand of the organization. We also prefer ideas that work conceptually to drive home the point of the communication, provide a strong call to action and deliver against the strategy. The team at Broadview agreed. The First Gift campaign delivered against all those measures with strong creative that generated enviable results, from an awareness and messaging perspective, but most importantly, from a revenue perspective.
3. Timing is everything. Plan ahead: There’s no better time than the holiday season to deliver a strong call to action supported by a powerful case for support. Broadview had all of that and more with the First Gift campaign. They were nimble and strategic with their timing and it paid off. Set your goal. Set your deadline. And then plan out what happens in between so that you’re in market when supporters are ready to hear your message.
4. And then plan your roll-out: Think about your messaging strategy before you develop any creative (and then test it first in social, and in your own less expensive media if you have it, as Broadview did). That’s a smart way to ensure your first wave of creative will give you the learnings you need to roll out the campaign successfully for the rest of the year with a message that works.
5. Keep your friends close: It’s listed last but probably the most important lesson from the Broadview story is that they identified who had the best propensity to become donors and spoke to them where they were. Of course, not every organization has the benefit of having people who actually subscribe to them. But most organizations have people who they consider supporters (Event participants, Lottery ticket buyers, volunteers, board members, etc) who they should keep close and keep talking to even if it’s not always with a strong ask. When you’re in need, it’s your friends who’ll be there for you.
6. BONUS TIP: It’s sad but true: Too many non-profit organizations hold their nose at the thought of asking for a donation. That was probably my biggest revelation when I came into the sector 15 years ago after a career in the multinational agency world working with global commercial organizations. Don’t be afraid to ask. Better yet, ask for a Monthly donation right out of the gate. Donors want an opportunity to donate and say as much in survey after survey. They just need to be asked.