Stewardship of Sustainers TRAC January, 2014

Ongoing communication PBS SoCal monthly E-newsletter is sent to 9,000 sustainers. Open rate is 29% and click rate is 5%. Regular member newsletter is sent to 35,000 people and open rate is 24% and click rate is 2%.

Sustainer E-newsletter is not an appeal Includes: Programming highlights A member discount of some kind Information about upcoming events A sweepstakes for tickets to an event or concert A “sweet treat”

E-Newsletter is sent second week of the month, usually on a Thursday morning. We experimented with A/B subject lines and for three months in a row, this one won. PBS SoCal Sustaining Member Newsletter

The most popular sweepstakes offer was for our David Foster and Friends gala and then the Downton Abbey screening.

We do say thank you quite a lot but don’t ask for additional gifts directly.

Other communication with our sustainers at PBS SoCal Acknowledgement letter after initial pledge Welcome packet with letter from me, a PBS SoCal license plate frame and an EFT conversion form. This packet was sent to 7,000 this year and we received about 100 EFT forms back. Tax letter in January with cumulative amount. One additional gift ask letter in December. Dedicated staff member for sustainers, Jennifer Fletcher.

Stop Gap Loss No-Bleed, We hate Target and Home Depot Program When a credit card payment is rejected three times, an automatic letter is sent asking for updated information. Email is sent at the same time If there is no response to that, after a month, a second letter is sent. After that, Jen tries to call everyone, but this has become overwhelming, so we’re about to have telemarketers do this. One month before a credit card is set to expire, we also send a preemptive letter, requesting the new information.

KAET program 61-90 days from credit card expiration date: email sent to all donors who have email address on file 31-60 days from expiration date: Email sent again, and also any donors without email on file, letters are sent 0-30 days from expiration date: Email sent once again, and outbound phone calls are made to contact donor to update information. If we leave a message, we leave the toll free phone number, with 24/7 service to update information Once they expire, we attempt one last email, and phone call

KAET ways to update information Phone support: Toll free phone number set up to take calls 24/7, via our phone service, ACD Direct. Phone number is different from our pledge phone numbers During office hours, the phone number goes to membership services, and we can answer the calls, otherwise calls go to ACD Direct Online form on our website to be able to update information Staffing: 3-4 Part time student workers and volunteer, about 25 hours a week, plus 2 full time membership employees

Card Breach efforts We have added an additional email that goes out every 2 months or so, which is specifically dedicated to card breaches, instructing donor to use our contact methods to update their information if they have recently been given a new card due to a breach. This communication does not mention any specific breach, since we never know how or who will be effected

New tricks to try to stop the loss We recently set up a dedicated sustainer hotline number with ACD. This is an 888# that is different than the pledge line. It will be 24/7, so people can call in with their updated information when it is convenient for them. SAGE credit card updater service will collect new information on Visa and Mastercard expirations. It cost .50 for each piece of new information. Improve communication on-air and in all printed communications that sustaining memberships are ongoing.

Contact information Maura Daly Phinney, Vice President of Membership and On- Air Fundraising at PBS SoCal maura@pbssocal.org 714-241-4181 Jennifer Fletcher is our sustaining member coordinator and her email is jfletcher@pbssocal.org