One of the puzzles that keeps us all guessing in the field of nonprofit fundraising is what it is that motivates donors to give. Long or short letter? Benefits? Envelope teasers? Institutional messaging? Unfortunately, as we all know, the only way to find out is through consistent, ongoing testing.

 

Any marketer who’s tried guessing which test will outperform the control, knows that in reality, no one can say every time what motivates donors. Not even donors! But we can make some educated guesses, especially when it comes to arts donors.

A group of Avalon staffers headed to Philadelphia in late October for the American Museum Membership Conference (AMMC).  AMMC is always a fun and informative conference, and this year several of us presented some great sessions. We thought we’d also share with you some of the take-aways from the sessions we attended:

When we learned about Silverdocs – the AFI-Discovery Channel Documentary Festival – Avalon made a point to check out a screening at the AFI’s Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD.

So how do you successfully unseat a long-standing control?  For more than ten years, no test package had beaten the National Museum of Women in the Arts' long-standing acquisition control—until Avalon helped them develop this winner. (The reason may surprise you!)

In the direct marketing field, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to deliver the membership message through all the usual channels: mail, phone, and online. But if you are a museum, performing arts center, zoo/aquarium, or other “destination-based” organization, you don’t want to forget one of the most valuable (and perhaps most overlooked) opportunities for making the membership connection: on-site.

I always return from the AMMC conference with so much timely and useful information – and this year proved no different! Of the more than 20 sessions and 45 roundtables there is truly something for everyone - from seasoned fundraising professionals looking for the latest trends to membership managers just entering the field. I highly recommend this conference to anyone in the museum membership world!