Membership The Tried and Tested

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Membership The Tried and Tested
Sarah Don-Bramah Head of Membership 21st April
2008
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Today

• A quick history of the National Trust
• Recruitment
• Retention
• Any questions?

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A potted history

• The National Trust was set up in 1895 by Miss
  Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon
  Hardwicke Rawnsley - 3 Victorian philanthropists
• The Trust was set up to act as a guardian for the
  nation.
• It achieved this by acquiring countryside, then
  houses and then coastline, all with the aim of
  preservation for future generations
• The number of properties continues to grow

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Today

• We now manage and care for
• 215 houses and gardens
• 40 castles,
• 76 nature reserves
• 6 World Heritage sites
• 707 miles of coastline
• 12 Lighthouses
• 43 pubs/inns

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Our proposition

• To provide access For Ever, For Everyone
• We do this by making our properties inalienable
• They cannot then be developed or sold without an
  act of parliament
• This creates an ongoing need for funds

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Membership

• Membership started in some guise in 1895
• It was originally set up as a means of providing
  us with the active, moral and financial support
  we needed to survive, that has not changed today.
• Membership is now the biggest voluntary income
  stream bringing in over 100m per annum
• We also passed the 3.5m member mark in 2007
• Its growth and performance is vital to the health
  of the charity
• Also the membership database is very important in
  acting as a prospect pool for other areas
  including fundraising

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Some member facts

• Over 1 million people have been National Trust
  members for more than 10 years
• Smith is the most common surname for National
  Trust members, with a total of almost 40,000,
  more than the population of Margate
• There are an estimated 50 million visits made to
  the Trust's countryside properties each year
• Between 1980 and 1990 membership doubled from one
  to two million.
• In 2007 more than 500,000 new members joined the
  National Trust.

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Membership Marketing

• The membership programmes objective is to
  maintain and grow the current base.
• This means an ongoing investment in both
  recruitment and retention
• Using channels that are most effective for
  recruitment
• And constantly looking to evolve and improve the
  existing members experience

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Audience

• Over the last 24 months we have carried out a
  segmentation project to understand better who our
  audience is
• A number of segments were produced, two of which
  are used in current DM targeting.
• Explorer Families
• Curious Minds

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The package

• Member benefits
• Unlimited free entry and car parking at most
  properties
• A comprehensive handbook detailing all our
  properties
• The National Trust magazine
• Regional newsletters
• Free entry to NTS and other partner organisation
  offers

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Recruitment

• We use a mix of online, offline and face to face
  recruitment.
• Currently around 50 of new members are recruited
  at source i.e. at a property
• The rest come through a comprehensive programme
  of direct marketing

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Face to Face

• We train and pay our own recruitment staff
• Whilst managed regionally, they receive annual
  and ongoing training by the centre
• Their activity is supported by posters, leaflets
  and other collateral all carefully, positioned at
  properties.
• The main F2F offer is to have your admission fee
  refunded
• Other ad hoc offers are applied as needed.

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Point of Sale
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Direct Marketing

• The National Trust utilises the three main media
  channels direct mail, inserts and doordrops
• We time activity to periods that provide the best
  returns for us Jan, March and June
• Plus an ongoing online presence, especially
  important for gift memberships
• Main offer is 3 months free
• Other incentives are also used

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Creative offering

• There is a consistent ongoing programme of
  testing
• We apply different levers to our offering
• Audience
• Proposition
• Incentive
• Imagery

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General Inserts
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Activity aimed at Explorer Families
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Incentives

• A number of different ones have been used over
  the years including
• Picnic rugs
• Binoculars
• Gliders and kites
• Vegetable growing kits
• Picnic stool
• Cool bag

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Retention

• Having over 3.5m members requires a large scale
  programme
• Benefits communications
• Welcome Pack, including the handbook and car
  sticker
• The 3 Magazines plus regional newsletters
• New membership card at renewal
• Annually updated handbook

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Welcome Pack

• Two versions
• Standard membership
• Life membership

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Magazines

• Created in-house by an experienced team
• Only available through the membership programme
  although an online version is currently on the
  website
• Contain a variety of stories and info pertinent
  to the aims of the charity, plus their lifestage
  and interests

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Magazines
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Handbook

• The annual update currently mails with the Spring
  Magazine

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Outside of the Member Benefits

• Direct Debit upgrade
• Gift Aid mailings
• Annual renewals, DD and Cash
• Reminders
• Visiting communications

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Direct Debit DM Pack
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Gift Aid Appeal Pack
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Renewals DM Pack
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Reminders DM Pack
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Someone to talk to

• We have a dedicated offsite membership department
  
• It feels like a NT office
• In a year they receive
• Over 600,000 calls
• 100,000 emails
• 250,000 items of correspondence
• Over 5,000 calls alone one day this Easter

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Encouraging Participation

• Members receive a number of online or offline
  comms in their first year, designed to prompt a
  property visit or some other action
• They are also introduced to other areas of The
  National Trust

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Members to Supporters

• Long term retention requires a shift from visitor
  to supporter
• In addition to the email programme, all
  appropriate members are given the opportunity to
  interact in different ways if they so wish
• Specific corporate offers - credit card, wine
  club, travel, catalogue, cottages, power supplier
• Fundraising
• Volunteering

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Reactivation

• Lapsed members are encouraged to re-join through
  part of the recruitment activity

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The future

• We aim to get to know more about our supporters
• Provide them with more information pertinent to
  their needs, giving them an even better member
  experience
• Build their knowledge of our charity
• Encourage even more of them to stay with us long
  term and continue to provide the funds necessary
  to support all our future work

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• Any questions?