Weaving Technology into your program

1. WEAVING NEW
TECHNOLOGY
INTO YOUR
PROGRAM –
IT’S NOT SCARY!
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2. WEAVING NEW TECHNOLOGY INTO
YOUR PROGRAM—IT’S NOT SCARY
M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 9
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3. DO
YOU…
Want to shake up your digital program?
Feel like you’re relying on email too much?
Think you’re lagging behind other
organizations?
Want to take a risk on something new?
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4. A Culture
That Values
INNOVATION
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5. FIRST:
SET GOALS
5
What do you
want to
accomplish?
Set up a
hypothesis: make
it measurable.
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6. • Grow supporter file
• Supporter conversion
• Enhance advocacy
experience
• Raise more money
HRC’s GOALS
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7. SECOND:
MARKET
RESEARCH
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8. RESEARCH
WHAT’S THE
COMPETITION DOING
WHAT’S CORPORATE
AMERICA DOING?
MEET WITH VENDORS ASK FOR CASE
STUDIES
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9. THIRD:
DECIDE &
EXECUTE!
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• Assign a task manager
• Establish a strategy
• Allow ample time to work out the kinks
• Agree to FAIL FAST

10. NEW TOOLS
HRC HAS TRIED
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11. 11#19NTCNOTSCARY

12. TEXT MESSAGES REACH YOUR DONORS
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• 85% of American adults send texts
• Texts have an estimated 99% open rate.
• Response rates average 90 seconds.

13. HISTORY OF HRC’s MOBILE PROGRAM
Rapid-fire growth in mobile number collection:
• Around marriage equality
• After Trump’s election
SMS file is 390,000 strong
30% are SMS-only
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14. ADD MOBILE ASKS EVERYWHERE
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15. THE MOST
ACTIVE
MEMBERS ARE
ON SMS
Cadence: 3-4 messages per month
95% of texts are opened
30% of advocacy actions come from
SMS audience
Revenue nearly doubles each year
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16. SMS FILE IS
VALUABLE
Best advocates –
• 2.5x more actions than rest of file
• Advocacy response rate typically 2x
higher than email file
• Fundraising response rate typically
2x higher than email file
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17. Fundraising
Engagement
Advocacy!
17
Fundraising
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Mail-chaser
Engagement
SMS works for it all!

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19. NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY
2 Emails
1 SMS
Drove to Phone2Action page
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First Real Engagement Effort

20. REASONABLE
GOAL:
2,017 actions in
24 hours
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21. IT WORKED!
40% of All Actions Came
From SMS Audience
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22. NEXT:
ADVOCACY
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24. ONE-TO-ONE MESSAGING—
TWO-WAY DIALOGUE
•Spearheaded by Field Teams
leading up to the 2018 elections
after a geo-targeted test.
•Quickly adopted by Events staff …
and then Membership.
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Take Action, Attend
Rallies, Drive to Polls.
Donate?
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25. BUT FIRST:
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ASSIGNED OWNERSHIP
TO 2 STAFFERS
GOT TRAINING, DID
RESEARCH
WROTE UP POSSIBLE
WAYS TO TEST

26. TEST #1: CONVERT PEOPLE USING
HUSTLE TO BROADCAST SMS PROGRAM
Script: Hi {Supporter Name}! I’m {Agent Name} w/ HRC.
Just reaching out to say thank you so much for
supporting LGBTQ equality at such a critical time. We
couldn’t fight the this fight without you! Want to sign-
up for our HRC Mobile Action Network text alerts?
We only send 1-3 msgs a month w/ critical news and you
can unsubscribe at any time."
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22% RESPONSE!
-12% said YES
-10% said NO

27. TEST #2: SUSTAINER INVITE CHASER:
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11% of responders
said yes!
(.6% response rate)
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This is what the Hustle
platform looks like.
Very straightforward!

28. WORTH THE HYPE?
PROS
- Fast (1,000 records/hr)
- Very personal feel
- Way to text people who haven’t opted in
CONS
- Need to warm up the list first
- Not sure it’s worth the staff time
- Legality may become an issue
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30. ACCELERATE CHANGE
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Build trusted relationships by
meeting people where they are

31. GETTING STARTED
Initial data matching: total
reachable audience of
11,000
Second round of matching:
20,000 more reachable users
Reachable Users = Facebook
users who have opted in to
receive HRC messages
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32. WITHIN 15 MONTHS:
AVERAGE CADENCE: 3.5 messages/month
AVERAGE READ RATE: 61%
AVERAGE CLICK THROUGH RATE: 5.57%
61,585 total subscribers
38,881 total active users
$14,000 in revenue
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33. Highest Read
Rate & Click
Through Rate
66% OF SUBSCRIBERS READ THIS
24% CLICKED THROUGH
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34. Biggest
Revenue
Generator
80 DONATIONS, $3,246
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35. SURVEY SAYS?
STRENGTHS:
Low-cost
One on one conversations at scale
High engagement
High action rates
CHALLENGES:
Messaging platforms are
new/changing
Hard to develop high-demand
services that monetize
Data sync can be complicated
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36. Simple
Innovations
Fueled by
Technology
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37. TOGGLE DONATION FORM
3-fold Increase
in New Sustainers!
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38. AUTO RENEWAL:
INCREDIBLE GROWTH
• 15% of all online donations
are auto-renewal
• 18,000 members and growing
• Strong retention rates
• Recurring revenue is in the
hundreds of thousands
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39. PROCESSING FEE
• 60% of donors opt in
• 70% of sustainers choose it!
• 78% of auto renewers
choose it!
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40. POP UPS:
MONTHLY GIFTS
Unsuccessfully tested this.
- Donation completion rate
cut in half
- Didn’t increase sustainer
rate
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41. POP UPS:
AUTO RENEWAL
Winning Test:
- 70% increase in number of
auto renewals!
- More 1x gifts too!
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42. KEY TAKE AWAYS
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Technology is
changing – so should
you!
Invest in Research &
Development
People crave EASY
interactive
experiences
Start moving to
mobile NOW
Optimize donation
process
Be nimble and don’t
be afraid to change
course

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THANK YOU!
Kristina Williams
Kristina.Williams@hrc.org
Lesley Hostetter
Lhostetter@lautmandc.com