The American Bible Society is testing premiums and other involvement devices to help attract a younger group of donors to its Bible-a-Month Club.
Bob Cargill, senior creative director at Holliston, MA-based L.W. Robbins Associates, said the Society is having some success bringing in a younger audience with its general fundraising efforts, but hopes to convert them to the monthly giving program.
The almost 200 year-old New York-based group works to make copies of the Bible available to people throughout the world in languages they understand and at a price they can afford. Bible-a-Month members pledge multiples of $4, the cost of a single Bible. The average club member has traditionally been a woman in her 70s, on a fixed income.
The centerpiece of the marketing efforts for the club is a calendar premium. L.W. Robbins won the New England Direct Marketing Association’s “Best in Show” award for the 2001 calendar mailing. Kent Rohrbach was account director on the project.
Approximately 50,000 pieces were sent in the 2001 calendar mailing, which netted a 12.35% response rate and a $27.25 average gift, resulting in $75,672 in net income for the Society. In previous years, the response was never greater than 10% and the average gift was around $14.
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