The Jewish National Fund does not rank as one of the top ten nonprofit groups in terms of dollars raised. But it has a place in the heart of every Jewish donor, for in a century it has planted 240 million trees in Israel.
And last year it won another distinction, becoming the top Jewish nonprofit in terms of online fundraising, according to Vinay Bhagat, chairman of Convio Inc, of Austin, TX.
The 100 year-old group has generated $1.15 million online since February of 2003, said Bhagat, speaking at the Direct Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Days. That’s not shabby, considering that JNF grosses roughly $1.7 million a year via paper direct mail.
And the online net was equal to that of the paper mail, Bhagat continued.
JNF started its online program in 2001, using a third party vendor to administer its Web site. It raised $325,000 in revenue, and that figure more than doubled to $663,000 in 2002. In addition, it collected 40,000 e-mail addresses. But the group was having “scaling pains with its existing systems,” said Bhagat.
At that point, having retained Convio as vendor, it shifted its focus to e-mail acquisition and to regular, segmented campaigns.
The first challenge was to acquire e-mail addresses. It garnered them through sign-ups at events, through online registrations, and through an affiliate program. The file grew from 48,000 to 100,000 in ten months. There were no list rentals or appends.
Then JNF launched regular e-mail communications. These pulled a 34% open rate, and 17% of the people listed on the file gave money in 2003.
The next step was to start monthly “micro-mailings,” many tied to Jewish holidays. As Bhagat said of the group during another session, “When they don’t have a holiday, they invent a holiday.”
Recipients are invited to plant a tree as a gift to a friend or loved one. They can also plant them for occasions like Bar Mitzvahs, wedding and “in memory of someone special,” said one e-mail. The cost is $18, and JNF provides a certificate.
But trees are not the only thing offered by the group. It also sends mailings for trips to Israel, and to solicit other contributions.
Donors are also offered a choice of causes. They can contribute to help water conversation, security, education, tourism or forestry and the ecology. That tactic contributed $40,000 during the first month, and it has generated an average of $67,000 a month since then.
But other metrics are also impressive. Of all gifts given online, 43% occurred after the person’s e-mail address was captured. And JNF’s Web site traffic ten times over that of the prior year.
The key to success? The main one is that the nonprofit saw the Internet as a strategic marketing tool, according to Bhagat. But JNF has also been helped by something that predated the Internet—that it offers “time-tested products that are well-known by Jews and non-Jews around the world.”
What’s next? Frequent donor/purchaser discounts for tree certificates. And further micro-segmenting based on total giving history.
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