156 Relationship Marketing
via a television advertisement the average cost is almost £40 per member.
If the membership fee for a single person is £22 a head, clearly the recruit-
ment costs and retention patterns are crucial to the Society’s finances as
break-even points are not met for one or two years (see Table 2.6.6 for
detailed marketing costs). If these expensively recruited members do not
renew their membership, losses can escalate. (See Tables 2.6.7–2.6.13 for
detailed membership data.) It became increasingly evident to Hurst and
Rothwell that retention of both existing and new customers was their chief
priority.
Table 2.6.7 Total of member households (000s)1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996Start of year 361 377 395 460 508 500 506 508 514
Lapsed memberships 33 29 33 50 69 65 59 61 55
Renewed memberships 328 348 362 410 439 435 447 447 459
New memberships 49 47 99 98 61 71 61 67 74
Total at end of year 377 395 461 508 500 506 508 514 533Table 2.6.8 Projected membership growth as targeted in ‘Towards 2000’,
1993–20001993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000Memberships:
RSPB memberships* 506 508 514 540 573 615 659 703
YOC memberships 38 38 39 41 44 47 48 49
Total 544 546 553 581 617 662 707 752
Members:
RSPB members* 726 734 749 811 859 922 989 1055
YOC members 125 130 144 145 152 157 158 161
Total 851 864 893 956 1011 1079 1147 1216
New recruits:
RSPB 71 61 67 90 92 103 105 105
YOC 1012121516161518
Retention rate:
RSPB 87 87 89 90 89 89 90 91
YOC 6768737070707070*Memberships refer to the number of member households, members are the individual
members of the RSPB.