Both Hurst and Rothwell were becoming increasingly aware of what
they called ‘charity fatigue’. Indeed, within the charity industry many
fund-raisers were becoming concerned by the public perception of appeals
and donation requests. Research was showing that individuals felt that as
soon as they donated to a certain charity the floodgates opened. They were
bombarded by requests for funds and eventually this resulted in a cut-back
on overall charity-giving as they felt guilty that they just were not able to
give anymore.
There was a high risk of donor fall-out from following this strategy, so
the Society developed a new approach of communicating to their current
members. Rothwell saw the RSPB’s target as achieving the status of ‘being
the most trusted in the hierarchy of giving’ and rewarding members for
loyalty to the charity.
Branded relationship marketing
In a review of their marketing strategy in 1995, it was agreed that the RSPB
would develop the concept of ‘branded relationship marketing’. This
approach recognized the fact that individuals support the RSPB in a
multitude of ways. This was in marked contrast to the donor pyra-
mid approach that encouraged relegation and minimum contact with
members who failed to upgrade to higher levels of involvement or donation.
The ‘branded relationship’ approach takes the basic principles of the
pyramid but improves its effectiveness by analysing membership types
and devises different communication plans for different groups. These will
change over time, depending on what each individual member does and
does not respond to. As database and information capabilities improve,
more distinct and sophisticated membership segments are expected to
emerge and relationships with those members can be improved.
The profiles of the key member groups will allow the marketing depart-
ment to develop brand positioning statements for each of them. These
statements, once agreed, will help to define clear strategies on how to
pitch most effectively for each group, as well as develop guidelines on
adopting a tone and style in communications that is as relevant to them as
possible.
The next step is then to look at which groups are more likely to represent
the greatest potential for growth in terms of recruitment and revenue. Once
new database technology is in place, work will begin on analysing the
retention rates, transactions and donation levels of each of the new seg-
ments. This exercise will give the Society a much clearer view of:
●the size of the market within which they could find new supporters
●which other charities were likely to be competing for the same supporters
●the level of membership service required from each group.
The customer market domain: Managing relationships with buyers 159