wildlife conservation charity in Europe, with over 827 000 members.
The case explores the development of the Society between 1991 and
1996, a stage when many changes were occurring in the UK chari-
ties market. In particular, the introduction of the National Lottery in
1994 created considerable fears as to its likely effect on reducing rev-
enues to the charitable sector.
The case shows how the Society sought to improve its income to
enable it to finance on-going expansion in a number of areas. The
case addresses the need to manage the membership base and
develop relationship marketing initiatives to improve customer
retention and increase levels of donation.
Learning points
This case study focuses on the application of relationship marketing
to the not-for-profit sector. It demonstrates how marketing activities
directed at members of a charity cannot rely solely on market aggre-
gation and how specific marketing activities need to be developed
to build a long-term relationship and increasing involvement with
the charity. It highlights the need to understand customer segments
and how these segments have different customer retention charac-
teristics. The case provides a good illustration of the need to manage
both customer acquisition and customer retention in a not-for-profit
business and how other relationship markets impact on the cus-
tomer market.
Broad marketing and strategic issues:
●the challenges of marketing and management in a large charity
●development of a segmentation strategy
●issues regarding scope of mission – looking after birds versus protect-
ing the environment.
Relationship marketing issues:
●analysing acquisition costs and retention costs
●managing customer retention and customer acquisition activities con-
currently
●recognizing how emphasis needs to be placed on all markets to achieve
success in the customer market
●the need to have adequate information sources.
62 Relationship Marketing