From the Cradle to the Grave
How do you generate lifetime value or communicate with your clients during their various stages as customers? That was the key question of one of this morning's breakout sessions at the AMA's Nonprofit Marketing Conference in Chicago. A top slate of marketers, including Carrie Heinonen of the Art Institute of Chicago, Jan Albus of the Variety Children's Charity of St. Louis and Angela Geiger of the National Alzheimer's Association, explained how they each tackle the issue in the panel excellently moderated by UT-Austin's Meme Drumright.
The answer for all was rooted in uncovering insights from research into their customer base. For the Art Institute, it meant strengthening its outreach to schools to encourage the whole family to visit, because research found that kids who visit museums with their parents (rather than just on a school field trip) tended to become museum-goers as adults.
For Variety, research found that the charity's fans were aging-out; the charity had little recognition in the under 40 set and research found that most young adults pick their favored charity by the time they are 35. So in 1997 the group developed a young professionals outreach program and has more than 1,800 volunteers in the age group, which has led to increased giving, as well as a jolt of youthful energy and ideas for the board.
For the Alzheimers Association, it means appealing to not only the senior citizens suffering from the fatal disease, but also creating programs that reach the adult-aged children that care for their parents, and the younger-age grandchildren who are watching their grandparents fade away. As Geiger said, "Who do you matter to today? Who do you need to matter to tomorrow? And how do you draw the lines between the two?"
