Donation
Premiums: Do They Work?
Ever wonder if giving premiums or token gifts for donations works? You know, offering labels on the front-end as an incentive to give, or a T-shirt on the back-end as a bonus for giving? Well, there’s a lot of controversy surrounding the issue. Here’s what people have found and what the research says:
Experience Says Yes
Without a doubt, organizations who use premiums do experience an increase in giving. It worked for the Sierra Club. It also seems to work when converting regular donors to a pre-authorized payment program according to Harvey McKinnon. And if you talk to non-profits who use mailing labels, they’ll tell you they see much higher response rates with them than without. In fact, everyone who uses premiums seems to be a firm believer that they work! But if that’s true, then why does research says something different?
Research Says No
In 2011, Cygnus Applied Research conducted a research study with over 22,000 donors in North America. According to that study, giving premiums as an incentive for giving or in response, has an overwhelmingly negative impact on giving. 77% of people surveyed had a recent experience of receiving token gifts, and according to the study:
“The overwhelming response was negative to questions concerning whether donors appreciated premiums, whether related or not to the work of the not-for- profit that sends them. As well, 63% said they do not want to receive token gifts of any kind so that as much of their gift as possible goes to the purpose for which they gave; only 18% commented favorably.”
To download the executive summary or purchase the full research report, click here.
In a personal interview with Penelope Burk, president of Cygnus Applied Research, she warned that because fundraisers only see the positive effects of giving token gifts (the 18% that seem to like them, and may give as a result), they assume it’s working. The problem, however, is that they cannot measure the negative effects (the hundreds gritting their teeth in annoyance, thinking “this is what you spent my donation on!?”).
What To Do
So what’s the deal? Do donors say one thing and then do another? Or, are premiums really having a negative impact, and there are just more donors walking away than non-profits are aware of?
What do you do when the research says no, but experience says yes? It’s difficult to know for sure, but the best advice is this: if you do offer premiums, make sure they are optional. In an online forum a woman admitted that “for years I gave $39 to my local PBS station, because if I gave $40 or more, I would get a tote bag and I already had three!” You don’t want donors thinking you waste their donations on premiums gifts... especially gifts that they don’t need or want. So, the simple solution is to just make back-end gifts optional. Of course for front-end gifts the debate lives on and until we know for sure what kind of impact they have, you’ll just have to use your best judgement.
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Editor's note: The above article was provided by Sumac, a regular contributor to NPManagement.org