A Premium Evolution

Presentation Summary: For many organizations, front- and back-end premium offers seem like a necessary component of direct mail programs. Some may even feel bound by the premiums they’ve been offering their donors for years. And yet others may wonder, are premiums worth it? Wherever your organization falls on the spectrum, we have some premium insights to help guide your way!

With O’Brien Garrett’s support, National Audubon Society spent years steering its flock of committed, conservation-focused donors on a premium journey. Now, we want to share the most valuable lessons we’ve learned along the way.

Join this session to discover how Audubon leverages their photography-heavy and mission-aligned annual wall calendar as both a front-end premium in acquisition campaigns and as a benefit of membership. You’ll learn how Audubon shifted to new premium items that better suit their donors, had lower production costs, and more successfully incentivized giving. We’ll share with you how we examined when premium offers were most valuable and when they were truly necessary. And you’ll find out how years of these efforts ultimately increased retention and value per donor.