This article was originally published in Canadian FundRaiser

Any relationship — marketer-customer, master-servant, husband-wife — needs to be renewed from time to time. Fundraisers must keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a permanent commitment anymore. People tend to commit only for a time. Although the commitment may be open-ended (“I’ll love you forever!”), it needs to be reaffirmed periodically, so the person making the commitment actually follows through on it.

Fundraisers and membership organizations are similar to publishers of periodicals, credit card marketers and insurance companies, in that their basic customer relationship is periodic in nature. So, you must have clearly-defined renewal strategy — a series of mailings designed to get your donors and members to extend an expiring relationship — in other words, to recommit themselves.

Your renewal strategy should progress through some or all of six distinct stages:

1. Initial request. This could be one or two letters, in which you review the basic relationship rationale and benefits, and ask your supporter to sign up again.

2. Neglect. One to three letters suggest that neglect must be the reason for their failure to renew. “Did you forget?” is the theme. Point out that the reader might unintentionally losing a valued relationship and its benefits.

3. Problem identification. If you still don’t have a new commitment, you should make at least one attempt to find out why. You can send a “Did we do something wrong?” letter, asking the reader to renew or tell you why now. A follow-up addresses reasons for dissatisfaction, and provides counter-arguments. Typical problems are: failure to use the organization’s services (membership organizations); not seeing results (charities); failure to take consequences of non-support seriously (political groups, charities).

4. Disenchantment. Even if you get no response to a problem identification mailing, don’t give up! One to three letters discuss conscious dislike or disenchantment as the likely reasons for non-renewal. Activist organizations know from experience that they suffer heavy attrition in the first year because supporters are unhappy with their political direction. The solution is to make the member/donor feel more involved — “Tell us what you want us to do.” A “peace offering” bonus might be used to get them back on board.

5. Expiry notice. Shortly before or after the expiry (of a membership, for instance), send one or two letters announcing the expiry and making an urgent request for renewal. “This is your last chance to keep your membership in good standing.” This strategy is not appropriate where the term of the commitment is not clearly defined, so charities may have to skip this stage.

6. Reactivation. Think of this as the “Haven’t you missed us?” state. One to four letters ask your member/supporter to think about whether they haven’t missed the relationship. Point out the benefits they may not have been aware of, and perhaps offer a reactivation bonus. Above all, try to find new reasons for extending the relationship.

James Bannister is a consultant in direct response marketing and communications, based in Toronto. Readers may contact him through Canadian FundRaiser.