HUMAN-CENTERED SUSTAINER

Your sustainer program is your most important "product".

I know most Christian nonprofits don't think in "product" terms (and I can understand why). But allowing ourselves to think of The Best Experience We Can Offer as a "product" does help us tap into important actions we can and should take.

Steve Woodworth recently provided an outlook for the Christian nonprofit sector (which I think we all know is starting to stress a bit about the impact of the economy on giving) in which he noted:

"In 2023, we are prioritizing strategies, such as... 'Recurring giving ramp-up' — Focus on sustainer giving in acquisition and cultivation. Sustainers and online-acquired donors are less expensive to cultivate and tend to give more"

This is sage counsel.

When I look at the long-term ROI of the sustainer programs SUBLIMITY built and launched, the current promotion is returning a rough average of 10:1.

Which makes sense, because we take a "product" view of sustainer programs.

Too many sustainer programs are designed this way:

STEP 1: Wistfully look at other orgs' sustainer programs

STEP 2: Review your giving data and quantitative research for the umpteenth time

STEP 3: Using your "nonprofit fundraiser expertise", decide (aka "guess") what the audience wants in a sustainer program, then build and launch it

STEP 4: Be pleased in the first six months or so with results

STEP 5: (A year or so later) Be disappointed and mystified why your sustainer program isn't really growing that much anymore

Most nonprofit fundraisers will then throw up their hands and say "it's our direct-response agency's fault - their promotion stinks!" or "yeah, it's the economy - people just aren't signing up for sustainer programs anymore".

But that's to misdiagnose the actual problem.

The actual problem is that the sustainer program was developed like just any other promotion activity.

It should've been developed as a product.

In product development, unlike most promotion development, one doesn't only rely on historical data, creative precedent and personal expertise. One brings in the customer / donor / audience to the design process. Not as mere data on a page but as real, whole people. Because products have to be launched with shelf life - they can't just come and go momentarily like promotion.

The most popular product industry term for that is #humancentereddesign , but it goes under a lot of other names and terms. The point is, it's smart and it works.

We've been doing that for the last seven years.

And we'd love to help you develop your next product, whether it is a sustainer program or something else very different (and awesome).

One thing we promise: You'll encounter your audience members in fresh and inspirational ways that will drive remarkable creativity.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash