Fearless Fundraising

To combat it, the organization created a direct-mail acquisition package called “Who Decides,” which conveys its basic mission statement rather than focusing on a current issue.

“It doesn’t talk about what’s in the news, it doesn’t talk about legislation that’s pending, and it’s not electoral in nature,” Donahue says. “It’s just very broad in defining our issue and reaching out to people who connect with that issue.”

The issue, she says, is the organization’s basic message that women should be free to make personal decisions about their health and future without interference from the government.

“Our polling confirms that this message of freedom, privacy and personal responsibility resonates with people, whether it’s to get people to vote or whether it’s to get people to give,” she says.

NARAL Pro-Choice America has continued to introduce campaigns centered around Supreme Court issues, pharmacy refusals to fill prescriptions for birth control, and specific legislation, but has found that though these mailings work for a time, they have been less successful at capturing long-term members.

“Again and again it comes down to that institutional message. Instead of our revenue fluctuating up and down, whether it’s an electoral presidential cycle or an off-year election, we see that revenue growth continue to slowly ratchet up, and I think that can be directly attributed to our commitment to the acquisition and reinstatement program,” Donahue says.

Building a program that yields sustainable growth required an organizational recognition of the reality of donor churn and a commitment to educating the board and its leadership that a membership organization’s strength lies in a robust acquisition program. NARAL Pro-Choice America maintains a fairly low per-donor investment, thanks mostly, Donahue says, to the success of reinstatement efforts on its housefile of deeply lapsed donors and non-donor online activists, which come in at such a low net investment that the organization still has the means to run acquisition efforts on tertiary lists.