Children Now

http://www.childrennow.org

Oakland, CA

Round –

Fall 2005

Project Type –

Full team

Project Focus –

Earned Income

Organization Type –

Education, Children/Youth/Families

Organization

Children Now is a nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization that focuses on issues such as childhood poverty, early education, children's health care, and the impact of the media on children. Children Now is engaged in several ambitious campaigns, including those involving current legislation on universal health coverage and preschool. Children Now also is focused on securing a ban on interactive advertising targeted at children and raising the awareness of the link between advertising and childhood obesity.

Project Objectives

ACT was engaged to help Children Now assess the potential of building a membership program in an effort to provide the organization with an ongoing funding stream and additional political influence.ACT was engaged to help Children Now assess the potential of building a membership program in an effort to provide the organization with an ongoing funding stream and additional political influence.

Key Recommendations

Children Now (CN) needs to consider the following factors before relying on membership for revenue:

People who are able to give are sympathetic to children but don't feel that CN's issues are urgent or personal
Audience awareness on issues is low
CN has limited financial resources, so the organization should chose models that can be tested inexpensively
It takes a lot of time to make significant impact

Membership Models:

Consider Online Advocacy Model, where loyalty is built by asking people to support specific Initiatives without necessarily making donations (e.g., by signing petitions)
Consider Angel Model - friends personally asking friends to join a "club" of large donors which is given special access to policy makers - but only if Board is willing to lead recruitment effort
Don't consider direct mail fundraising (called "Basic Model" in this project), at least as a standalone, because cost of testing direct mail is high
Make initial performance targets in numbers of members, not dollars, and only expect financial results after a minimum of five years

Key Conclusions

NCCO's staff has been resourceful and creative in its current
Project Objectives
Membership Concerns
Project Steps: First Phase - Interviewed Board and staff, reviewed competitors, selected target audience segments and membership models
Project Steps: Second Phase - Sampled target audience response to membership models and interviewed three model organizations (Sierra Club, E2 and MoveOn.org)
Target Audience Testing; Survey Methodology; Why Do People Give?; Other Factors That Influence Giving
Models Tested and Researched: Audience Response - Basic Model; Factors for Success - Basic Model; Audience Response - Angel Model; Factors for Success - Angel Model; Audience Response - Advocacy Model; Factors for Success - Advocacy Model
Key Revisions Based on Surveys
Implications for Children Now
Model Organizations' Implications: Factors for Success: Sierra Club; Factors for Success: Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2); Factors for Success: MoveOn
Implications for Children Now
Findings and Implications
Recommendations