Amnesty Denmark Shares a New Kind of ROI: Return on Involvement
	Posted by Mike Johnston at May 15, 2012 07:00 AM CDT

I recently had the pleasure of hearing the success Amnesty Denmark has had since implementing a more integrated strategy to their fundraising program. I spoke with their Global Fundraising Innovations Advisor, Christoffer Holm, to learn why they’ve started measuring their Return on Involvement.

To many charities, integration is about ensuring different channels work together seamlessly -- online, mail, telephone, face-to-face, mobile, etc. But the nature of Amnesty Denmark’s work means that integration must go beyond fundraising. As an activist organization, their supporters’ non-financial involvement is just as important. They rely on petitions and letter writing campaigns to make social change and put pressure on governments. But their activism and fundraising departments had been working as just that -- two separate departments.

“The first big hurdle was convincing myself that we could ask supporters for things other than financial help without cannibalizing our fundraising.”

Christoffer’s words echo a common sentiment in our field. Many charity staff members express fear when it comes to making asks that involve more than money. We assume that if given a choice, people will almost always select only the "free" option, as if we’re giving them an "out".

But like many fundraising practices, our intuition is often the opposite of what the actual results show to be true. And Amnesty Denmark is a perfect example. The more they involved supporters across channels-- fundraising, communications, activism, and campaigning -- the higher their overall returns in all departments.

Donors want to be involved with the causes they care about. They don’t want to feel like ATMs. So let them show their passion by giving them a chance to be a part of your team. You’ll be rewarded with better retention from more committed donors, and most likely a higher lifetime value in the long run.

There are numerous charities like Amnesty Denmark whose mission involves spreading awareness and influencing social change too. Measuring the Return on Involvement could very well become an important tool for the future of fundraising. And as we continue to struggle with the declining power of cold acquisition, we can also look to our engaged, non-financial supporters as the warm leads in the new integrated fundraising world.