|
Jewish Family Services
Boosts Bankrolls with Card Programs
Two years ago,
Jewish Family
Services (JFS), an Alliance member in Milwaukee, implemented a
donor-benefit program designed to bring in new donors and encourage
current friends to increase their level of giving. Since then, the
program has succeeded in both regards, says Jerry Ryack, associate
director of development at JFS.
During the agency’s annual summer Friends of JFS campaign, donors
who give at least $72 — a figure chosen, strategically, to boost
individual donations since a majority of donors had been giving
below that level — receive a JFS MemberCard. The MemberCard can be
used regionally for two-for-one dining savings and statewide for
discounts at cultural attractions. After four or five uses, the
savings value is intended to equal the cost of Friends membership.
“This last fiscal year, we had over 415 Friends who qualified for
the
MemberCard,” Ryack says. In addition to new and returning
donors, that number accounts for a handful of lapsed donors, donors
who Ryack says hadn’t given during the last two to four years but
decided to renew.
JFS offers the JFS MemberCard through a partnership with
Member Benefits Inc., which has a main office in Newmarket, N.H.,
and offers member-benefits programs throughout the country. To
attract new Friends of JFS and encourage existing Friends to renew
their membership, Member Benefits Inc. continually adds new local
benefits. Since the JFS MemberCard program launched, Ryack says the
number of cardholder discounts have more than doubled.
Along similar lines, Alliance member
Epworth Children &
Family Services, St. Louis, is now participating in a program
that allows area residents to contribute to the agency while doing
something they had to do anyhow: grocery shopping. As a participant
in the Schnucks eScrip Community Card program through area grocery
chain Schnucks, Epworth receives a portion of the monthly purchases
made by residents who sign up for and register their eScrip card.
Schnucks debuted the eScrip Community Card program in 2006 after
partnering with Electronic Scrip Inc. Epworth is one of dozens of
St. Louis-area organizations residents can designate to receive
their contributions.
|