This Place Matters

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is a membership organization that provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize the country’s communities. The Trust has 250,000 members and thousands of preservation groups in all 50 states.  The Trust achieved an impressive 2.3% conversion rate on a follow-up membership appeal to This Place Matters campaign participants.

Project Goals

• Maintain a consistent level of engagement with members using innovative and fresh approaches and the organization’s newly branded website
• Give preservationists a voice in naming some of the most important historic sites with a creative and engaging social media campaign
• Increase awareness and build interest among the general public about the organization’s mission of preservation

Services Provided

• Strategy and Campaign Implementation

Project Details

NTHP first approached Charity Dynamics to develop the right strategy. The organization had already launched an engagement campaign the previous year, but soon realized that the process was too cumbersome and time consuming for both NTHP and its members. It also lacked elements that allowed the Trust to efficiently capture constituent information. Charity Dynamics built upon NTHP’s previous efforts, culminating in the re-launch of the organization’s “This Place Matters” campaign with a more innovative and engaging approach.

Charity Dynamics helped NTHP utilize APIs (application program interface) that tie Google and Flickr into the organization’s Convio online database. Tapping into the power of open source tools, the API development enabled NTHP to seamlessly capture constituent data in its eCRM system while dynamically displaying user generated content on the group’s website. Utilizing the APIs, NTHP opened up a two-way dialogue with constituents, encouraging those visiting the This Place Matters micro-site to stake a virtual flag anywhere on a map of the United States, and tell NTHP why the site is special. The Google Map remained highly visible on the NTHP website and provided a constant visual depiction of special sites across the country.

Visitors were also encouraged to upload photos of the site onto NTHP’s Flickr photo stream. The organization provided a This Place Matters sign online that individuals could print and display in their photos. Once a photo was uploaded, it was added to a slideshow on the campaign’s landing page for others to see. This phase provided yet another hook to encourage constituents who had not yet submitted photos to join the campaign and continue communications with those who had already participated.

The launch of This Place Matters was placed on its homepage and in the organization’s e-newsletter, along with a campaign-specific email drop to its house file. As new visitors provided their email address with permission to receive more information from NTHP, they became warm prospects the National Trust cultivated for participation in advocacy alerts and membership conversion campaigns.

The custom development exponentially increased the power and reach of NTHP’s Convio-powered system to external applications. It eliminated data silos, and made it easy for the organization to employ best practices for following up with individuals in a timely manner to thank them for their participation. Additionally, NTHP was able to develop a dynamic and engaging conversation with its constituents, rather than rely on one-way email or website communications.
 

Results

• Brought new voices to the traditional Preservation Movement by attracting a more diverse audience to NTHP’s website
• Attracted 725 individuals to participate in the campaign—20% of which made both a Google Map and Flickr photo submission
• Received more than 1000 photos, which were uploaded to the This Place Matters Flickr photo stream
• Achieved a membership conversion rate of 2.3% for This Place Matters campaign participants in a follow up membership appeal; this rate was significantly higher than the average 0.13% conversion rate for non-participants
• Provided a new level of value to members while providing the Trust with a valuable engagement tool, acquisition tool and content tool