Desert Botanical Garden - Direct Mail Acquisition

PRODUCT/SERVICE Direct mail acquisition to leverage the new "Bruce Monro: Sonoran Light” sculpture exhibition

TARGET AUDIENCE In-house prospects, including lapsed members and ticket buyer lists, as well as names obtained through trades with local organizations and rented names

OBJECTIVE To leverage the excitement of the “Bruce Monro: Sonoran Light” sculpture exhibition, Membership Consultants worked with the Desert Botanical Garden to create a captivating direct mail campaign highlighting some of the installments from this unique art exhibition of mixed materials and light, while inviting visitors to become members of the Garden.

STRATEGY/EXECUTION The direct mail package was sent to a total of 180,000 households and exceeded overall projections.

RESULTS The direct mail campaign exceeded overall projections with a 2% response rate, 3,601 new/renewed members, an average gift of $99.59 and over $358,000 in revenue! As an entire effort, the campaign boasted a total ROI of $3.36 for every dollar spent. Adding to the overall success through a multichannel approach, this campaign was supplemented with an expanded email acquisition campaign and a Facebook retargeting program.

The direct mail portion of the campaign won the 2017 Dorothy E. Hansell Marketing Award — a prestigious accolade presented by the American Public Gardens Association.

Since beginning to work together, Membership Consultants has assisted the Garden in acquiring over 17,700 members and raising over $1,900,000 in membership revenue!