Citizens Against Government Waste Turns Supporters Into Cyber Advocates and Increases Donations

Overview Selecting a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) Provider

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, non-partisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement and inefficiency in the federal government.  The organization realized that the Internet could significantly improve its ability to reach out to a broader supporter base and communicate more frequently.  CAGW was especially interested in using email as a primary tool to drive its advocacy campaigns and fundraising.  The group initially had a static, print brochure-type Web site, limited online fundraising capabilities and a basic online action center.  CAGW wanted a content-rich, compelling site that enabled the organization to pull in constituents and build stronger relationships with them through fresh Web content, email marketing, and integrated advocacy and fundraising tools.  The organization chose ConvioTM for its Internet software solution and launched its new Convio-powered Web site in December 2001.  Why Convio?  Because Convio is the only system that offers comprehensive online CRM capabilities.  CRM involves three steps: 1) attract, or reach out and identify new prospects; 2) engage, or convert prospects to supporters (donors, members or activists); and 3) retain those supporters for a lifetime.

Outreach: Email House File Grows 150 Percent in Five Months

Building an email house file is critical for an advocacy organization because email is a fast and cost-effective medium to mobilize supporters for taking action, especially online.  In just five months, CAGW has more than doubled its house file by encouraging Web Site visitors to register with the site and sign up for email updates.   On average, CAGW converts approximately 4 percent of all unique Web site visitors into registered users.  These registrants are no longer anonymous, curious constituents viewing the Web site.  The group now has opened a new communication channel to foster support, advocacy and giving. 

Engagement: Encouraging Supporters to Take Action

With its Convio-powered Web site, CAGW has conducted more than 10 advocacy and general awareness campaigns. Highlights include:

• Yucca Mountain Advocacy Campaign
• The U.S. Senate is due to vote on making Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the nation's primary nuclear waste depository.  So far in this campaign, CAGW online activists had a 35 percent cumulative, total, unique click-through rate on two state-specific email action alerts sent to constituents who, in turn, sent 855 faxes to their senators.
• Tax Relief Advocacy Campaign 
• The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to H.R. 586, the "Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2002."   With a 15 percent unique click-through rate on a general email action alert, CAGW online activists sent 588 emails to their representatives.
• Pig Book - General Awareness Campaign
• During April 2002, the Pig Book campaign intended to raise awareness about the "fat" in government spending helped attract a record number of visitors to CAGW's Web site.  The number of unique Web site visitors jumped from 13,000 in March to more than 57,000 in April.  CAGW achieved this increase by waging an integrated campaign that included email communications and aggressive public relations promoting the Web site via television, radio and print media.  The email campaign achieved a 16 percent unique click-through rate and encouraged activists to forward action alerts and emails to their friends.

Tactics For Success

CAGW sends regular email alerts to promote new campaigns and sends follow-up emails with acknowledgements on campaign successes. CAGW has used a number of tactics to stimulate supporter participation in online advocacy campaigns.

Clear Action Alerts Prompt Participation

The organization spotlights action alerts on its home page, making the cause visible and prominent.

Taking Action is Easy

Forms are pre-filled for returning constituents with their names, addresses and zip codes.  Based on the supporter's zip code, the organization is able to automatically match up the appropriate state or federal legislator information for the supporter's district or region. For instance, if an individual lives in Southern California, the Southern Californian legislator representing that individual's district is automatically pulled up so he or she can quickly and easily send an advocacy message to that specific lawmaker.

Loyalty: Converting Activists into Donors

CAGW had hoped that its investment in online technology would: 1) encourage prospects and supporters to take action; and 2) motivate constituents to donate to the organization's cause.  Mission accomplished! The advocacy campaigns prompted CAGW supporters to communicate with lawmakers by sending timely faxes or emails to influence public policy outcomes.  The Pig Book general awareness campaign also resulted in a 7X increase in monthly online donations.  These campaigns demonstrate the significant impact that the Internet, when effectively leveraged, can have on converting prospects into advocates and advocates into donors.