Canvassing The highs and lows of player recruitment

Canvassing The highs and lows of player recruitment Belinda Ellis – Business Development Manager The Hospice Lottery Partnership New Horizons conference 2016

• HLP Founded in 1997 • Lottery for six hospices • Covering parts of Herts, Beds, Bucks, Berks, Middlesex, Oxon • Catchment area of 800, 000 households • Current membership of 33, 611 • 4. 2% penetration of available area • 48 hospice shops returning an average yearly income of £ 65, 000 New Horizons conference 2016

Canvassing WHY do we do it • 2007 membership of 13, 814 • Historically growth reliant on a new hospice partner joining, which bought for the existing partners benefit investment of shares, shared costs and new territory to market • Over reliance on single tickets sales • Membership was starting to decline • NO canvassers New Horizons conference 2016

WHY do we do it con’t… • 2008 introduced a Marketing Strategy • Focused on growing membership to increase revenue • Implemented a membership ‘ask’ directly to the market. • This provided substantial growth resulting in the 140% increase over 8 years, an average growth of 17. 5% per year New Horizons conference 2016

How DID we do it… 1 Recruited self-employed Membership Promoter to work at: • • Retail outlets Shopping centres High streets Garden centres Hospice events Hospitals Medical centre’s Venue weekly ave sign up 75 New Horizons conference 2016

How DID we do it. . . 2 Recruited a self-employed D 2 D canvasser D 2 D weekly ave sign up 25 New Horizons conference 2016

We needed to broaden our horizons • Invested in people and spread the risk • Recognised specific role requirements • Canvassing team of 15 • Current total weekly new members 134 cancelled 110 • D 2 D weekly ave sign up 98 • Venue weekly ave sign up 36 New Horizons conference 2016

Our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow • Both D 2 D and venue sales provide exposure • Complementary marketing • Tailored visits • D 2 D has proven to be the more robust • Improved canvasser availability New Horizons conference 2016

How we make our rainbow - Venue v’s D 2 D • What. Where. When. Who? • Rotate visits • Rest sites • Seasonal and political activity • Build relationships • Affinity with local hospice/community • What to wear • Solicitation statement • Vulnerability and age Sales process HOW: Stop. Present. Close New Horizons conference 2016

Advantages of Venue sales • Exposure of the Hospices and their purpose • Mass sales • Fewer lone worker issues • Corporate engagement • Legitimacy • Support of staff • Customer reassurance New Horizons conference 2016

Disadvantages of Venue sales • Support fatigue • Site fatigue • Barriers • Temptation to donate rather than join • Donation security • Charity saturation • Internal obstruction • Missed sales opportunity New Horizons conference 2016

How we make our rainbow – D 2 D v’s Venue’s • What. Where. When. Who? • Customer moods • Affinity with local hospice/community • What to wear • Solicitation statement • Vulnerability and age Sales process HOW: Open Doors. Establish Credibility. Keep Door Open New Horizons conference 2016

Advantages of D 2 D sales • Don’t need permission to knock • Flexible working • Engagement potential • Local people • Focused attention • 121 engagement New Horizons conference 2016

Disadvantages of D 2 D sales • Fitness • Weather • Competition • Area fatigue • Negativity • NCC zones and signs • Lone worker issues • Saturation of market • Authenticity • Security of cash • Canvasser disaffection • Complaints New Horizons conference 2016

Conclusion • Venue sales are a valuable addition to the canvassing mix. There a number of potential issues – chief of which is managing them for longevity of the recruiting prospect and my experience has shown a small impact on D 2 D – certainly not enough to prevent me from taking the decision to do it. • The key thing is not to get carried away with the initial heady level of sales. They will moderate and the number of venues available may make that moderation quite quick. Planning to keep them fresh for as long as possible is essential. • Currently D 2 D for us provides consistent returns and in recent years has proved to be the more robust with the greatest overall success. However there are far more potentially canvasser related issue’s around D 2 D and it is vital to run a very tight ship in terms of training and compliance. • For us spreading the risk, investing in a workforce and NOT focussing our efforts on filling just one pot has meant we are able to keep ahead of the dreaded eclipse of attrition. And still have a market and potential to grow! New Horizons conference 2016

Discussion / questions Thank you for listening Belinda Ellis – Business Development Manager The Hospice Lottery Partnership New Horizons conference 2016