3 Things Nonprofits Can Learn from Corona Beer
How Data Gave Nonprofits Confidence Amid Crisis
In late February, Corona beer faced a tough decision. Twitter was aflame with criticism over a promotional post for Corona’s new hard seltzer that said: “Coming ashore soon.”
Comments ranged from “bad timing” to “Shame on you for exploiting a real global health crisis.”
The Twitter post was the first salvo in a $40 million dollar marketing campaign that was to roll out during the beer industry’s peak selling season, which includes Cinco de Mayo and the 4th of July.
Even worse, a market research firm said that Corona faced its lowest consumer purchase intent in years. In other words, people just weren’t going to buy Corona while the coronavirus was on their minds.
Corona’s marketing team had 3 options:
Keep pursuing their campaign strategy and change some tactics, as needed.
Pause the campaign, so they didn’t offend anyone else. Wait until things improved.
Stop the campaign. Manage the financial losses and come up with a new strategy for the seltzer ... for next season.
Do these options sound familiar? They should. Nonprofits debated many of the same choices before the lucrative spring 2020 fundraising season.
To fundraise or not to fundraise?
The nonprofits Abeja worked with this spring decided to keep fundraising, with some smart tweaks to their tactics. I think this happened because these folks are among the 4 in 10 nonprofits that use data regularly to set strategies and make decisions.
When things got tough, confusing, or just downright depressing this spring, these nonprofits could look at their fundraising numbers (with a little help from us) and make a data-driven decision about the right way forward for them.
I’ll tell you more about how these organizations fared in a moment, but first let’s look at Corona’s data-driven response to its backlash (underlines are mine):
“Our advertising with Corona is consistent with the campaign we have been running for the last 30 years and is based off strong consumer sentiment,” a spokeswoman said in an email to news media. While we empathize with those who have been impacted by this virus and continue to monitor the situation, our consumers, by and large, understand there’s no linkage between the virus and our business.”
Here are 3 things I think nonprofits can learn from the Corona response:
Plan the work. Work the plan.
Constellation Brands, which owns Corona Beer, has a documented marketing strategy based on performance data. In fact, as a public company you can review their strategy online.
They also have a fiscal responsibility to their investors, which they discuss in quarterly earnings calls. This is similar to the fiduciary responsibility that nonprofit leaders have to their donors and the communities they serve.
Because the strategy is based on years of data (vs. a Twitter poll), Corona could confidently move forward with the seltzer plan, even in a period of uncertainty. The strategy wasn’t going to change, but tactics like in-person PR events probably did.
Nonprofit case study: animal welfare nonprofit
One of our animal welfare clients was in a similar position this spring. They have a balanced and diversified fundraising strategy that includes client fees for in-person services, grants, and a robust individual donor program.
When the first two funding sources looked shaky because of COVID-19, this nonprofit doubled down on individual giving – the tactic they could control.
They worked with us to put out two crisis donation letters – with matching gift incentives – and an impact report. And on their own, they sent out some smart emails and moved their spring fundraiser online.
The result? A six-figure spring fundraising season – and thousands of more healthy and happy pets.
Stick to a message that you know works.
For years, the Corona beer message has been about making people feel happy and relaxed, like a day on the beach. Doesn’t that sound so good right now?
Now, nonprofits deal with much weightier topics than a beer company does. But at its core, the most potent nonprofit message to donors is similar: Giving makes you feel good.
In fact, there are numerous scientific studies about how giving stimulates dopamine in the reward-center of the brain. Donors may say they’re passionate about your cause, and they are. But they really feel happiness, even pleasure, when they give to you.
Translation: Nonprofits that connect with their donors at least monthly and ask them to give at least quarterly make their supporters feel happier and perhaps even healthier.
But even some of the best nonprofit leaders – when faced with so much to say this spring – struggled to consistently get that message of happiness and hope out to donors.
We helped an amazing food bank client get a crisis donation letter ready in late March. But once it was all but done, they had second thoughts. They wanted to hold off sending the letter “until the virus peaked,” just in case they had to suspend operations.
I called them immediately because 1) hunger was spiking nationwide, 2) their donors yearned to do something about it locally, and 3) it didn’t seem likely the virus would peak so soon.
They agreed to send out the letter and received thousands of dollars in return. Donors were overjoyed to support this creative and dedicated team doing so much good in their community.
Know your audience.
Corona’s customers are not the Twitter trolls. They are not the market researchers. And they are probably not their board members, either.
If you look at their strategy, Corona knows exactly who their current beer customers are – and they can make a data-informed guess about who would buy their fancy spiked water.
If your database is in order, you can fundraise with similar confidence, even in a crisis. You’ll know exactly who your best donors are and what they respond to. That’s just smart donor retention and even upgrading.
And then you can use that same data to find similar audiences to grow your donor base. That’s just smart donor acquisition.
One of our environmental clients grows and gives away trees. When their giveaway event was cancelled this spring, they were worried about the ongoing cost of caring for 1,000+ saplings.
But would their donors respond to our letter about trees when there were so many “essential” human causes needing help? The data said ... absolutely.
In the end, their donors helped this nonprofit exceed the $30,000 goal they had for their donation letter. Why? Nature makes humans feel good and the shutdown reminded us, in so many ways, how important it is to preserve it.
Use data to fuel your year-end fundraising
In truth, I think nonprofits have just as much (or more) to teach companies than the reverse. But Corona’s bold move forward this spring is a very public example of data-driven leadership.
So, did it work? Did people stock up on Corona while stuck at home?
Constellation beer brands, which include Corona, saw an 8.9% increase in the first three months of the year. And the Corona brand itself got a 20% bump, with some folks even making Corona beer the centerpiece of their online happy hours with friends. That trend is expected to continue into second quarter financial reporting due out soon.
Similarly, it seems nonprofits that worked their plans, stuck to a message of hope, and connected with their donors survived, if not thrived, this spring. Even with the so-called odds stacked against them.
Do you need help planning a year-end campaign based on your donor data? Email us at help@abejasolutions.com.
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