29 Tips for Gaining and Retaining a Donor Base

27. Membership surveys. Organizations should do membership surveys every three years so they know who their members are, what they do, what they like, etc., Rich said. Some methods for doing surveys include:

• Mail — reaches all people, but whether they open it is unclear. Rich recommended putting "Survey" on the outer envelope to increase the open rate.
• Phone — engaging.
• Exit — if you have a facility or after events.
• Focus groups — these are great if you want to test things.

Membership surveys should seek to find out if members like the benefits you offer; what kinds of activities they're interested in you doing; what radio stations they listen to, TV shows they watch and magazines they read; and their demographics (age, gender, ZIP, income).