If any organization has the gumption to go after major donors via direct mail, the Web and telemarketing, it would be NARAL Pro-Choice America. It did, and it’s working.

By Abny Santicola

Around the time of the 2000 elections, the organization realized that its housefile was shrinking. Donahue says one of the main reasons for the drop-off was its acquisition and reinstatement program, which used issue-specific messaging.

“People would join and become members, but they were crisis members. They weren’t staying with the organization, and so they would drop off and we would see that yo-yo-ing of our file,” she says.