A very simple and effective strategy would be to send out an email along the lines of... (write a script to automate the sending out bit and the blank sections)

Dear ...
My name is .... and I'm the new memberships manager at the Carlton football club. Our records indicate that you were a member from ... to ... (X years). We've noticed that since the ... season, you have not renewed your membership at the club.

Membership is an important driver of the clubs branding and continued success on and off the field and we consider every member to be an important contributor to the club. We would appreciate if you could advise me as to why you lapsed your membership and how the carlton football club might encourage you to renew your membership.

Regards
....


<-
1, Send out 100 emails/day and ensure each response is read, considered and responded to.
2. Follow up with a phone call to the lapsed member 1 week post email if they havent responded.
3. If you are getting too many responses to handle, skip a day or two.

If you're going with a random letter drop, I'd send 500-700 a day. Your success rate would be pretty low.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I've been a 17 year member and received my letter from Mick the other day... was so disgusted that it didn't include any xoxoxoxo or love hearts at the end.

Seriously considering not renewing next year...



fmd people

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

..i didn't get a letter from Mick, but i did get some of his moustache trimmings.... ..god i hope thats what they were..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

100 was a random, but reasonable number.

1. If you get a 10% response rate from the email drops -> is the club going to be able to handle reading, considering and responding 50-70 emails/day? - and I mean REALLY respond to individual concerns or things that might encourage membership take-up. NOT lipservice/form letter responses

2. Assuming you have that 10% email response rate, is the club equipped to call 400-600+ people each day to follow up on the non-response to the email sent a week prior? Again, a real phone call rather than a rushed/read from script job because they are trying to churn through the database.

What is the bloody rush?

100/day X 21 weekdays/month X 7 months to season proper (Oct-April) = 14,700 people PERSONALLY contacted by the club (and listened to). In fact, the actual number of members reached will be higher because those 14,700 lapsed members will include families.

Want to contact more? - You'd only need to contact 140/day to cover 20,000+ lapsed members - again, individually contacted and listened to.

Build on those being reached out to over a couple of seasons. The purpose of such a program is to personalise the club's connection to members, to make people feel valued - You want a high quality campaign. Not some random email spam/scattergun approach.

People must be bored.....

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TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

I don't like the font he used! Get used to it everyone, soon they'll be in comic sans!

That is Port Adelaide

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They coud'nt.....could they?

Wasn't moustache trimmings, BKB

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I just want my old club back ... (edit) maybe I have!

Sticks sends his in 'porkys'

Or alternatively, perhaps some people don't want mediocrity anymore. And there are many who wouldn't know mediocrity when it came to this sort of thing. They just want their membership card and their seat. That's perfectly fine. But the club has come out and said it wants to be the best. So when it doesn't go close to delivering on those messages in the Strategic Plan, you have to wonder what the hell is going on. The answer always comes back to people - another key ingredient of the Strategic Plan. They either live and breathe it, adopt it and believe in it or it's just another bit of paper. Your move Greg Swann.

Mick and the club don't really love me

They just used me like a groupie at a St Kilda Mad Monday party


Don't they want to know the *real* me?

Wow, people will bitch over anything

Bring back Fat Cat.
and the pink ballerina. she was lovely.

Don't any of you think they'll do a membership drive pretty soon?
This was just a letter to 2012 members.
Did I mention mine was on hand made paper?

D'ya reckon Mick is a veggo? Not sure what to make for the dinner.

_________________
That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Classic thread of some supporters understanding an underlying, ongoing problem and others simply not getting the bigger picture. Even though it's been explained ad nauseum for years on this site.

Can we at least all agree that our communications department is still a bit of a weak link at the football club? I think it's been acknowledged even officially.

(I also echo the "WTF" sentiment when Swann stated he didn't know why our membership was so low...THAT spoke volumes)

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Doubt you'll get full agreement on that Don. Some will just back the club in at all costs...even if they couldn't tell you what a 'Communications Department' did.

Wanted to respond to this last night but didn't get around to it, your black and white view is incorrect. There is a third supporter that is sick of seeing our club falling behind the 'market' leaders and ultimately reducing our chance of all round success as a result. Regardless of this they still buy their membership each year, but are getting sick of where the club is heading.
I received my letter last night and actually don't have a problem with it, the timing is good and overall message is fine and presentation is ok. With appropriate follow ups to non renewed members we should be able to launch a healthy attack on increasing our base.

But back to my main gripe which is something that I was going to start a separate thread on. We show no initiative with presenting ourselves as a club anymore. This really hit me when I went to three different codes being NHL, MLB and NBA. At all these events they treated everyone as if they were members, they 'ran' home games that were true home games. We stick a bloke out there as the game 'mc' who has nothing to do with our club, in fact, it's embarassing for him to wear our scarf one week then see him the next week in the opposing teams colours. We should create a true home game atmosphere, there are so many things they could do that wouldn't cost too much.
But instead we just show contempt for our supporters and just expect them to blindly continue to support a club that continually lets them down (not just on the field). From training lock outs without notice to poor correspondance and self appointed board members etc etc - it all adds up to a 'who cares' feeling about the whole thing.

Anyway, I've ranted long enough.

Continue.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

For those who didn't receive a letter here it is....

Dear XXX,

It gives me a great sense of honour to be given the opportunity to coach this famous Club.

Carlton Football Club has given some terrific players and outstanding people to our great game over its history, and has a proud history of success, one which I intend to add to.

I would like to thank Stephan Kernahan and the Carlton Board for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to commencing officially in the role on 1 November, and working with the playing group and coaching panel to best prepare ourselves for a successful 2013 campaign.

As the coach of your Club I will back myself to get the best out of any player or any individual. I want the players to enjoy their footy, I want them to have a common goal. And above all I want them to dream big!

The playing group need to understand that the higher the target the higher the price. The higher the price the better the reward.

I don't want people standing behind me. I want people standing next to me - and we go forward together. That is inclusive of the playing group, it is inclusive of the footy department and the entire Club, and that is inclusive of you as a member.

Yours sincerely,
MM

Note: As coach of the Carlton Football Club I am keen to communicate with you regularly. Please see the enclosed form to ensure we have your most current details and email address.

THREAD. OVER.

I'd additionally like to congratulate everyone on completely missing the point of this thread, with the exception of DLC and the OP (barely). If you want the club to listen to you on any issue, ever again, I suggest you dissociate yourself from any online moniker you currently use...

If you'd like to comment further on the club's communications strategy, there is a thread here. If you'd like to start a new thread on membership strategy, you are most welcome. Thank you for your time and energies. We'll be contacting a few people.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.