I wondered about that... Improving from barely an...

2006-01-24T12:25:00.000-06:00

I wondered about that...
Improving from barely any recognition to half the country in 5 years is a very impressive public relations feat.
-Pat

Ah, I see I missed a rather important decimal plac...

2006-01-24T11:35:00.000-06:00

Ah, I see I missed a rather important decimal place when I first commented on the Harris Poll. %47 recognition is a huge improvement over 3% in the old TNC poll.

For all its size and resources, TNC has long had v...

2006-01-24T09:38:00.000-06:00

For all its size and resources, TNC has long had very low public recognition. For most of its over 50 year history, it was content to be "the quiet conservation organization." It went about raising money and Saving The Last Great Places and this resonated with its membership.

About five years ago, TNC commissioned a survey that found only 3% of respondents were familar with the organization, which is practicaly the same result as the 4% cited in the Harris Poll. At the same time, there were many more respondents in TNC's survey who indicated that they cared about TNC's bread and butter issues.

As a result, TNC embarked on a brand marketting campaign (remember those Paul Newman spots?, updated its logo, and started an aggressive, major gifts cultivation effort. This fundraising strategy raised unprecedented levels of major gifts but at the expense of de-emphasizing TNC's overall membership, which regrettably dropped by more than 200,000 over the next few years. To its credit, TNC learned from that mistake and is now making deeper investments in serving and growing its membership at all levels.

Science-based, solution-oriented and non-confrontational methods probably explain why those who know TNC generally think favorably about the organization. As John Sawhill was fond of saying; "Reputation is everything."

Comments on Nature Noted: They like you, they really like you....

I wondered about that... Improving from barely an...

Ah, I see I missed a rather important decimal plac...

For all its size and resources, TNC has long had v...