In the commercial world, smart companies are thinking about their customers' experiences. Think the iPhone. Think Starbucks. They go beyond the mere utility of what they sell to something less tangible, more exciting. And they're making a ton of money doing it.
A Beautiful Experience challenges nonprofits to think this way at Breaking new ground for non-profits and donor experience management:
... put your donors at the middle of your planning process and create an experience for them that creates meaning in their lives. It's a shift in thinking that the world's most powerful brands have already adopted. It might be time that you took a look at it as well.
I'm trying to imagine what it would look like if a nonprofit put donors in the middle if their thinking. For some reason, all I can see is a mountain of revenue funding more good deeds than ever.
The organizations that pull this off -- putting donors in the middle -- will experience skyrocketing growth.
Throw off the tired belief that your mission and your donors are somehow at odds! Embrace your donors.
Raising money the old way (mass-market, low relevance, one-to-many direct mail) is getting harder and harder to do. The future lies with those who serve the donors.
Technorati Tags: fundraising, experience
Connecting to the heart keeps the donor coming back. Mindless transactions do nothing to increase donations in the future, or turn a one time donor into a lifelong giver.
The heartstrings are connected to the purse-strings. Make the emotional connection, and the wallets and purses will open time and again.
http://humanefundraising.com/people-decide-emotionally
Posted by: Danielle Hamilton | 19 January 2008 at 17:23
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment of this posting. Getting people involved in the exciting elements of what your charity does and making them feel an important part of your 'mission' does wonders for future income growth. And it's not "one size fits all", find out what each supporter (or realistically supporter 'segment') wants to hear about/do for you and give them more of it.
I really don't like pedantic semantics (other than the fact that it rhymes!), but in my opinion the label of 'donor' belies a negative attitude to the very people who make your charity work possible. A "donor" is somebody you 'exploit' (albeit in the softer sense of the word), whereas a "supporter" is somebody that you have a constructive relationship with.... Given that the Third Sector prides itself on having more human values than the "big, bad commercial world", I've always found it odd that we refer to the people who give us their time and money (and sometimes heart and soul)as 'donors'. Personally I think it's a symptom of the drive towards professionalism which is a good thing overall- so long as we don't blunt our appeal with bland, meaningless jargon.
Posted by: Alistair Heron | 18 January 2008 at 13:51
I had a great comment to a post that I thought related here. Donors want to be a part of a relationship with the organization not just a transaction.
http://www.asmallchange.net/?p=31#comment-82
Posted by: Jason | 10 January 2008 at 16:33