Are your communications coming unstuck?

Imagine if you will a scenario where you have finally had time to properly read the mail from the charities that you support. You are motivated to respond to the latest request for money. You go and get your wallet and fill in the donation form with your credit card details or find your cheque book and write out your cheque. So far so good.

You then go on to enclose the donation form in the Freepost envelope provided and find one or both things:

• That you need to be skilled in origami to get the donation form to fit into the envelope provided and have to fold it several ways to get it in
• That after (finally) enclosing the donation form you go to lick the envelope and it doesn't stick so you then have to go off to find some glue or Sellotape

Now this is another pet hate of mine. Because we as fundraisers should be breaking down the barriers to giving not creating them. And though the two issues above are not big things they could in reality make the difference between you receiving the donation or not! And I know because I have experienced them both this weekend.

I wonder, how many Freepost envelopes remain unposted because someone couldn't find or be bothered to find the Sellotape that they were going to dig out later ..but never did.

So please, a little plea. If you are going to provide envelopes to aid response then make sure they stick - just test them yourself. It isn't about buying an expensive envelope it is about providing one that does its job.

As regards the donation form, there has been much written about them, but again, it's about functionality and in the same way you look at what information is vital to capture on a donation or response form and making it as easy as possible for the person completing it - another check is whether it easily fits into the envelope you have provided. Simple.

After all, this is one occasion where 'pushing the envelope' probably doesn't apply.

Thank you for stopping by!

When cracks begin to show

A little pet hate of mine both personally and professionally is when communications pretending to be personal are obviously mass produced because you can quite literally see the joins!

What I mean by that is that the personalisation i.e. name and address etc is in another font to the main bulk of the email or that the pre-printed backs of letters do not match the lasered fronts - to me it's sloppy and it can be undermining. Particularly if you have spent time and energy ensuring that the copy and messaging is right.

Now the question is do supporters notice? I can only speak for myself here.. but I do. Does it make me want to cancel my support.. No..(well not immediately) that would be an extreme reaction - but it does make me think about how much care has gone into the letter and thus how much they care about my support.

However, I have realised recently that I am more forgiving of smaller, lesser known organisations than the bigger ones and also on whether the communication is an ask or in fact a thank you.

However, my point is, there is no excuse for such lack of care in supporter communications. Most supporters know deep down that the same letter is going to many people not just them... but we can still make the effort to ensure that the chances of them being reminded of this is reduced.

Such examples as mentioned above are easily ironed out: during the test phase for emails and the laser and proof stage for letters. We just need to care enough to ensure that such things don't go out with such silly errors.

After all we want to inspire and engage our supporters. Not make them question whether we care or not.

Did you miss me?

Following on from a tweet I broadcast a few days ago - I thought I would just explain myself a little and caveat it by saying that just because I am in fundraising myself - it doesn't make me any less forgiving.

I received a 'reactivation' letter or putting it in layman's terms a letter asking me to resume my support. No bad thing. Getting supporters back is part and parcel of a fundraiser's role - though I have to say personally, more effort should be invested in keeping supporters in the first place. But proceeding with the assumption that 100% retention is impossible, what we do to try and get people to support us again or indeed convince them not to stop, is a very important activity because:

(1) If it is successful then you have another supporter giving time, money and hopefully word of mouth endorsements

(2) If it isn't successful but done well, you will have left your supporter with a nice, non-guilt inducing feeling and thus if they are able to support again in the future they probably will remember the lovely experience and you will be top of their list

(3) If executed well, you will have the chance to learn a great deal about what is pleasing to your supporters and in this case what isn't, so you can potentially fix issues any problems that are undermining the supporter experience.

So, back to the letter. In my case, At the heart of the problem was that the organisation was generalising. Now if you have a database of supporters in the hundreds and thousands then obviously this is a danger but one that needs to be considered as it could be ultimately detrimental to what is trying to be achieved.

"Miss Santer, it's not the same without you" - was pretty much the first line welcoming me as I opened the envelope. A lovely sentiment and one that I would hope to be true - but the fact that I had only made one payment before cancelling and the letter took several months to arrive just made me wonder.

And I think that is so often the problem with some reactivation / recovery processes. They are implemented as an admin function with computer generated letters selected en mass - and while they remain as such rather than being an intrinsic part of the retention strategy, the process will probably never be as successful as we want it to be.

So some suggestions:

• Dig a little more deeply into the data - it will tell you much of what you need to know. Who has supported for many years or just one month, the value, the frequency, what else they did during that time if at all... that way you can choose the appropriate messages and also the channel to contact them by.

• Accept that some supporters may not resume regular payments - however, do monitor their other behaviour because they could be supporting in other ways - nothing more damaging than sending a we've missed you letter when they have been campaigning and giving to one-off cash appeals all the while.

• Instead of assuming that someone cancelled by accident and didn't realise it (would account for a very small %) - start from the point of view that it was your organisation that somehow let them down. Which is more likely to be the case. And then try and establish dialogue to find out what the problems were and if at all possible try to address them.

• If you just try to get supporters back without understanding why they left in the first place you are essentially just asking supporters to return to the same unfulfilling experience as before. Why would anyone return for that? Just more of the same! And even if they do resume, how long will they remain giving before they stop giving again?

• Also look at extending reactivation process beyond direct debit non-payers - appeal givers not giving again is equally a big issue that should be better understood - yet reactivation processes in the main seem to focus on lapsing/lapsed regular givers rather than other types of supporters.
  

In short, use the data to send appropriate messages, if at all possible find out why they left and if it was a problem offer to resolve it, if the supporter doesn't resume regular support and that is their only support then send them a lovely thank you and 'au revoir' letter that way you leave them with a lovely sentiment. And if they have cancelled their support make sure you check their other history - communicate accordingly (mail, telephone etc) acknowledging that you know their support extends beyond a DD and how wonderful that is. That to me is a better use of personalisation.

Like any other communication - reactivation processes should be about segmentation. Who you choose to contact, by what method and with what message and caring why people are leaving you and taking the time to find out and address the causes.

Taking a little time upfront with the data will mean you can better focus your efforts and communications in the reactivation cycle and even if it doesn't result in better results immediately - the positive experience given to your departing supporters is more likely to secure their support in the future. You are just laying down the ground work now!

As an aside. The reasons for my cancelling in the first place will fill another post another time.

Thank you for stopping by and Merry Christmas!

Just some thoughts to improve on something that is already great (IMHO)

I love receiving emails from Lend with care letting me know that £x amount has been repaid. Not because I am getting my money back (would gladly donate it anyway) but because the repayments are symbolic of the achievements of the people I am supporting - ultimately it signifies success and that is a wonderful thing for Akoua and for me, the person investing in her dream. Powerful stuff.

So, how can one improve on near perfection - well I have a couple of tiny suggestions which will hopefully be taken as helpful supporter feedback:

• As the money is credited back - it would be great to be able to re-invest the money to assist another entrepreneur - even if it isn't £15.00. Obviously £15 is the minimum at point of sign-up but does that have to be the case when you have already started to invest? I appreciate that the aim is to encourage further investment - but hot off the back of a lovely email informing me of a loan repayment I would like to be able to click and just re-donate the amount in my account to another person even if it isn't a full £15.00, after all that is what the email suggests I can do. Of course, there are probably wireframe restrictions that I am unaware of or of the policy behind the £15 minimum - but I can tell you, it would just aid the momentum of giving and re-giving and would generate more in the longer-term.
  

• I have seen the tweets from @kindaAngels that updates followers on who needs funding - and how far they have been funded thus far. Now this leads me onto my other suggestion. On the site there is a funded page which shows the many projects 100% complete. Great. But although there are a list of entrepreneurs with the '£ amount remaining' listed - for those with little time - it would be brilliant to see a scroll of projects near completion on the website i.e. 75% plus - that way people can swoop in and choose to add the final instalment required. This in itself would appeal to certain people - either time poor or those that want to be the person who makes the final payment. It would provide another way to select who to support and would also be a very motivating one - particularly if twitter people like @kindaAngels tweet "Akoua is 99% funded and needs just £15 to make her dreams a reality".
  

Anyway, love the site and what it is helping people like Akoua achieve. And my suggestions are purely coming from a user point of view - things that I intuitively expected - and thus thought I would take the time to share.

Keep up the great work!

If a picture paints a thousand words...

As the song lyrics go 'if a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't I paint you..' Lovely as the sentiment is, have you ever tried to describe a picture or visual content in such a way? It poses an interesting and actually quite useful challenge.

The technique of Audio Description does just that. It is used as a way of capturing the visual elements of a production for blind or visually impaired people. It is quite a skill(as is it a valuable service) and the essence of which, I think as fundraisers we could all learn from.

So, why not challenge yourself? Have a look at some footage on your website or even take a look at a photograph that you may plan to include in a feedback piece and see whether you can describe the scene in a meaningful, motivating and descriptive way for your own audience. Verbally or even in writing.

It is not as easy as it sounds - but being able to do it could not only improve your own story telling and communications but also your understanding of what are the most meaningful elements of them for your supporters.

It is definitely worth a go!

What Christmas shopping has to do with fundraising.

I was struck by a small article in the The Sunday Times Magazine this weekend which asked the question 'Is it okay to recycle presents?'

Now, I can honestly say I have never done it myself - but then I am sure I have received a recycled gift at some point - mainly because you tend to know i.e. that feeling of 'what the..., they don't know me at all..' All the more annoying for someone like me who loves to buy presents for people and actually goes to a lot of trouble in selecting gifts that I know my friends and family will love.

However, despite this being a cautionary warning ahead of your Christmas shopping it also has a very useful reminder for fundraising too.

Choosing a gift should be about empathy, about how much we understand the person we are buying for. We should first start with the person NOT with what to buy them and the same can be said about our communications to supporters. Starting with the supporter and not the communication.

Find out about them and what they want. Their interests, their likes, their dislikes. Take time to tailor messages. Produce materials that people want to receive and you will be giving the gift of information, inspiration, education, and a sense of making a difference. And as a result we may get a wonderful gift in return: happy, committed and loyal supporters.

Happy Giving!!

Ways to make your supporters 'Tingle'

'Inspiration' is increasingly becoming a key motivating factor for giving - but the key challenge is knowing whether what we send to our supporters is genuinely 'inspiring'. After all, inspiration is a very subjective thing.

Some things to think about:

• Do you know enough about your supporters to know what would, could, should inspire them? If not, then find out - and at every opportunity. We can never know too much about our supporters.
  

• Knowing the difference between magic dust and hygiene factors? What does inspiration look like to your supporters? "Inspiration: the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something" - based on this definition to me, it is essentially everything we do as an organisation. Therefore, the most inspiration can be given by living up to the expectations we have set for our supporters. Of course the 'tingle factor' (as I like to call it) will help hugely in any communication - but it is the overall perception of your organisation that will be affected if everything else doesn't deliver and that's no matter how inspiring one piece of communication is.
  

• What keeps you inspired? It is difficult to inspire others if you are not yourself. Inspiration should be a key part of the culture of organisations as should donor-centricity - but whether or not that is the case - it still needs to come from within. So take the time to speak to as many supporters as you can. Regularly visit the work and/or speak to as many people involved in it as possible. Empathy is great but no substitute for real closeness.
  

• Can you see beyond the obvious? I am sure we have all waited for that fantastic case study or story because we know that it will better move, and motivate people into the action we want. But the practicality is that waiting can some times jeopardise deadlines. Therefore, it is important to view all stories like that, or at least ensure you have the skills to ensure that the most is made of every story, photograph and quote that we have. Obviously certain stories will resonate better than others - but it is a good skill to see beyond the obvious to create something that is still rather good.
  

• Are you using the right channels? We can't inspire supporters if our communications are never opened and seen . Providing communications that people are excited about is key - but increasingly it is also about the channels chosen and ensuring the mix is right. After all the execution and delivery of your messages can be just as inspiring as the communications themselves.
  

• Do you have a 'Tingle-o-metre'? The next time you send out a survey or feedback form to supporters - why not send out a tingle-o-metre for them to complete. That way you can ask supporters to fill in the things about your work that inspires them and mark them on a scale of what makes them 'tingle' about your work or what leaves them cold. Creatively it could be more inspiring than just a survey and it may offer some really interesting insights into what inspiration means to your supporters - rather than what you think it is.

Inspire away!