Donor-Centric initiatives to consider implementing:
- Develop a donor services department with trained professionals
- Toll free number on everything
- Extend hours as much as possible
- Empower service representatives
- Throw out “rules”
- In-bound calls give the organization a much greater ability to build the two way relationship with the donor
- Implement an ongoing donor service training program
- Regular meetings and a branded philosophy that everyone can rally around
- Make the donor reps as involved as possible; a little training and a lot of recognition/motivation goes a long way
- Develop a donor task force committee that reports directly to the Executive Director or CEO.
- Monthly meetings
- Discuss positive and negative issues
- Develop solutions to issues
- In addition to direct mail accept phone calls, emails, faxes
- Don’t rely on one response medium
- Email and phone response have a 2-3 times larger average gift
- Email and phone response helps develop a better relationship
- Multi channel donors are more loyal and more likely to respond again
- The more touch points you offer the more likely someone will respond
- Respect for donor and her intent; listen to the donor
- Publish and honor a Donor Bill of Rights
- Honor their request to be removed from marketing programs
- Treat them with dignity, respect and charity
- Develop an Annual Customer Satisfaction survey mailed to 5-10% of database
- Score results and share results with the entire company – the good and the ba
- Act on results! Listen to the customer
- Develop ongoing surveys such as card selection, etc. let the donor be heard
- Focus groups with donors
- Develop an internal employee opinion survey as well…..
- Focus on retention
- Find, acquire, and retain only the best donors
- Go out of your way to treat the better donors better…
- Concern yourself with the relationship, not the transaction
- Live the 80/20 rule.
- Exceed industry (non-profit and for-profit) best practices
- Model the organization after all types of organizations by looking beyond the non-profit arena. There is a great deal that can be learned by studying and adopting the best practices of the best companies in the world.