As
of late it seems, many charities think they have discovered a magical power in
saying thank you to donors. In the
course of our pro bono work we have come across this quite a few times where
other consultants advise them to emphasise to the donor how important their support
is. This mostly seems to translate into constantly saying thank you. On the face of
it, it seems obvious; you know treat others how you want to be treated
etc.
Charities,
in their effort to attract the most donors and dollars easily buy into this misleading
advice. They think it makes make donors
feel more valued, gives them a better supporter experience and increases
loyalty and donations.
But
for the vast majority of supporters it falls on deaf ears or even backfires. To a great number the thank yous show that charities don’t really understand them or what
motivates them to give.
In
fact, our needs modelling data shows that only about 1/3 of people who support
charities seek external appreciation for it. Among child sponsors this falls even further
to just 25%. And of those, a good number
don’t want appreciation from their chosen charity, but from family, friends,
colleagues and local community.
Many
of them feel that the charity is only the facilitator or conduit of their own
goodwill. Therefore, they feel that the charity thanking them (even on behalf
of the beneficiaries) is misplaced and presumptive, misunderstanding its role. Others feel that the simple act of giving
money doesn't warrant excessive gratitude and find it embarrassing.
Increasing
the focus on supporter experience is laudable and for that I congratulate the
charities. However, the trick to improving supporter experience is to
understand what motivates the different supporter segments and create mechanisms
that encourage and reward them. Or simply,
what kind of supporter experience they want to have.
Saying
thank you, as a blanket solution, is
counterproductive to increasing donor support.
Mext has researched charity
needs with the public, HNWIs and corporates for the last 8 years. This is done
with HuNeeds®, the powerful needs modelling approach based on the most modern
psychology. The needs modelling approach shows 6 distinctive segments that are
driven by well-defined needs. The HuNeeds Model is the basis for supporter
experience development, positioning, value proposition & product
development.
If you would like to know more
about these results and what it could mean for you organisation, please contact melissa.wraith@mextconsulting.com
