Is Your Donor Segmentation Unemotional?
You all know how I feel about buzzwords. It seems that our industry latches on to them, and gosh, I'm guilty of it too sometimes. But I may have found a new one that I'm really fond of: mind-set segmentation.
As usual, I read an article about it, "Humanize Your Brand Message With Mindset Segmentation," but I also believe that for nonprofits, this is something that we have been talking about for a long time. I'm not saying that we are doing it, but we talk about.
The points made by author Kellie Cummings are critical. She states, "The segmentation methods of yesteryear (demographic, geographic, and psychographic) created a language about customers that was rooted in brand value-not personal value. Those rational and logical customer descriptions created a view of customers that was merely a reflection of a company's brand. To reach customers today, marketers must embrace a more human-centric and more customer-centric approach."
Nonprofits have always known that there is a true emotional and attitudinal element to engagement with a cause. This concept takes it one step further, and I agree. There's not a nonprofit around that would say donor retention is not a top priority. And there is a general belief that being donor-centric is a key focus for increasing retention rates (and actually driving greater value from donors). So, the question is how close can you get to being donor-centric without understanding the mind-set of your donors?
Creating segmentation that includes the emotional (mind-set) side of our donors should be considered a top priority if we want to actually create a true relationship and engagement (versus just a "response"). This article defines the necessary elements of mind-set as: beliefs, hopes and fears, emotional needs, expectations, and brand perceptions.
While I bet this article was written with the commercial segment in mind, I couldn't agree more with what is above. Now, if you are scratching your head about how to actually know what this type of information is relative to your donors, there are options:
- Categories:
- NonProfit Pro
- Segmentation
Vice President, Strategy & Development
Eleventy Marketing Group
Angie is ridiculously passionate about EVERYTHING she’s involved in — including the future and success of our nonprofit industry.
Angie is a senior exec with 25 years of experience in direct and relationship marketing. She is a C-suite consultant with experience over the years at both nonprofits and agencies. She currently leads strategy and development for marketing intelligence agency Eleventy Marketing Group. Previously she has worked at the innovative startup DonorVoice and as general manager of Merkle’s Nonprofit Group, as well as serving as that firm’s CRM officer charged with driving change within the industry. She also spent more 14 years leading the marketing, fundraising and CRM areas for two nationwide charities, The Arthritis Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Angie is a thought leader in the industry and is frequent speaker at events, and author of articles and whitepapers on the nonprofit industry. She also has received recognition for innovation and influence over the years.
