If you walk into a bookstore ... oh snap, wait a minute, there are no more bookstores left. Well, if you browse through the Amazon.com business section, you'll see scores of books (11,056 of them, actually) on how to create great customer service.
These books by authors like Seth Godin, Marcus Buckingham and others remind readers over and over that in order for your company to stand out in this economy, you have to "delight your customer." Or, in our case, "delight your donor."
There are two reasons there are so many books on this subject: 1) Because it actually works to provide great customer service and delight the customer, and 2) because we're not smart enough to get that it works — otherwise people wouldn't continue writing about it.
I don't know how many times I've sat across the table of a major-gifts officer and asked, "How have you delighted your major donors this week?" And all I get is a look of embarrassment on his face.
This is the same person who is running around preaching we need to be donor-focused, donor-centered, donor-you're-the-center-of-my-universe ... yet, when it comes to actually putting that into practice, it falls to the wayside.
Why does this happen? What keeps you from delighting your donors? I mean, I think you do want to delight your donors. You know it's an important part of building loyalty. You know it will eventually help bring in more revenue.
What I find more often than not is the daily inertia of your work is so demanding that it's easy to forget. You're trying to meet all the demands of your day. I get it. There's a lot to do in your work. It's not easy.
So, what are some things we can do to delight the donor? Well, you know that idea of making sure you have a marketing plan for each of your major donors? That's where it starts. Look at that plan. Now, where in that plan have you "planned" for surprises or touchpoints that the donor is not expecting?
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, think about the last really good customer-service experience you had. Nine times out of 10 it was because you were surprised or not expecting it.
That's what we want to do with our donors. For example:
- Find an article that one of your donors would be interested in and email the link, or better yet tear it out, put it in an envelope and hand-address it. Yeah, that's even better.
- Send a report on one of the projects your donor is funding earlier than expected. She will be blown away.
- Go visit him at his workplace by dropping off a note from one of your program's clients thanking him for supporting the organization.
- Call and say thank you — this simple act is so powerful, yet so underused because we're just "too busy."
- Call a donor at the last minute and invite him to a ball game. Yeah, it works. What a great time to bond.
I literally could go on and on. In fact, I had to force myself to stop, I was having too much fun.
But, here's the kicker: None of these ideas (and there are hundreds of them) will do any good unless you actually do them!
Here is what it's going to take.
- Plan these unplanned surprises in your marketing plan.
- Take a hard look at your work week and carve out at least five hours a week devoted to delighting your major donors. You can do it all in one day or break it up, but this is now sacred time.
I promise ... if you can protect this time and actually use it to provide outrageous donor service, you will see great things happen. I know it's hard work. But, the hard work pays off.
Now, go start planning for those surprises. It's great fun.
—Jeff
- Categories:
- Major Gifts
- Companies:
- Amazon.com
Jeff Schreifels is the principal owner of Veritus Group — an agency that partners with nonprofits to create, build and manage mid-level fundraising, major gifts and planned giving programs. In his 32-plus year career, Jeff has worked with hundreds of nonprofits, helping to raise more than $400 million in revenue.