Meet the Practitioners
Erica Best, Associate Director, Direct Response, No Kid Hungry
Larissa Peters
Larissa Peters is the Digital Giving Manager at Catholic Relief Services. She received a BA in English at Simpson University and an MA in Intercultural Ministries at Canadian Theological Seminary. Prior to Catholic Relief Services, she worked in the marketing department at World Relief and was a case manager for refugees in Atlanta.
Larissa joined CRS six years ago and is responsible for raising online revenue for the Annual Giving program through digital channels including web, email, ads, social media, text/SMS and search. She develops strategic initiatives regarding donor acquisition, email response and donor retention, and therefore delving into behavioral science and a/b testing is a must in her role.
Derek Roberts
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Our innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual needs and help homeless people to transform their lives.
As Direct Marketing Executive, Derek is responsible for communicating the message of the charity to warm and cold donors through year-round appeals as well as the annual Christmas Appeal. His focus has been to develop the online experience and journey that the donor has with Crisis and has become a key point of reference in the Fundraising Team not only for online/email developments but also for the application of behavioural science insights that the Direct Marketing Team utilises in their offline and online appeal creative.
Rami Sarakbi
Rami Sarakbi has worked with the Canadian Red Cross since 2014 where he has assumed a variety of roles from frontline aid worker during the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, to a national coordination role during the Alberta Wildfires in 2016.
Currently, Rami works with the fundraising team as part of the Customer Experience (CX) Unit. The CX Unit develops donor journeys based on analytics and market research, viewed from the donor’s perspective. The purpose of these journeys is to deliver increased net revenue and optimize channel use and cadence use. When a donor is at risk or is going down a path/journey associated with a negative outcome, the CX team searches for ways to intervene proactively
Behavioral Science Q & A
Thanks so much for raising this. Yes, capturing donor information can be helpful for stewardship like newsletters, thank-you letters, impact updates. But how you ask matters. Forcing full data capture introduces friction that can significantly depress conversion, many donors may simply abandon the process. Beyond the friction itself, required fields also shift the emotional experience […]
Read Full Answer
Unlike holidays that everyone already knows, Giving Tuesday is a created event. Many donors recognize the name but not the exact timing, so referencing it becomes a helpful cue. It serves as a reminder and taps into social norm activation (“everyone’s giving today”), which boosts response. However, we still want it paired with the mission, […]
Read Full Answer
When a subject line leads with the match (“Your gift matched!”), it risks triggering market-norm thinking: the sense that giving is a financial transaction rather than an act rooted in values, identity, and care. This shift reduces intrinsic motivation and, over time, can weaken donor satisfaction and long-term engagement. It also makes the email indistinguishable […]
Read Full Answer
There’s no evidence that QR codes suppress mid-value giving; all available research suggests they either help or have no negative effect. In fact, behavioral and usability research consistently shows the opposite: reducing friction at any point in the donation process increases completion rates and total response. And that has nothing to do with capacity and […]
Read Full Answer
What you’re experiencing is very common. Resistance often isn’t about capability, but about motivation quality. If board members feel pushed into fundraising, that triggers controlled motivation (low quality motivation) i.e. obligation, guilt, or fear of judgment, which often results in avoidance. Instead, we need to create conditions for volitional motivation (high quality motivation) by satisfying […]
Read Full Answer
That’s a really thoughtful question, and you’re not the first to raise it. Many of our clients have been cautious about placing the ask at the very end. To address their concern, we’ve tested both approaches, and the results are clear: when the ask comes last, even if that means it appears on the second […]
Read Full Answer