Chief Customer Officer in a Non-Profit? In a word, YES.
Jeanne Bliss, a customer relationship guru and author, has a great blog post arguing for the need for Chief Customer Officers. Now the customer term means she is orienting her argument and focus on the commercial sector but before you dismiss it out of hand, take a look at these key questions she poses and substitute “donor” for customer.
A lot of non-profits are focused on the latest buzzword of the day, integration. This might mean technical, back-end database, multi-channel communication or simply making sure everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction. This is important and useful to do. The argument for a Chief Donor Officer is partly one for identifying a person who is responsible for this integration, one who has line authority across the various departments – communications, marketing, online, fundraising, etc..
But as or more importantly, the Chief Donor Officer argument is about making sure the person in charge of the integration is doing his/her job based on what the DONOR WANTS/NEEDS. This requires an outside/in mindset, less navel gazing and more regular, consistent donor feedback and opinion soliciting. The donors own your brand, not you. They also hold the success or failure of your mission and programs in their hands.
Is orienting the donor touch-points around what they want, need and expect to much to ask? Is there an argument for anything but this? There must be one out there and a powerful one at that because far too few non-profits have anything close to this donor-centric culture or organizational structure.
1. There is someone in our company who clarifies what we are to accomplish with customers.
__ YES there is __ NO there is not
2. There is a clear process to drive alignment for what will be accomplished.
__YES there is __ NO there is not
3. We have a roadmap for the customer work and know where progress will be measured.
__ YES we do __ NO we do not
4. Clear metrics exist for measuring progress which everyone agrees to use.
__ YES they do __ NO they do not
5. There is real clarity of everyone’s roles and responsibilities.
__ YES there is __ NO there is not
4 responses to “Chief Customer Officer in a Non-Profit? In a word, YES.”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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Kevin,
Thanks so much for discussing this. I have coached many CCOs in not-for-profit businesses, and you are right, the challenges are very similar and very necessary – because at the end of those silos is the need for an orchestrated experience.
I would be pleased to offer your readers a reality check audit (my treat) if they go to my website.
Jeanne
Jeanne,
Thanks for noticing our post, commenting and supporting the notion of a Chief Customer Officer applied in a non-profit setting.
[…] For a detailed explanation of how and why this function is so important I commend this excellent post by our colleague Kevin Schulman and his discussion of the work of Jeanne Bliss, a customer […]
Interesting post but substituting customer for donor only works if your charity only focuses on fundraising and not delivering a service or using communications/marketing to deliver you outcomes.
The principal is of focusing on your audience as the customer and putting them a the heart of your thinking. Pretty much standard marketing best practice which should apply to any consumer facing org.