Classy … Or Not?
I rarely comment on fundraising businesses.
I get plenty of e-newsletters and read heaps of blogs of such firms, often finding useful pearls of wisdom and, less frequently, hard data on successful fundraising strategies and tactics. These offerings (basically, business lead generators, about which I’m not complaining) provide some basis for separating the wheat from the chaff, but having been one of ‘them’ I’m hesitant to draw conclusions from what I see from a distance. There’s no substitute for kicking the tires face-to-face as a prospective client.
But when I saw this article — Classy Raises $30 Million in Venure Capital and Declares Itself on Donor Retention — I couldn’t resist taking a casual look at the firm … which I had never previously heard of.
I had never before seen the phrases “raises $30 million” and “donor retention” in the same sentence. As I said, it was an irresistible combination!
Off to the website I went.
First I looked for clients (a good indicator of pedigree), but had a disappointing first impression when I saw that Classy referred to them as ‘customers’. Something just doesn’t sit well with me about that … very commercial sounding, as opposed to warmly relational. ‘Client’ is by no means perfect, but I’ve always felt it connoted more sense of relationship, connection and stewardship.
Anyway, I was soon given the opportunity by the “#1 online and mobile fundraising platform available” to receive, of course, their “#1” blog. Now eagerly awaiting that.
I guess you can’t raise $30 million if you’re not #1, after all.
I moved on to see what their retention story was all about. And the first thing I came across was an offer for 8 Ways to Turn #GivingTuesday Buzz Into Lasting Support. A noble gesture, I admitted, given my genetic aversion to #GivingTuesday … at least they saw the potential value in trying to nurture these folks.
The eight strategies were straightforward. But nothing the #2 to #200 best online and mobile fundraising firms wouldn’t advise.
Still digging for meaty retention stuff (something worthy of that $30 mil) I browsed through their Resources pages — 11 categories of resources, but no ‘retention’. But with some persistent digging I did find some retention stuff — here (pitching giving circles and peer-to-peer fundraising to boost retention) and here (software for reducing monthly donor attrition) are two examples.
All in all, I’d have to say I wasn’t much impressed, especially when it came to delivering on the promise of the headline that originally sucked me in — $30 million to be deployed to rescue nonprofits from donor attrition.
I admit that Classy has some impressive ‘customers’ — Oxfam, National Geographic, Heifer International. I would expect ‘customers’ like that to be discerning.
So I’ll set aside my misgivings for now and await more retention news from Classy’s #1 blog.
Meantime, if you’re a satisfied ‘customer’ of Classy, I’m happy to hear from you.
Tom
7 responses to “Classy … Or Not?”
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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This reminds me of a US agency (that should remain nameless to spare blushes), trying to launch in the UK several years ago with a B2B marketing plan of ‘love-bombing’ target charity client prospects like me, as I was then. First I received an envelope full of heart-shaped glitter that burst in a mess all over my desk, lap and floor. And then I received a withered red rose. Quite a hurdle, to overcome teasing fodder like that on a first date. Which never happened.
There’s something that makes me twitch… About a $30 million venture capital investment. I’m not impressed with so much of venture capitaldom. My fantasy is that those who commit to the NGO sector (even those who are for-profit companies) actually believe deeply deeply in the sector. And are philanthropists of time and money themselves, of course. I think of all the wonderful consulting firms and agencies that I know that believe and believe and and…
And with your unimpressive experience, Monsieur Belford, I’m twitchy, too. We all know the firms and agencies and consultants and and that we admire and respect and honor and follow. Do any of them have a $30 million social venture investment?
We use Classy – a recently acquired tool for us – and I have to say, it’s not without it’s technical glitches, but it has helped us raise significantly more funds in support of our programs than we have been able to accomplish with another free or lower cost peer-to-peer/crowdfunding fundraising platform; and that has been even without launching our planned DIY fundraising program. For this kind of newer technology, they offer great customer support and resources compared to some of their competitors. Certainly, this is not a CRM tool, and the jury is still out on our long-term satisfaction. I can’t speak to their impact on retention, yet, but I’m surprised that you criticize them with little knowledge of the tool itself. At minimum, Classy is allowing us – a smaller, more rural food bank- to access critical technology and provide excellent user experience (putting the donor’s needs above ours as back-end administrators), which is transforming our digital fundraising efforts and allowing us to achieve some balance in this quickly changing fundraising landscape.
I’ve worked with Classy both on the client side and now as a consultant from almost the very beginning. If you know the founder’s story, it absolutely comes from a place of caring for the nonprofit community.
It’s important to remember that competition is good for everyone, and if you look at the simplicity of setup for Classy compared to a system such as one of Blackbaud’s products it is night and day. Classy is the “open source” model that let’s you choose the best solution for web hosting, email, etc. Whereas Blackbaud is the closed ecosystem all-in-one solution.
Classy also tends to target smaller to mid-sized organizations and they have done an excellent job of disrupting the status quo.
It’s also not an accident that Scott Harrison of Charity:Water, who knew nothing about fundraising when he started, is now on the board.
As consultants we constantly need to remember that the ground is moving under our feet, and competition is extremely beneficial to everyone. Classy needs this capitol infusion to try and make a dent in the Blackbaud monopoly. Maybe they are not the best solution for your organization, but at least you have a choice!
As a fairly new member of the fundriasing profession (previously in senior management in Corporate America), I joined a non-profit who had switched over from Blackbaud to Classy because the Blackbaud platform was so antiquated. Although not perfect, we have had a good experience with Classy – including overwhelming success on Giving Tuesday. Our organization is very focused on being relational with our supporters and I would venture to say that we probably spend more time on the phone with them than many other non-profits. Classy gives us a platform that for the most part keeps that relational feel alive.
I love reading The Agitator becuase it’s not the typical business as usual fundraising information, and so far I love Classy because it doesn’t settle as the business as usual fundraising software platform.
My initial feelings mirrored Simone’s. Additionally, I’ve followed the social media sites of Classy and seen glaring errors in some of their fundraising advice.
That said, it’s good to have this feedback from actual users. Thanks for sharing, Jeanne, Brian, and Cathie.
I know many of the Classy team and clients as they’re based here in San Diego. They’re not perfect, but, as Brian mentioned, they are a good option for small and medium orgs to have more seamless online giving interactions for their donors.
Their blog is not as retention-focused as Bloomerang’s, but they do incentivize nonprofits to expore monthly giving and renewal with lower credit card processing fees for repeat donors.
One critical piece of their platform that made them attractive for VC was integrating with Salesforce. I know SF’s VC arm made a significant commitment to building Classy further and thereby making SF a more attractive option for nonprofits that are looking for more customizable (and arguably affordable) CRM solutions than Blackbaud etc.