Fact: when it comes to measuring marketing performance, the nonprofit and commercial sectors are much more similar than they are different.

Yes, bottom line revenue goes to different places but the way in which nonprofits and commercial counterparts evaluate effectiveness is through similar metrics; acquisition of new donors/customers, retention of donors/customers, lifetime value, etc.

Given that our goals and measurements are very similar nonprofits should be more inclined to “steal” every commercial “best practice” not just to keep pace with the competition but, more importantly, to stay relevant as a sector.

One of the critical gaps we see in today’s nonprofit sector, when compared to their commercial counterparts, is the effort and value assigned to capturing and acting on customer feedback.

Much has been written about the ever-increasing expectations of charitable donors, yet most of the nonprofit sectors efforts to capture and understand donor sentiment currently reside in the unsolicited comment mail bins under a desk in an empty cube.

Is it realistic to believe that the nonprofit sector could ever meet these growing needs without seeking to understand how donors think and feel about their experiences with a given organization? 

The commercial sector has put tremendous time and effort against this discipline and frankly, it is time for the non-profit sector to follow suit.

If you need further convincing to follow are some recent, and very different, examples of how the commercial sector is asking for feedback.  Clearly they have assigned real value to this insight and are putting real time and expense against it.

Could they really be this off track and investing in data of such little value?

They No Longer Just Ask Nicely … Companies Are Rewarding You for Feedback:

If you don’t think our citing examples of companies simply asking for customer feedback proves its value then look closer at how many companies are offering incentives in exchange for this information.

The Commercial Sector Seeks Feedback on Everything:

After a recent flight this email arrived from AirTran (pictured at below).  AirTran assigns such value to the evaluation of the experience they provide that they are incenting customers with additional miles – a significant, financial reward.

The GAP retailer has a scripted “close” at checkout where they circle an offer on every receipt pointing out that the completion of an online survey about the shopping experience warrants a 20% discount on the next purchase.  There was no fine print, it wasn’t limited to sale items, purchasing online or in store, a straight 20% off – a “payment” of potentially $15 to $20 for a few moments of customer time.

Even in near monopoly markets many companies, probably those that are most successful, are asking for feedback on experiences for services with no competition.  Here is an example from GOGO Internet – the in-flight Wifi service with only one provider to choose from and yet the customer experience still matters.

Companies Know What Experiences Matter:

If you need proof that there are right questions and wrong questions, look to Amazon as an example.  Amazon clearly understands the key elements of each customer experience and aims to measure them.  This email is asking for feedback ONLY about the “packaging” of the items they sent me.

They have clearly identified this as a key experience that influences customer satisfaction or loyalty and have taken steps to measure it and, when “broken”, remediate.

3 Reasons Why Donor Insights Should Matter to You:

In the nonprofit sector today “Experience” and “Engagement” are nothing more than the latest buzzwords to replace yesterdays “CRM” and “Donor Journey”.

Look no further than the commercial sector for proof that they have quantified the ROI associated with experience and customer loyalty and realize the path to this improved experience only comes from capturing actionable attitudinal insights from their customers.

As you consider, your next move here are three reasons why understanding donors attitudes should matter to your mission:

1. It is a fact, the mere act of asking for feedback increases Donor Commitment levels and by extension, the likelihood they engage in key behaviors. This is just you ASKING for feedback, nothing else.
2. If the donor/constituent actually responds, and remember, you get Return on Investment just by asking, you get the opportunity to build the relationship and increase their commitment to your organization. And because there is an open-end comment box you may actually get good ideas for your organization along the way.
3. Your organization has spent a lot of time and money creating an online presence and building an audience. Feedback tools of this sort are well established in the commercial sector and have a solid track record of delivering individual constituent level engagement.