Create A “Passion Panel”
Starbucks uses its "Passion Panel" to come up with new products and line extensions. This is a group of Starbucks’ best customers who respond to online queries in return for perks.
[What, you say, Starbucks doesn’t have enough variations on the Frappuccino already?!]
Maybe your nonprofit could use a Passion Panel of your own best donors. Sit down now and write up 10 questions you’d like to ask your best donors. Each one should be aimed at getting an insight you think would increase your fundraising effectiveness.
We’d be happy to publish some of your Passion Panel questions!
Tom
2 responses to “Create A “Passion Panel””
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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Can’t wait to hear what others are doing that works. How are they (the nonprofits, not Starbucks) recruiting people in the first place? Are they only asking donors for whom they have email addresses, then doing surveys or also including postal mail? How do they decide who to ask? Random or strategic? What sorts of questions are the nonprofits asking? Anyone doing an in-person lunch with the ED or something after getting this group started? You can see where my ideas would be, but I’m curious to hear what has been working for others.
Thanks for the story, Tom!
Thanks for the story Tom!
What best worked for us is to visit the special donors and potential donors.
Same that Kim ,I look forward to learn fro others’ fundraising experiences.