Is Your Organization Behaving Like United Airlines?
United Airlines found itself at the center of a social media cyclone, media revolt and falling stock price this week, after a horrifying video that went viral. The scene: a doctor being forcibly removed from a coach class seat on one of its planes.
According to published reports, the passenger was randomly selected to be bumped because the airline needed to transport four employees on the sold-out flight. The doctor refused to leave, airline officials called law enforcement, and security dragged him, bloodied, off the plane.
So why in the world is fundraising Agitator calling your attention to this mess?
Because in ways –big and small—United’s response is similar to what consumers –and yes, donors—are experiencing with organizations that are increasingly growing out of touch with the folks they should be serving.
Of course, most of our donors aren’t dragged down an airplane aisle or assaulted at a fundraising event because they bid too high (or low) at a silent auction. But, sadly, they are subjected to disrespectful treatment reflective of our societies’ growing income divide.
Don’t get me wrong. I do understand the need to discriminate among donors for a variety of legitimate reasons. But what I don’t get is that why organizations who trip all over themselves to make sure Ms. Big Bucks understandably gets special treatment and special handling feel free to fundamentally ignore the rest of their donors.
Donors not seated in “first class” according to our algorithms or budget treatments are out of luck. Less communication. Less recognition. Less…less…less.
The way we care for our donors is not an either-or situation. Surely, we can give high potential donors special treatment. And just as surely, we can treat the clear majority of donors with the respect, adulation, and information they deserve.
But, if you treat donor service and donor care as a cost center to be trimmed and trimmed then you’re no better than United Airlines. If you really don’t understand my point click on these earlier posts here and here.
Ethically and for the sake of your organization’s future where do you come down?
Roger
P.S. In my next post I’ll outline a marvelous set of examples and rules on building loyalty, retention and commitment. Meanwhile, please use the weekend to think about the “donor care” line item in your budget.
P.P.S. And while you’re at it you might want to read up on the Lesson of the Widow’s Mite
5 responses to “Is Your Organization Behaving Like United Airlines?”
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Brilliant analogy, Roger. And truer words were never spoken: “if you treat donor service and donor care as a cost center to be trimmed and trimmed then you’re no better than United Airlines.” Thank you for this. And thank you for what you and Tom do, every day, to hammer home the importance of donor care.
I truly hate the phrase “cost center”! Every division of any organization whether not for profit or for profit has costs…
Usually the divisions with more costs than revenue are that way because they:
a. have no method to generate revenue
b. they are carrying a support or service function that the divisions generating revenue are not very spectacular at
c. they are being allocated cost pro rata from other areas like the senior leadership group that are far higher than their labor costs
Some companies even some of the for profit ones serving this wonderful sector try to ‘fix” this by sending customer service jobs overseas to low cost labor areas, which more times than not does not work.
Here is a great Harvard Business Review article about looking at the bigger and more long term picture:
https://hbr.org/2017/05/managing-for-the-long-term#the-error-at-the-heart-of-corporate-leadership
Might be worth a few board chairpersons reading too…
Just this morning I heard a most interesting question posed to a crisis management expert asking this question: don’t these corporations, these corporate giants, understand and get the absolute Power of social media and how a situation can go viral in hours, a situation that needs immediate recognition, explanation, apologies, etc? As nonprofits we have a lot of volunteers a lot of staff a lot of people with iPhones that it can any given moment video our worst moment and boom! There you go. As nonprofits I think most of us have huge respect for our donors, I think that’s what really separates us from our corporate world. But we all need to have a crisis management program in hand And ready to go in the world, the social media and viral world we live in because our constituents will react immediately! The question is, will we?
Actually I think sometimes the customer is wrong and those who take videos and post them to cause others harm are wrong. In this case United and Republic mismanaged the boarding process but the person who refused to get off the plane has some responsibility too. If the person walked off the plane or was able to quietly explain why it was impossible for them to not be on the plane I believe things would have also been different.
Why use this example? Also why can’t a CEO actually support his people?
Usually I like what you have to say but in this case no use piling it on.
Peace, Nancy
Dr. Peddle: the reports emphasize the passenger declined to leave as he had obligations to patients at the end of his journey. Declining to be removed from a paid seat is not, at least as far as I know, a reason to be assaulted by anyone!
Also, if United was deadheading, the last people they should be asking to leave are paying customers.
The CEO should be giving an example. So, by condoning the assaultive behaviours, he was telling the staff OK to be nasty to customers.