Learning From Competitors
Competitors?!
That's a nasty word in nonprofitland. We're all one big happy family, aren't we?
Our boards want us to cooperate with other groups in our field. Our major donors urge us to collaborate, even while investing in us as “the best.” By nature we tend to be huggers and team players.
But it's a jungle out there.
Competitors poach our contributors, win our grants, get better media coverage, throw flashier events, copy our best ideas and innovations, deride our mishaps, confuse policymakers with alternative strategies and proposals, disorient our coalitions, and have cooler online bells & whistles.
Although it's impolitic to crush your competitors in nonprofitland, you can at least learn from them!
Here's how, courtesy of Heidi Cohen, marketing consultant and NYU prof.
Start by identifying your competitive set (don't be too restrictive); gather competitive insights about their strategies, target audiences, offerings, website, media coverage, etc.; use competitive analysis tools like gap analysis (where/how are they better, and how can you close/negate the gap?) and SWOT analysis (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats).
Put this all together and soon you'll understand how to crush, excuse me, play nice with your competitors.
Tom
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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