Secret Shopper Strikes Again!
Here is some wonderful insight into the state of online donor management, courtesy of Nonprofit Tech for Good (NTech).
It’s all based on an old-fashioned ‘secret shopper’ approach, brought to the digital space. The folks at NTech contributed $25 to each of 32 nonprofits — some very large, like CARE and the Sierra Club; some not so big, like Alley Cat Allies and Elephant Sanctuary Tennessee — to see what would happen.
Excellent way to gauge just how effective the online donor experience really is. Last time they tried this, 27% of their attempted donations simply failed due to bugs in the targeted nonprofits’ systems; ‘only’ 9% failed this time. Better, but don’t these laggard nonprofits even bother to ‘wet test’ their systems?!
NTech’s general observation: “…it was frustrating to see how many ‘Thank You’ landing pages and ‘Thank You’ emails are still underutilized and poorly designed (heavy on text, void of visuals, lacking in creativity).”
Here are some more specific findings (and if you go to their report, you’ll find illustrations of each):
- Three of the 32 nonprofits used their donation form to build their mobile list.
- Two included the option to donate by e-check within their donation form. Eleven included PayPal as an option.
- Twenty-seven included the option to make a monthly gift within their donation form (YEAH!). Four included a light box to convert one-time donors into monthly donors.
- Six offered the option to make an honor/tribute gift within their donation form.
- Sixteen had a one-page donation form (YEAH! Alley Cat Allies, whose one-pager included a monthly gift option as well).
- With respect to donation ‘Thank You’ landing pages, two offered ‘Thank You’ videos, ten included a ‘call-to-share’ the donation on social networks, and two included a poll inquiring into the donation.
- And finally (my favorite), 25 of the 32 groups (78%) had mobile responsive donation forms … well done you guys!
You can go to the report for other bits and bobs as well.
It’s great to get this kind of feedback on what’s going on in the real online fundraising world. NTech, you deserve an Agitator raise!
Tom
One response to “Secret Shopper Strikes Again!”
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Thank you for this great post, Tom!
I have been “secret shopping” myself for some time. In my case, I look at the shopping, the buying, and the after purchase experience as well. They are all important to donor retention.
Unfortunately, in my experience, the buying experience may be improving but the shopping and after purchase experience are still very poor.
Social media is the place where you can test how well nonprofits are listening to their “shoppers.” Just tweet their handles and post on their Facebook pages and you’ll learn quickly that most do a poor job of monitoring interest and engaging with potential donors.
When you can make an online donation–and, as you point out, that “buying” experience is getting better all the time–that often leads to a “thank you” page. But is that enough? Absolutely not! A follow up acknowledgement, preferably on paper through the mail, hand-signed (or autopenned) and postscripted, are one way to make certain that a donor feels the personal touch. A follow up phone call also improves retention and increases giving.
This is pretty easy stuff. It’s just a matter of committing to treat customers not just as numbers but as real human beings. To showing them that they’ve been seen and heard and appreciated. It’s the right thing to do and the smart thing to do.
I look forward to reading the NTech study and hope that it is showing some real improvements in the bookends to the donor experience: listening and acknowledging. All the improvements in the experience of the act of donating itself will never approach the power of a human being representing a cherished cause telling the donor “I hear you” and “I see you.”
Keep up the wonder Agitation!