the innovation corner. Bringing you something a little different.
I’ve been banging on for some time now about the ineffectiveness of the retention programs attached to the recruitment of face-to-face regular givers (those recruited on the street).
So through a partnership with the great team at Cerebral Palsy Alliance, we’ve flipped the “norm” on its head.
Here's a post I wrote recently for the smart folks over at Spring Giving.
Think face-to-face: think mobile
It really does make sense when you think about it. Using mobile as the key device to keep in touch with donors recruited via face to face (on the street).
Think about it.
The average age of F2F recruits (although they vary by country) is usually late 20’s, early 30’s. They’re one of the most smartphone active groups.
Most F2F donors are on the phone (or pretending they are) prior to being approached. Which means they’re “on the go”, as in mobile. Not sitting still.
And let’s face it: a mobile device makes it really easy these days to share content. Great content. At your finger-tips.
So why therefore are we stuck in the mid 90’s when it comes to our attitude toward caring for donors recruited on the street?
We know they’re young, transient and mobile savvy, yet we continue to send them long letters and boring newsletters which are all about us. Not them.
Square peg, round hole.
Enter Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Australia). Fed up with the norm and even more sick of accepting skyrocketing attrition rates, the team at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance decided it was time to flip things on their head.
And so for the last four months we’ve been developing a new way to look after the wonderful folks who sign up on the street to support people and their families living with cerebral palsy.
The four things we had in mind when we kicked off were that the program needed to be:
- Easy
- Mobile
- Rich in content
- Two way
Let’s break these down.
Easy. One of the biggest challenges (excuses) I hear about the lack of a well thought through communications plan for F2F donors is “we don’t have the time/resources to develop it”.
We get it, but we just can’t do it.
So when I suggested to the team at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance that they wipe their hands of the day to day management of the retention program, they jumped at it.
My team and I have worked with them to develop all of the content (which I’ll come to shortly) but the physical distribution is in essence, automated. Donor comes on file, data loaded into the platform we built, and presto. A full years worth of rich, local, relevant and regular content is coming your way.
The hard work is the repetition and (lack of) automation. We solved that by building an online platform that “spits out” all of the communications in a programmatic way. It’s so easy it seems too good to be true. Problem one solved.
Mobile. Remember, these people are mobile. So when we mapped out how we wanted to share stuff, front of mind was that every single piece of content had to be viewable as a minimum on someone’s smartphone.
And that’s what we’ve done.
Regular givers will receive emails, text messages, video’s, podcasts, surveys and updated all through that clever little device that most of them were using when approached by the canvasser on the street.
When they’re on the bus on the way home they can check out Rachel’s story (below), or listen to the podcast talking about the organizations cut through research into cerebral palsy and how important long term funding is (through the voice of a parent with CP). They can read about how respite care can literally change a life (below) or share with their friends some big ticket advocacy work happening right now to improve the rights of those living with disability.
Again, all on that smart little device that fits in their pocket.
Rich in content. Forget about dull updates with photos of CEO’s holding a big cheque. At the heart of every piece of content developed is a real story. Stories about the people living with cerebral palsy, stories about their families, and the really small things that make such a difference.
Told mostly through video. Short summaries, laced with magic moments.
Ensuring the donor is the hero. Relating every success, accomplishment and smiling face back to you: the donor.
As mentioned above we mix it up. Tonnes of images, audio (podcasts), some simple touches (text messages) and lots of feedback. All with one simple message at the core: thank you for making this happen.
Two way. This program was created for donors, not for us. To stay true to that we create opportunities for deeper involvement.
Supporters are asked to share their views on issues around disability and give honest feedback as to whether they feel the organization is delivering real results. They’re asked to stamp their feet to empower social change, and they’re regularly kept abreast of other ways they can do more than give their bank details for a monthly debit.
So what?
This approach isn’t perfect, but as well as constantly evolving, it goes a long way to providing the ‘peace of mind’ that donors crave.
The technology isn’t overly complicated, but the logic is sound and the stories real.
All designed to ensure the lifeblood of the organization, our donors, know exactly how damned important they are.
Stuff you may have missed. Interesting bits and pieces.
In the trenches. Stuff we’re working on.