“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears”
Anthony Robbins
Could exemplary customer service be the answer to your fundraising woes?
This past May, I attended FundRaising Success Magazine’s first Engage Conference in Philadelphia. Unlike many conferences, this one focused solely on three distinctly different organizations that had recently experienced phenomenal successes.
- Operation Smile discussed their lucrative venture into television advertising.
- American Bible Society talked about eliminating direct mail acquisition completely for two years (unheard of for an organization that size).
- And Human Rights Campaign talked about how their Equality campaign went viral on Facebook.
While they were all there to cover very different aspects of fundraising — television advertising, direct mail, social media — all three organizations had one thing in common: each organization had dedicated themselves to providing extraordinary “customer” service to their donors. In fact, Operation Smile, an organization providing free cleft palate surgery to children worldwide, spoke of how, when they first became involved with the organization, it took as long as six months to get a thank you letter out.
Now it takes 24 hours.
Their success owed in large part to their commitment to saying “thank you” — and to their providing extraordinary customer service to their donors. Indeed, Operation Smile believes so strongly in solid customer service and the power of thank you that their fundraising budget includes flying call center staffers on missions to see their work first hand.
In his book, The Thank You Economy, Gary Vaynerchuk writes about those times mostly long gone by the 90’s, when you didn’t need to be encouraged to “buy local.” A time when caring and knowing your customers’ names simply meant good business.
And then, in the 80’s and 90’s, anything remotely resembling customer service was “powerbombed,” as Vaynerchuck describes it. The age of big box retailing arrived. Gas station attendants disappeared entirely, except in New Jersey and Oregon.
But now a shift is coming to pass. Can you feel it?
The future belongs to companies that understand exemplary customer service — companies like Zappos, Trader Joe’s, Costco. Businesses that “get” customer service are thriving and building word-of-mouth reputations…and customers for life.
It’s getting to be a bit of a cliche but it’s true: Your donors are not ATM machines. When your organization understands customer, err, “donor” service, and creating a culture of philanthropy, you’ll find yourself on your way to fundraising success.
How can your organization create an attitude of gratitude — one that places the donor front and center? Read on:
Building a Culture of Philanthropy (FundRaising Success Magazine)
Enroll your organization in a training program, such as Simple Development Systems, one that involves everyone from ED and DD to board members, volunteers and staff
Blackbaud’s Report and the Future of Fundraising
If you’re not committed to funding your mission, you’re not committed to your mission
How is your organization creating a culture of philanthropy? One organization’s story
Building a Culture of Philanthropy, A Six-Part Series: What Does it Look Like?
Building a Culture of Philanthropy: A Six-Part Series; #2—The Donor as Part of Your Mission
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I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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