Want to go hear about some internal politics at CauseMatch?
It sounds a little embarrassing at first, but sometimes, we debate what type of company we are.
The engineers – the masterminds behind our donation pages, our Ambassador Command Center, Perks, Donor Rescue, and all of our tech features – believe we’re a technology company.
The coaches – the advisors who write the playbook for each campaign – believe we’re a fundraising strategy company.
The campaign managers – the logistical guides who oversee the campaign lifecycle – believe we’re a company predicated on customer success.
So when a new feature is released or an old bug is patched, each department has a slightly different opinion as to how we should market it.
Let me give you an example.
Over the last couple of months, we have integrated several new mobile payments into our system.
The engineers want to tout this as a technological achievement. We now have the ability to accept donations via GooglePay and ApplePay, a milestone that took hours of coding and testing.
The coaches view this as a strategic achievement. Professional fundraisers and Fundraising Ambassadors can now tell prospective donors that they can pay any which way they want, via PayPal or GooglePay.
The campaign managers think it’s a logistical achievement. Donors often want to donate through various apps, and now they will be happier with their newfound abilities.
The truth is that these internal conversations about how to market our new releases are 100% emblematic of donor-centricity. Being “donor-centric” has become a buzzword, a phrase that echoes across nonprofit conferences and webinars.
What donor centricity means – at its core – is that fundraisers must remove as much friction as possible from a donor’s giving journey. Fundraisers must make it obnoxiously easy for donors to give.
Remember: it’s always easier to do nothing than it is to take action. That’s why the smallest details (to us, the fundraisers) aren’t always so small (to them, the donors).
A donor may decide not to give because her wallet is on the other side of the room… Or because she specifically wants to use ApplePay… Or because her accountant has just advised her to make donations specifically from her donor-advised fund…
When donors decide to give to your organization, it should MUST be a seamless process.
They should be able to donate even if their credit card is all the way over there. Through any mobile wallet. And via their charitable investment account.
They should be able to donate with as little friction as humanly possible.
Our engineers are right. So are our coaches. And so are the campaign managers.
At CauseMatch and at your nonprofit, it takes everyone on staff thinking about donors’ giving journeys. It takes everyone thinking about donor centricity. It’s the only way to ensure that there are no barriers – no reasons to say “meh, I’ll do it later” – once a donor has taken the heroic first step of choosing to give to your cause.