Donor Communications Insights for Customer Satisfaction

© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com 1
Bloomcom Presents
All You Need to Really Know
(really) [yes, really]
by Tom Ahern | Jan 14, 2015

The world’s most profitable insight:
Donor communications aren’t
really about your organization.
They’re really about the donor.
3TOM AHERN © 2014

The world’s 2nd
most profitable insight:
Donor communications are a
customer service experience.
4TOM AHERN © 2014

The world’s 2nd
most profitable insight:
Donor communications are a
customer service experience.
5TOM AHERN © 2014
“I liked that!”“I liked that!” “I didn’t like
that!”
“I didn’t like
that!”

7TOM AHERN © 2014
The gift of joy

8
Editor: Michelle Brinson
TOM AHERN © 2014
The gift of joy

What story are you telling
me about me?
9TOM AHERN © 2014

Communications are a
mirror held up to donors.
They see themselves in
what you say.

11
KIND
CARING
COMPASSIONATE
HELPFUL
FRIENDLY
FAIR
HARD-WORKING
GENEROUS
HONEST
Source: psychologist Jen Shang,
quoted in the NY Times 2012

You’re in my home:
“Why are you here?”
Bad guest or good?

To make METo make ME
feel good!!!feel good!!!
13© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
Important!
Wanted!
Needed!
Proud of myself!
Happy!
Pleased!
Entertained!Surprised!

18 bits of jargon to eschew
14
Source: Katya Andresen, Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Network for Good
1. Capacity 2.
Empower 3.
Enhance4.
Indigenous 5.
Par tner s hip6.
Development7.
Sy s temic8.
Community 
9. Innovation
10. Super lative11.
Outcomes 12.
Suppor t13.
Sus tainable14.
Res our ces 15.
Dignity 16.
Facilitate17.
Diver s ity 18.
Fos ter ing
Tom Ahern | © 2014

18 bits of jargon to eschew
15
Source: Katya Andresen, Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Network for Good
1. Capacity 2.
Empower 3.
Enhance4.
Indigenous 5.
Par tner s hip6.
Development7.
Sy s temic8.
Community 
9. Innovation
10. Super lative11.
Outcomes 12.
Suppor t13.
Sus tainable14.
Res our ces 15.
Dignity 16.
Facilitate17.
Diver s ity 18.
Fos ter ing
Tom Ahern | © 2014
“Huh?”“Huh?”
“Why are you dragging
this tone-deaf, insider
rubbish into my home?”
“Why are you dragging
this tone-deaf, insider
rubbish into my home?”
“Can’t you please
understand? Jargon
prevents empathy!”
“Can’t you please
understand? Jargon
prevents empathy!”

You have your long story.
You have your current stories.
They are all donor stories.
16TOM AHERN © 2014

Yes, I donate....
Jane | Age 89 | Widowed

vision
enemy
hero
served
Source: Stephen Pidgeon and Tangible

vision
enemy
hero
served

Every 15 minutes someone in the
UK begins to lose their sight.
Today, with your help, we can
give them the practical support
needed to rebuild their shattered
lives.
Vis ion
Her o
Enemy Ser ved

hero defeats enemy

donors make sad
happy

“Humans are driven by a will to
establish meaning in their lives.
They need purpose.”
That’s your real job, in donor communications:
to bestow purpose in exchange for support.
24
Source: Neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, via the For Impact blog
© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com

If there are no problems
to solve, donors have
nothing to do.
25

26
Joy!
Need
Joy!
Need

Welcome to
the family
27TOM AHERN © 2014

St. Jude’s welcome package
• #10 envelope: THANKS! Your St. Jude welcome materials
are enclosed.
• Personalized, one-sided letter (for $10 gift) gushes, “I’ve
just received the marvelous news – you’re the newest
member of the St. Jude family.” Marlo Thomas
• P.S.: “I know there are many worthy charities that ask for
your help. Please know how honored we are that you’ve
chosen to support the work of St. Jude.”
• Inserts: thank you from patient, thank you from parent,
small notepad, reply slip with a gentle ask for “extra gift”
28© Tom Ahern | © 2013

70+% of first-time donors in the
U.S. do NOT make a second gift.

Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
You ask. You thank. You report.
30
The virtuous circle...

Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
31
The virtuous circle...
The part the charity
cares about
The part the donor
cares about

And by the way...
You ask (and flatter).
You thank (and flatter).
You report (and flatter).
You cannot flatter too much.

34
Source: Neuromarketing blog
“Even when people perceive
that flattery is insincere, that
flattery can still leave a
lasting and positive
impression of the flatterer.”

Beginning
of mail
End of mail
Elapsed time:
1-3 seconds

Thousands of messages.
Three piles.
1. Can’t ignore.
2. Can safely ignore.
3. A bit interested.

ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT USABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US ABOUT US
41TOM AHERN © 2014

ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT USABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US ABOUT US ABOUT US
ABOUT
THE
DONOR
42TOM AHERN © 2014

To some, this might come as a shock:
You’re in sales.

“Fundraisin’s no aboot
the Munnie, Lassie!”
Alan Clayton most recently; from Ken Burnett; from Harold
Sumption, “architect” of Oxfam

Donor Communications Insights for Customer Satisfaction

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Donor Communications Insights for Customer Satisfaction