Donor Experience

Being donor obsessed and focused is not an either/or kind of thing. It is “yes/and” at its core. We need to be obsessed with the experience of our donors AND we need to be focused on creating meeting donor needs. We need to be passionate about our focus on the things that make a difference for our donors and will transform us into a digital nonprofit.

Obsession is more an emotion. Focus is more intent and then execution. It is all well and good to focus on donors. What level of focus is that? Moderate? High? The range of focus doesn’t qualify the intensity of the focus.

Obsession is clear. You think of nothing else. All you really care about is the donor experience and loyalty that your donors have with you. Obsession is focus on steroids. When all you care about is your donors, which is real focus, then you have moved to obsession.

Focus narrows intent and execution of strategy. Strategy, at many levels, is about choices and tradeoffs. It recognizes that we can’t do everything. What will make a difference to our donors? What will not, and hence, can come off our plates?

The great thing about obsession and focus is that it will pay off for your donors, you and your nonprofit. You know it in your gut. Being obsessed is about passion and energy. Being focused is about clear execution of the few things that make a difference. Being passionate about the few things that make a difference is the name of the game.

When you get up in the morning, what gives you energy? Is the first thing you think of is “what can I improve” for my donors over the next 3 months?

There is probably a “burning imperative” or “burning platform” that can help focus everyone. Leaders and managers need to find why this focus is important and articulate why it needs to be addressed. This is the framework of donor experience transformation.

Obsession, much more than focus, brings clarity and drive. What do you want to accomplish with your donor initiatives? What are you obsessed with that will make a difference? The answers to these questions bring clarity.

Knowing what will make a difference over a 3 to 6 month horizon is a huge driver. Devoting every minute that you can to take the donor experience to a new level will produce results for your obsession and the focus you bring to it.

Focus is important. It is not to be over looked. It is easy to say you should be passionate. It is hard to say what you should focus on. Your passion for the donor experience and the discovery you make as a result of it will give you hints about the focus.

Deciding on a focus area that delivers a quick, early win can really rally everyone to get on board with focus areas. In addition, one over-riding message can radically improve communication for donor experience transformation efforts.

There needs to be a balance between passion and focus. They both, however, are critical to building a digital nonprofit. Having neither passion for the donor experience nor focus is an invitation to disaster.

It is everyone’s job to bring a healthy mix of obsessing over donors and focusing on the few things that bring about transformation and results. Senior management bears a heavy burden to help staff focus. Senior management can and should remove barriers to improving the donor experience, devote resources and help set priorities. Senior management should also eliminate non-essential projects and initiatives. Strategy is about tradeoffs and what shouldn’t be done as it is about what should be done.

Here are the key ideas:

1. Passion for the donor experience and focus on the critical few initiatives need to be balanced.
2. Put all the energy you can into the critical few initiatives
3. Start with a burning imperative to create singular focus on the donor experience
4. Delivering one early win gives the team confidence
5. Driving one over-riding message improves communication

Please contact me for more information on the donor experience