1) The document discusses how customer support is important for donor and participant engagement. It provides case studies on how those who contact support for fundraising events tend to raise more money and be more engaged than those who do not.
2) The profile of typical support users are the most committed fundraisers who raise more money and give larger donations. Support also helps address issues that could otherwise discourage participation.
3) Effective customer support requires balancing phone, email, chat, and self-service options to meet user needs cost-effectively. Data from support interactions can also identify areas to improve the participant experience and reduce future support needs.
7. Francis Fundraiser
7
Signs up for a local walk event
Last year she raised $1000 offline
This year she decides to
try fundraising online but
she cant figure out how
to upload her contacts
into the email tool
8. 8
Value of
Support Users
“I have been trying to
register and make a
donation to a walk for the
last 2 hours… I am so
frustrated that I am going
to quit now.”
9. 9
Profile of a Support User
• Most committed fundraisers
– Raise More
– Use Available tools
• Send Emails
• Update Personal Page
• Make a Self Donation
• Larger individual donors
– Give larger gifts
• More concerned on security
• Want them properly credited
10. Case Study #1 – Regional Walk Event
• Single Annual Walk
• 5,000 Participants
• $2 Million Event
• Phone / Email Support
10
11. Analysis
11
Those Who Did
Contact Support
$984.51 Avg. fundraising amount
11.05 Avg. # of gifts received
38 % self pledge
84 % active fundraisers
40 % sent solicitations
77 % that updated Personal Page
Those Who Did NOT
Contact Support
$194.59 Avg. fundraising amount
2.51 Avg. # of gifts received
16 % self pledge
45 % active fundraisers
11 % sent solicitations
26 % that updated Personal Page
12. Results
2x more likely to make a self pledge
3x more likely to update personal page
4x more likely to send emails from the PC
More dollars raised
More gifts received
5x
14. 14
Case Study #2 – National P2P Event Program
• National Affiliated Program
• More than 800,000 participants
• ~ $45 Million Event
• Chat / Phone / Email Support
18. Profile of Cases
• Active Constituents
– Donors
– Registrants
– Activating
• Information Seekers
– Question about the event
– Looking for other information
18
70%
23%
7%
Participants Donors Information Seekers
21. Phone
• Single constituent interaction at a time case
• Most personal – opportunity to connect
• Greatest staff training needs
• No user data collected unless
using a support tracking service
to actively manage and report:
– Zen Desk
– Desk.com
– Freshdesk
21
22. Email
• Easier to staff and manage
‘queue’ and volume
• Longer response times
• Challenging for complex ‘cases’
• Pair well with outbound calling
for complex cases
22
23. Chat
• Efficient at high volumes
– Multiple chats at once
• Powered by live chat software
– SnapEngage
– LiveHelpNow
– LiveChat
• Can empower ‘agents’ with ‘macros’ and resources
• Pairs well with email – dynamically change chat button to email
button when all agents are busy
23
26. Take Action with Data
26
• Added link from Participant Center to page detailing instructions
for cash / check gifts
• Reduced case volume (and cost)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Help with
cash or check
donation(s)
Donation
needs to be
moved or
connected
Honor roll Help with
online
donation form
Receipt for
online or
offline
donation(s)
Find
particpant or
team to
donate to
Matching gifts
or requesting
tax id
Donation
refund
How
donations are
spent
Updating
donor record
28. If you build it…
43% of users feel they can solve their own service issues
if companies put better self-service tools in place.
It increases to 62% when looking at 18-24 year olds
91% of people said they would use an online knowledgebase
if it were available and tailored to their needs.
29. Searchable FAQ
Searchable FAQ page one way to empower your supporters
to quickly find answers to their questions:
• Increased Fundraising and Registrations – participants who can
quickly and easily find answers to their own questions
are more likely to register, donate or fundraise
• Reduce Cost – fewer constituent
questions means less staff time
spent responding to inquiries
32. Social
• 1 in 5 consumers report using social media for customer service in the past
year
• Your customers are using these channels for more than marketing whether
or not you are
36. Trend in Websites Today: Chat
Pro-active chat
allows for a window
to display to a user
who sits on a
designated page for
longer than a set
period of time or
upon exit of page
37. Non-Profit Opportunities
• Donation Form Errors
– Pro-active chat to assist constituents
who receive errors when
they submit a donation form
• Registration Conversions
– When Idle on a registration page
– When leaving the registration flow
without completing
37
39. Where do I get the budget?
Evaluate what your current support expense:
you are already paying for support!
• Opportunity Cost of Staff time
• Lost fundraising
• Customer Expectations and competition
39
40. Strategies for Managing Cost
• Self service tools can have big bang for your buck
– Searchable FAQ - 5-10k
– Third party tools available to manage template
and infrastructure
• On Demand Support for high event season
• Targeted Channels
– Chat / email for high volume
– Phone / email for low volume
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42. 1. Best Customer
Service & Support
Builds Trust
• Your activities are the limbs of
your organization
• Your mission is the body
• Constituent support is the face
of your organization
42
43. Constituent Perception Matters!
43
The public’s trust in an
organization is rated as the
number one factor to influence
the decision to engage
(donate time and money)
It has never been harder to
acquire and retain donors and
supporters. With over 1.5
million charities in the USA
consumers have choices as to
where they invest.
44. 2. Good customer service
diffuses dissatisfaction
• Things happen….
You need to be
prepared
• Turning a
challenge into an
opportunity
44
50. • Word of mouth is the most powerful ally you have on your side
• When you provide the best
in customer service, guess
what happens?
– People will talk about you.
– They will remember your brand.
– Will say, “Oh, go to this place.
They are great!”
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3. It builds and strengthens brands
51. 4. Identifies and reduces problems
• Customer service is the voice of your consumers.
– Not only can your customer service team immediately alert you to any issues
– Can also identify trends by looking at the big picture
• They are also the voice of your organization.
– If consumers know that they can voice complaints and those issues will be
handled properly, they will feel more comfortable doing business with you in the
future.
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52. 5. Integral to the new donor experience
Then:
- Supporter makes a donation, gets their tax
receipt, is happy.
Now:
- Supporter makes a donation, wants
acknowledgement right away
- They want to be kept informed of all progress
their donation may have contributed to… even
if its only $20.
- They expect your staff to know them and their
giving history every time they interact with
you….
52
53. 6. Proven to Increase Retention
& Revenue Generation
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54. Building the case for support
1. The best customer service builds trust
2. Good customer service overcomes dissatisfaction
3. It builds and strengthens brands
4. Reduces problems
5. Integral to the new “donor experience”
6. Proven to increase retention and revenue generation
54