What At Your Charity Is Broken?

Seth Godin is an amazing thinker. Here is how Wikepedia describes him:

"Godin believes that the end of the TV-Industrial complex means that marketers no longer have the power to command the attention of anyone they choose, whenever they choose. Second, in a marketplace in which consumers have more power, he thinks marketers must show more respect; this means no spam, no deceit and a bias for keeping promises. Finally, Godin asserts that the only way to spread the word about an idea is for that idea to earn the buzz by being remarkable."

You can't be remarkable if your actions and processes are broken. 

The attached video was recorded at the Gel 2006 conference in New York City. Gel is short for "Good Experience Live", and is a conference and community exploring good experience in all its forms -- in art, business, technology, society, and life.

At Gel, Seth railed against the world's indifference at fixing things that just don't work. He claims just some of the reasons that things are allowed to be broken include these corrosive elements:

• Not my job
• Selfish Jerk
• The world changed
• I didn't know
• I'm not a fish
• Contradictions
• Broken on purpose

Watch this video. You'll probably laugh a lot -- and wince a little.

Then ask yourself, "What are we doing that is clearly "broken"? (How easy is it to make a gift online? How fast do we send out thank-you letters? Does one size (fundraising appeal) fit all? Are our communications, newsletters, emails, press releases, etc. all in techno-speak, acronyms, or a language code only we understand? Is everything we do "donor centric"?)

If it's "broke", you must fix it. 

There are 1.5 million non-profits in the US and a new nonprofit organization registers with the IRS every 15 minutes. If you don't have it fixed, someone else will.

Super CRM

My wife and I listen to only a few radio stations on a regular basis; national public radio, a political affairs talk station, and during the football season, a sports station. Listening takes place mostly in the car dropping the kids off at school or picking them up later in the afternoon.


We had our preferred programs and looked forward to hearing from our favorite hosts. One day, to our dismay, a favorite radio talk-joc was missing. We waited a couple of days to determine if this was just a temporary situation or to see if she was assigned to a different time-slot. Nope. She had totally vanished.


My wife fired off an email inquiry to the station with little expectation of receiving a reply. Low and behold, within three minutes she received this reply:

Thanks for the note (my wife's name),

It was very  tough to part with (radio personality).  She is a personal friend and has been part of the station for almost 10 years.  But, we have been asked consistently by the listeners for more live and local coverage.  This does that.  Also, (replacement personality) has a national profile and we will be increasing the amount of national guests on her show.  Also, (another personality) will be doing more issues based content, especially in the 3pm hour. Things won't be the same without (radio personality) for sure, but we hope they are better over time. 

Thanks for listening, I really appreciate it.

Jeff
Program Director


Wow! Great customer relationship management (CRM).


Following are some of the outstanding aspects of this reply:

• My wife's email received a response in three minutes!
• It was personal. Note the phrase "She (the radio personality) is a personal friend..." The Program Director recognizes that this radio personality was important to the us and wants us to know that she was important to him as well. This establishes a nice "bridge" of empathy.
• He provided a cogent rationale for the change and attempted to relate it as a benefit to the listener.
• He concludes with another personal comment - "Thanks for listening, I really appreciate it." This seems genuine, sincere.

Strive to be timely, personal, genuine and empathetic in your communications with supporters. You're likely to get a wow response too!