There’s no denying it. 2020 has been a very rough year for charities.

From disrupted service delivery to massive gaps in fundraising income, many charities are having to take a step back and take stock of their priorities and ambitions moving forward.

It has, of course, also been a very rough year for us as individuals. Despite all the turmoil, we have seen an almost equal and opposite reaction in altruistic acts and human kindness. From WhatsApp support groups for vulnerable people to Captain Tom Moore’s record breaking fundraising efforts. People want to feel good about something. In a sea of uncertainty and fear, it feels good to do something kind.

This is why the supporter experience matters more than ever. At this point in time, people are shopping for a way to make positive change. To feel as though they can take put the world back on track, even if it’s only in a small way. …

Many charities struggle to meaningfully measure email success. Sure, we all look at the clicks and the open rates, but how often do we actually use data to properly inform our comms planning? And even when we do, it tends to be in team silos rather than organisationally.

Anne Ewen, Senior Supporter Journeys Manager, and Magid El-amin, Senior Analyst, at The Children’s Society had kindly agreed to come and speak at a charity meet-up about what they have been doing to improve supporter engagement over the last couple of years. I’m so glad that they did!

Anne and Magid presented a wealth of learnings about various approaches to improving the supporter experience, and what their plans were for pushing the boundaries even further. As one of the charities that really embraced a more engagement focussed approach early on, it was incredible to hear about real policies which had been tried and tested, as well as successes and failures along the way. What became most clear was that TCS have really embraced using data to their advantage in a way that many charities will envy. …

For international charities as large and diverse as Greenpeace, ensuring that all communications are supporter-centric can be a challenge. I spoke to Mustafa Ozkulahci, Supporter Journeys Manager at Greenpeace International about how they ensure that supporter engagement is baked into all teams’ processes.

Mustafa, or Musti, helps to develop and roll-out strategies across all 26 Greenpeace offices worldwide. As you may have guessed from his job title, his focus is on supporter journeys. What makes supporter journeys a priority? …

Hi, I’m Anna Hessenbruch and I’m the Supporter Experience Strategist for the NSPCC. I also sit on the Supporter Experience Special Interest Group committee for the Institute of Fundraising, and chair the Supporter Experience Network for charity professionals.

I have created this blog to shine a light on how charities are improving supporter engagement, so that the rest of us can learn and take inspiration.

For those wondering, supporter experience is the same as customer experience (CX) but for people supporting a charity in some way. Put more eloquently by Giles Pegram,

“The supporter experience can be defined as the way a supporter thinks and feels about their interactions with a charity, both at a particular moment, and cumulatively over time.” …