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Check Your Online Donor Journey

rachael@solutionfactors.com (Solution Factors) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:35:43 GMT

Check Your Online Donor Journey

The charities I help as a Marketing Consultant often want to increase their online fundraising. Usually, the charity’s cause-related messages are polished and the first 90% of the donor’s journey is slick…

...until it comes to the donation page. Here I usually see at least one blip in the donor journey. This might be caused by fundraising copy on the donation page, poor data collection ethics, or neglecting online security updates.

Check the fundraising copy on your donation page

Sometimes the fundraising copywriter stops writing copy before the end of the donor journey and the donation page is set up by someone with a different skill set. In these instances, one or more of these things usually happen.

Typos and other mistakes appear when the donation page is set up, which undermines donors’ faith in your charity’s competence. This is easily avoided by asking your fundraising copywriter to check your donation page.

Keep the tone of voice in your fundraising copy consistent

Sometimes you will notice a marked change in the tone of voice or the style of charity messages at the end of the donor journey. Again, this is usually because the charity’s fundraising copywriter didn’t write the text in or around the fields of your online donation form.

And this isn’t doesn’t just happen in small charities. While I was consulting for an established national charity, I checked their online donor journey. Their communications and fundraising team were excellent, but online donations had been low for many years. Was this a fundraising trend? No. The fundraising copy messaging swung from being donor-centric to overly demanding on:
• donation amounts and frequency
• the number of charity communication opt-ins

• the amount of data required before the donor could make a payment.

The tone of voice on the donation page changed to something less appealing while the cognitive load on the user increased. It took a fresh pair of eyes to spot this, but once I had read the content of the donation page aloud, the charity’s communications and fundraising team immediately understood how they could improve the content.

What does your donation page’s data collection ethics say about your charity?

Today, people guard their personal information and are often reluctant to enter it all in an online donation form. In terms of fundraising, collecting too much data means it takes longer for a prospective donor to make their first online donation on your website.

Admittedly, I’m normally impatient when making an online donation myself. Inefficient processes sometimes bring my donor journey to a premature end, as I might close the browser before completing it.

I’m always happy to provide my address for Gift Aid, but should charities be also asking for my various phone numbers and email addresses? I don’t mind giving one email address, but any more than that is too much (and doesn’t follow GDPR in terms of data minimisation).

Could you collect less data when somebody gives you their first donation? If you cut back on collecting information such as multiple telephone numbers, this might pave the way for finding out something that might be of more use such as how they heard of you. I’m a fan of collecting data little and often.

Is your online donor journey easy?

When I’m wearing my Charity Marketing Consultant hat, I always check how good a charity’s online fundraising is by quietly following the donor journey to the end. Often, the donor journey is easy, but sometimes it’s almost impossible.

Here’s my favourite example. I was trying to make an online charity donation as a memorial. As well as having to fill in too many unnecessary fields (against both my will and GDPR) and completing 14 captcha tests due to a fault on the website, I received various warnings because the online transaction facility had not been kept up to date. I called my bank, which confirmed that the charity had let its website’s donation pages fall too far below recommended security levels. In other words, they had not applied security updates.

Nobody in senior management, or the fundraising and communications team, was aware of this.

These are just a few real-world examples of the impact that mistakes can have on donor journeys. If you run a charity and would like me to check your donor journey, contact me .

Need help?

If you’d like a chat, please email info@solutionfactors.com and we’ll arrange a call.

Building and Managing Your Ideal Marketing Team

rachael@solutionfactors.com (Solution Factors) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:30:43 GMT

Building and Managing Your Ideal Marketing Team

Although the operational route to growth success in marketing and fundraising changes, human nature doesn’t. This has been the only constant throughout my career, which began at Zeneca, before it had a website, and when digital marketing wasn’t a ‘thing’. Google didn’t exist and the dial-up internet connection beeped and crackled. Attachments took hours to download (faxing was quicker), most emails were printed out and many directors had PAs.

Timeless secrets of successful marketing and fundraising teams

Joining a marketing team just before email and websites really took off has meant that I’ve worked through several waves of digital marketing and fundraising revolutions. Over the years, particularly as a communications and marketing consultant, I’ve helped a lot of businesses and charities build their marketing teams to increase their income.

Over this time, I’ve noticed some precious, timeless assets in in-house marketing departments of rapidly growing organisations.

The desirables and the expectations

There’s a sliding scale of what is desired and what is expected of marketing and fundraising departments. It broadly depends on the experience and expertise of the organisation’s leadership, and the accuracy of information that is fed into Board and senior management meetings.

If you’re a marketing or fundraising manager or director, you are responsible for ensuring that data is understood by all your immediate stakeholders, and that the difference between ‘expected’ and ‘aspirational’ results is made clear.

In management discussions, you need your colleagues to understand – and retain – substantial amounts of complex information. As we are all only human, it’s sensible to summarise the relevant section of your marketing or fundraising plan, along with your expectations and the desired outcomes, on a document that you can share.

Statistics fuelling assumptions

As a marketing and/or fundraising team leader, you are solely responsible for the level and the integrity of the data you present – and the interpretation you provide of this. Recording where and how statistics were sourced, and the calculations used, is vital.

You will need to provide a direct comparison in the future (e.g. year-on-year donations or sales), so make sure you have used a reporting method that you can easily repeat.

Although this sounds rudimentary, I frequently come across cases where this has been forgotten. If this is left unflagged, it would impact pivotal senior management decisions. Here are a few examples:

Unique and returning visitors : I’ve seen reports in which, over time, assumptions about uniqueness, perhaps with a pinch of wishful thinking, have been adopted as facts. In these instances, ‘visitors’ were labelled as ‘unique’, meaning first-time visitors. This has applied to both online visitors and physical visitors attending in-person events.

When you are presented with visitor data sets that will have a bearing on the decisions you make, it is vital to trace them back to source to confirm if the assumptions made are correct. In charities, this directly affects reports to major donors and business cases in funding applications. When marketing in any type of organisation, accuracy is essential for benchmarking, planning, then monitoring the success of each element of the plan.

Counting sales and donations, without monitoring leads : Yes, this still happens, particularly where data is siloed, meaning that two departments are keeping separate records rather than both updating a single system. If a marketing or fundraising team is generating and following up leads, but a second team wins the sale or completes the donation, and they aren’t sharing the same real-time CRM system or similar, there is room for error.

Conversion rates are the number of sales or donations divided by the total number of leads, multiplied by 100. These important figures help you to either save or make money. They indicate if campaigns are being noticed and if they are reaching the right individuals with the right messages or offers.

If leads are not counted and monitored through to closure, both growth and market share are lost to competitors. Without this data, incorrect assumptions are made about trends, which leads to poor decision-making.

The vision is the marketing and fundraising team’s eye-opener

Those in your fundraising and marketing team can either catch your vision, or fail to grasp it, and this is partly down to the person with the vision, and how they communicate their vision. Rule 1: write it down. Rule 2: be enthusiastic about it and talk about it – a lot. If members of fundraising and marketing teams can work together while living and breathing the vision, their enthusiasm and message will rub off on other staff.

Delivering strategic goals edges you towards your vision, so display it in a prominent place wh ere it can be seen by all staff.

Although I have witnessed a vision being transferred to the rest of the workforce in companies I have worked with, I cannot pretend this is my pearl of wisdom. One of the earliest clear references I’ve come across is by a visionary called Habakkuk and it can be found in the Bible. Referring to a vision, it advises: ‘Write it out in big block letters so it can be read on the run.’

Your ideal fundraising or marketing team

This section is about building and managing a marketing and fundraising team. It does not describe a recruitment process or management model; instead, it describes the frequently overlooked elements in between, which are as essential as cement is to building a strong, lasting wall.

Taking an interest in each other's background

It saves a lot of time in the long run if your fundraising and marketing team members can hear about each other’s professional experience. Knowing which colleague might be able to help with a problem reduces the time it takes to overcome a challenge, and mitigates risk.

Digital marketers need learning time

Some of the best digital marketing staff are self-educators who are so passionate about their craft, they work on their personal development at every opportunity. They are curiosity-led and competitive. They don’t wait for somebody to book them on a course starting in eight weeks’; instead they are on YouTube and asking questions in online communities.

Providing they are on schedule with planned tasks, I recommend letting them get on with their self-development. Just offer guidance from time to time to help keep them on track. This is an important part of managing a marketing team well.

If you are still wondering if you can allow staff time to develop new skills in cutting-edge technology, please ask yourself who in your team will identify and harness new marketing and fundraising using AI.

Talking vs typing

If you have the most effective real-time systems with which to run your operation, what could possibly go wrong? Honest discussions about avoiding or solving problems, or sticking points within your workflow, helps prevent overruns and delivery failures. These discussions often also reveal opportunities.

Unfortunately, working long hours means that marketers and fundraisers often resort to email rather than phone calls. Encourage quick conversations in person or on whatever platform you use within office hours.

Foreseeing and discussing problems and opportunities before they arrive, in an honest and transparent working environment, leads to a slick, agile marketing department. Ironically, this was routine practice when I started my career, because nobody in the company had been given an email address (yet).

Fundraising and marketing team ideals

Everyone in your team should aim to complete campaigns on schedule, so they are not delayed or left unfinished, so revenue and new opportunities don’t leak out of the end of each financial year. Each project on your plan should be delivered, on time, contributing to moving your organisation towards its strategic goals.

Thinking about the future

Time needs to be allocated to perfect and adopt the methodologies to make use of new opportunities. Unfortunately, this doesn’t currently appear in many workflow charts… And then there is AI, which is causing the next wave of change in marketing and fundraising.

Small steps

All these things are only achievable by a long series of small steps. Little by little, day by day you will make progress. Take heart: if you keep this up, in a few years you will look back and see that all the small steps have contributed to a mammoth achievements.

Building Momentum Through Business Vision

rachael@solutionfactors.com (Solution Factors) — Fri, 13 May 2022 09:39:19 GMT

Building Momentum Through Business Vision

As the business and charity landscape morphs into its new normal after two years of upheaval, many directors want to reinvigorate their business strategies and vision. As a marketing consultant and external marketing director, I’m frequently included in these discussions and thought it would be helpful to share some suggestions.

Lock on to your business vision

When you ask your management team to take the business forward, they must be able to imagine your vision of your business or charity. I believe that this is essential. It enables them to hone plans to follow the business strategy with pinpoint accuracy.

Consider allowing your team to immerse themselves in your vision for your business, and think about it, before discussing your business strategy. Ask them what they see in their mind’s eye. How do they think their department/function would run if the plan came to fruition?

Turning the business vision into momentum

There should be a clear line joining the business’s vision to its strategy to tactical plans, and finally to reporting on results. If your team can’t see your vision for themselves, where are they going to find job satisfaction and fulfilment when elements of your plans translate into results? In these circumstances, they could find it outside your organisation, which might lead to low morale and staff leaving.

I’ve been hands-on in progressing businesses and charities for more than 20 years in marketing, and I’m convinced that a leader’s passion for their organisation’s vision can result in a supportive environment for staff. Focus relayed from the top trickles down into goal- and task-oriented behaviours among colleagues, regardless of the size of your operation.

What happens in the absence of business momentum?

The short answer is, ‘things usually go wrong’. Here are some real-life examples to illustrate how this has played out in different types of organisation:

Company : A new technology product quickly became a market leader, and the business was sold. The new owners wanted more international success, didn’t have a vision, didn’t invest or actively promote their company or products. This meant they lost most of their customers to their competition. Staff morale was low and in-house product/customer knowledge was lost as staff left.
Charity : As with most charities, the vision was strong. However, the line that joins vision to strategic and tactical plans was too vague, so marketing activities were not refined enough or well targeted, which set internal standards lower than they should have been and compromised fundraising. Over time, this led to low staff morale, which affected their work ethic.
eBusiness : The company vision was unrealistic, so the organisation had run on enthusiasm and wishful thinking rather than true business momentum. In this instance, heavy investment had already taken place, so there had to be some return on investment.

I’ve been called in to help organisations in these scenarios many times – and I fear there are dozens more of in similar scenarios out there.

Examples of how business momentum impacts growth

Please don’t despair! I have a multitude of positive commercial and charity examples .

Company : After many years of technical investment, a technology company launched a new product. Its vision was clear and well defined, which reinforced strategic and tactical planning and translated into excellent PR and marketing results. The product won international acclaim and was adopted by large customers, who were more supportive than the company could have ever hoped for.
Charity : The charity had a clear vision: it set ambitious goals and communicated these to staff and volunteers. Since the charity had a small budget, those around management discussion tables were carefully selected based on their experience and contact sphere. Main sponsors were easily found, which led to plenty of ‘good news’ stories for staff, volunteers, their networks and the media.
eBusiness : Developing a new online service to offer a global industry, dominated by large international players, was tough. It took a handful of dedicated people to launch the service and develop its market. Years later the vision is largely fulfilled, but that small group has had the business momentum to continue developing the product to move with the times and turn heads.

Writing this blog has made me think about the good and the more difficult times in my marketing career, to eke out the secrets of success. Healthy leadership and work ethics are two of the characteristics that the many successful organisations I’ve worked with have in common. The cultures in these organisations have been built on honesty and solid teamwork.

Maintaining your business’s vision feeds business momentum and improves organisational efficiency, partly by reducing or eliminating off-target activities. I have often witnessed the benefits of holding a vision and using it as a filter to refine your business planning. If this is done well, it can motivate your staff and make them feel secure in the expectations placed upon them, which fuels your business momentum.

PR and Marketing: Peeping Out from Behind The Scenes

rachael@solutionfactors.com (Solution Factors) — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 16:18:53 GMT

I’ve spent more than 20 years providing PR and marketing services to companies and charities. Simon Badman, an associate, recently suggested that I write a blog post to explain how I help make success happen from behind the scenes. I’ve always got away with putting other people in the spotlight rather than myself. But now the time has come for me to step out and take a bow, to introduce my updated, redesigned website… It even includes my photo.

I unashamedly publicise my clients ’ successes using my PR and marketing services, over my own public profile.

Marketplaces are like theatres

Simon Badman , who designed and built this website, really made me think when he said the star of the play is often the set designer/builder. He likened set building to being a PR and marketing management consultant. Coincidentally, I worked in set design for a while when I was younger, and I can see the wisdom in his comment.

The only difference between a set designer/builder and a PR and Marketing Management Consultant is that I also find the audience members and draw them into each performance.

How do you attract your target audience?

First impressions count. As part of providing PR and marketing services, I often write copy for clients, such as websites , brochures , email campaigns, proposals and all manner of sales pitches. I also support people when they appear on TV or podcasts or speak on radio.

Your offering has to be relevant to your target audience, otherwise they won’t engage. It’s vital to use language that they can relate to and that radiates confidence in your product, service or cause.

What happens to your audience when the curtains open?

When the curtains open, your audience has confidence in your abilities – otherwise they wouldn’t be looking at the stage, eagerly anticipating your appearance. When lit up (by promotional campaigns), your set (your offering) needs to look better than those of all your competitors. Your set pitches for you before you say a word.

That’s how PR and marketing works: your brand, your strength and your appeal are pitched to your target audience.

If your PR and marketing material makes a strong impression, you will have your audience’s attention. When the lights go down and the performance starts, if the set is below par, you risk disappointing prospects, meaning they are less likely to become customers.

During the show, your PR and marketing stage set has to remain spotless and strong. If anything goes wrong, your audience could leave with a negative impression of you – an impression that will last.

The quality of the act

The quality of the act itself is down to the actors. Similarly, PR and marketing builds up your offering and positions it to stand out and compete. Post-sale delivery is down to your team. Your audience must walk away happy and contented after each transaction, if they are to return.

How does this translate into real-world PR and marketing?

I’m writing this blog because, over my years in the industry, I’ve met a steady stream of people who, have been unable to see their organisation through their customers’ – and prospective customers’ – eyes. It’s a little like directing a theatre production without having the opportunity to watch a rehearsal from the auditorium.

This is rarely down to naivety; I think it’s human nature. When I was employed full-time, in-house, heading up PR and marketing to grow a business, I had to work hard at maintaining a realistic an external perspective. You need an independent person , one without a vested interest or obligation, to help you and your colleagues achieve this.

There’s a measurable cost if you don’t have good, independent marketing experience onside.

What is the cost of not having an independent, experienced Marketing Management Consultant?

I’m going to use anonymous real-world examples to illustrate the value of an independent marketing expert.

Unfortunately, I’m sometimes asked by organisations to pick up the pieces when situations have gone wrong. I’ll use websites as an example, contrasting the costs to small and large organisations.

These costs could be avoided if an independent Marketing Management Consultant had been engaged to provide input to early budgeting and website design/build briefing decisions. Early engagement doesn’t dilute your decision-making; it simply ensures that you’re making properly informed decisions.

Start-up example: One start-up engaged a family friend as their website designer/builder. They accepted a quote to design a logo and design, then build, a website. Unfortunately, the website designer missed a series of deadlines, and it became apparent that an approval procedure was not in place. The experience and some of the skills needed to build this website were missing. The start-up pulled out of the project but the website designer/builder insisted on charging the full price.

Engaging somebody like myself early to manage this would have saved them up to £2,000. The start-up then asked me to step in and prevent this from happening again. I set a realistic budget for designing the start-up’s website, and I have talented suppliers to bring about simple, but highly effective, solutions in such circumstances.

Large example: A large organisation had formed a committee to temporarily revamp, rather than rebuild, its website. Managers had collectively started to believe that the work would cost them more than £40,000. They could not believe my guestimate of £20,000 for early budgeting purposes – until this had been verified by companies with the skill sets to bid for the project. A saving of

£20,000.

These scenarios show that not having enough in-house marketing knowledge and experience can cost companies dearly. And these are not isolated cases; I can think of a wealth of examples spanning more than 20 years of marketing and covering almost 200 companies.

Need help?

If you’d like a chat, please email info@solutionfactors.com and we’ll arrange a call.