As I revise my first e book, The Nonprofit Advertising Information, I’m updating the chapters with newer approaches that weren’t commonplace 10 years in the past after I initially wrote it. For instance, in the chapter about defining your goal communities, I spent quite a lot of time on personas. I’m leaving that content material in there, but in addition mentioning Empathy Maps and Journeys/Story Maps.
Empathy Maps are fast visualizations of what a persona thinks, feels, hears, and says in the course of the day. Journeys or Story Maps are visualizations of the touchpoints a persona goes via as they work together with a company over time. I’ve come throughout quite a lot of these currently as I’ve been taking part in round with Mural, a instrument for visible collaboration that I’m working into a lot of our coaching workshops.
A few of the journey maps I’ve seen are, to me, very far-fetched, nevertheless. A number of journey maps particularly created for donors embody phases the place a donor decides they care very a lot about a problem and intentionally units out to seek out the perfect nonprofit to donate to. They embody steps the place plenty of analysis and comparability purchasing are happening between the totally different charities earlier than the donor really make a well-considered donation.
I’m tremendous skeptical that this represents the vast majority of donor journeys in actuality.
Whereas donors have an interest in your effectiveness, that’s very arduous for donors to evaluate.
I imagine many if not most donors give as a result of they’re first uncovered to the group in a way: Promoting, unsolicited mail, a pal’s Fb feed, or understanding somebody who works on the charity for instance. Or they be taught of an issue in the information (like a pure catastrophe) and look to the varied lists that at all times come out about which teams are engaged on that downside.
Now, whether or not they carry on giving relies on quite a lot of elements. However in phrases of the brand new donor’s journey, I think there’s both a very good advertising piece, or some breaking information, or a human being in their lives that makes that first introduction. Donors independently deciding they wish to clear up an issue after which trying to find nonprofits engaged on it, and thoroughly evaluating these looks like a believable, however rare journey to me. I’m, in fact, completely satisfied to be confirmed flawed on this by any one in all my acquisition fundraising colleagues!
My level right here is to do your homework along with your precise supporters earlier than you attempt to create a persona, empathy map, or journey. These are very helpful instruments to get your workforce collaborating and on the identical web page after which to make strategic choices, however provided that they’re based mostly in actuality.
