Supporter Experience Stinky Fish: five barriers to improving supporter experience
At our recent summit, participants were asked to name their three biggest supporter experience challenges. Whilst there were some organisation specific problems, it was amazing how often the same five problems came up.
We’ve shared these below. In the coming weeks, we’ll blog about how you can solve them.
1. Culture
Perhaps the stinkiest of all the fish concerned organisational culture. There were complaints about ‘too many cooks’ and internal comms (especially with data teams – see next point).
People also wanted advice on how to get stakeholder buy-in and build trust. Silos and poor internal comms were also mentioned.
We’ll be sharing more on this subject, but you might like this blog on psychological safety as a starter.
2. Technology and systems
Complaints about websites, databases and technology all featured prominently. These are major causes of friction in the supporter experience.
Another challenge was around GDPR and making sure the right information is recorded on the CRM so you can improve experience.
3. Lack of resource
People are too busy on other things and so improving supporter engagement and experience is the thing that drops off the ‘to-do’ list.
Building the case for investment for supporter experience is crucial and something the collective will be blogging about soon.
4. Lack of insight
‘How do we know what experiences supporters want?’ asked one fundraiser. This reflected a feeling that people don’t understand what experiences are important to supporters and how they find out.
5. Lack of practical tools
The final theme was around a lack of tools to help people implement a better supporter experience. People wanted practical help with things like journey mapping, gathering feedback from supporters and improving their online experience.
Do these stinky fish sound familiar? Need help to overcome them?
Get in touch with the collective and we’ll listen to your issues and tailor a solution to help you.
PS. Want to know how to run your own Stinky Fish exercise? Lianne has produced this useful guide and downloadable template.