- Do you touch a cord with your constituents?
- Do you encourage personality and creativity with your employees?
- Is your communication personal, without the veneer of the corporate lingo?
- Do you make decisions with the focus of improving the constituent experience?
Nonprofits that are loved by their constituents break down the barriers between corporate image and the needs of the constituent. One of the keys is the perception that the nonprofit met my needs. This is very personal. It requires an investment in simplifying the experience for the constituent.
It isn’t always easy to be real and transparent with your constituents. It may take some courage and guts. It is one thing to send an automated receipt to donor within 5 seconds after a transaction. It is another thing, the next day, to send a personal email (with a real email address) from the CEO and include a real phone number to call if they want to chat. It would be stunning to answer the phone if they call.
[…] Do you touch a cord with your constituents? […]
ReplyDeleteI have actually been told that we are too transparent by one of our constituent donors. Even though we are still transparent as always.
ReplyDeleteThe content on our website is very personal and written in that vain intentionally. However, i do not believe it is personal enough or perhaps maybe not in the proper way that constituents want to connect with or that causes them to connect with. I believe i could do much better at that.
All thank you communications in our org are almost always sent or called by me (Founder/CEO). Once in a great while i will ask our VP/Treasurer (Pat) to send an email and or call one for us. They always are from our emails and they always have our phone numbers.
I do not believe we strike a strong enough cord with constituents. After the exercise of going through this manifesto, i will be looking at that and will now be working on that more closely.
:-))!
May God Bless you Michael with success from the work you have placed into this manifesto.