Marketing and fundraising can use data to personalize the donor/customer experience, which can have a positive impact on the relationships of an organization's efforts. However, the quality of this impact is only as strong as your data and the systems you have in place to manage them. Two examples follow...
Data personalization gone wrong occurred Friday when AT&T emailed my wife a happy birthday message and coupon. AT&T doesn't know that I manage both of our phone bills online w/ my email... so I don't fault them for emailing me the birthday message. I'll make sure she knows they cared enough to send their very best ;) However, take a look at the message, for context:
The issues:
- It came the day after my wife's birthday. Huge deal? No. But it makes AT&T look like they don't pay attention to the details. If AT&T has a system in place to send these out on Fridays (Maybe in hopes of weekend shopping use), they could simply change it to say "As our gift to you for your recent birthday..." or something similar. This error is one I probably would have overlooked, if not compounded by...
- The "Participating stores near you" lists two stores in Ann Arbor which were near us... When we lived in Ann Arbor. I updated my address with AT&T a couple of months ago. Hmm... I think someone's data systems are not talking to each other as well as they could.
These issues could just as well happened at a non-profit. In fact, I'm quite certain it happens more often at non-profits than places like AT&T. Why? Because the right and left hand are often failing to communicate at non-profits. Consider taking these actions:
- Have a clear data management policy. When updates come in, where do they go? Does everyone understand this?
- Make it easy for gift officers to email/share information. Can gift officers or volunteers send an email to updates@yourorg.org?
- Review marketing and solicitation communications for language like the birthday message above to make sure your automated systems are worded accurately.
On the flip side... My wife ordered some makeup from Sephora a couple days before her birthday via the website. Because she has an account with them via the website (that included her birthday information at sign-up), they prompted her as to whether or not she would like to include her birthday gift - which you normally receive when shopping at one of the brick & mortar stores - with the online order. And the receipt that came with the order even said "Happy birthday beautiful!" (Which honestly made me wonder if I had ordered it for her in her sleep or if she had actually sent herself a birthday message!).
All Beauty Insiders are eligible to receive a get-gorgeous birthday gift from Sephora. Your gift will be automatically included with any merchandise order placed at Sephora.com within 14 days of your birthday. To include the gift with your order, simply place a check in the box on the Beauty Insider page of the checkout process.
If you are within the correct timeframe, but you do not see the birthday gift as you are checking out, please call customer service at 877-SEPHORA before placing your order so that we can assist you further. If your birthday timeframe has passed for this year, rest assured, we will have another exciting gift next year. We regret that we are unable to send the birthday gift from Sephora.com without a merchandise order, and we thank you for your understanding.
If you prefer, you can also pick up your birthday gift at a Sephora retail store during the same timeframe. When picking up your birthday gift at one of our retail locations, please make sure to let our Cast Members know that you are a Beauty Insider by presenting your Beauty Insider Card or referencing your registered email address. No purchase is necessary to receive your gift at a Sephora store.
I never thought I would be bringing you my wife's birthday, AT&T or Sephora Through Non-Profit Eyes, but that's one of the reasons I blog ...to share best practice for non-profits from other media and industries!
For more on data management and its importance, see Supporting Advancement's Prospect & Donor Records page.
1 comment:
Interesting! Its truly amazing that AT&T would not have that kind of data updated after 2 months... I mean, I'm sure they don't have some kind of data entry backlog. How hard can it possibly be to have two different databases talk to each other?
http://businessforgoodnotevil.blogspot.com/
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