Research reveals how people rate their charity digital experience

What do donors want? It’s a big consideration for charities that want their supporters to stay with them for the long haul. Are donors happy with their current encounters with your organisation? Or are you missing a golden opportunity to improve their experience and bring in even more support? 

But donors aren’t the only party charities need to be concerned with. Are charities delivering services well to their beneficiaries and are their volunteers happy? Charities run on support from people and keep them at the heart of everything they do.  

According to the Nonprofit Experience Index, conducted by software provider Salesforce.org, six in ten respondents have given to a nonprofit, volunteered and/or benefitted from charitable services in the first six months of 2021. 

The report asked more than 4,900 adults in seven countries (including Australia, the UK, and US) about their most recent interactions with nonprofits in 2021. It found that while nine in ten respondents say the organisation met or exceeded expectations, there is a disparity between the experience of beneficiaries and donors. 

Two in five beneficiaries say the charity that helped them exceeded expectations, but only one in five donors said the same, suggesting that charities need to do more both to engage supporters and communicate their impact. 

Indeed, one in six donors also told the report that they did not recall receiving a meaningful thank you message for their support. Only four in ten donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries overall said they received personalised communications – though the percentage was slightly higher in the UK at 45%.   

Donors also seem to be divided on how often they’d like to be communicated with, though they are united in choosing email as their preferred channel (except in France where telephone tops the list).  

Nearly one in five donors say they are asked too often for money but, confusingly, almost the same proportion (18%) would like to be asked to give more often. The same story is true for volunteers: 16% say they are asked too often to volunteer, but one quarter would like to be asked more.  

But it’s not all glum news – in fact, it’s really quite good. More than four in five donors said they would support the same organisation again in the future, including 84% of respondents from the UK. This was fairly consistent with the number of volunteers who said they would continue their support, too (81%).  

Overall, beneficiaries were satisfied with the services they received, with three in four saying the organisation keeps them informed and they can access relevant information on their smartphones.  However, satisfaction levels vary depending on the country.  

Of the seven countries surveyed, the UK ranked fourth in terms of satisfaction, behind Australia, Canada, and the United States. While the number of beneficiaries from Australia was half that of Germany, almost nine in ten were satisfied, compared to just 56% in the latter. 

This is just skimming the surface of what charities can do to refine their interaction with their audiences. With 36% of donors saying they would give more if it was easier to do so, the necessity of improving their experience is more than apparent.