Many of our clients are, rightly, caught up in their day-to-day focus on mission and their role. This can make it hard to carve out time to innovate or query aspects of an established strategy. That’s where cross-team workshops come in, offering a refreshing change of pace and a wealth of unexpected benefits.
In the last 3 months we’ve facilitated several journey-mapping and supporter experience workshops for fundraising, senior management and marketing teams across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. As part of our wash-up process after each client engagement we were sharing insights about these sessions. What we discovered might surprise you, or chime with your own experiences. One or two of them could even help your charity’s approach to collaboration, supporter nurture and change.
The power of face-to-face interactions
We can probably all remember the days of in-person meetings on Mondays and Fridays as well as the other three days of the week. Well, we’re getting back to hosting and attending more in-person meet-ups, for good reason. Yes, there’s something special about Miro. But there is something significantly more magical about getting representatives from diverse teams, such as digital experience, IG, retention, IT and community fundraising, into the same room.
Workshops provide a unique opportunity for different departments to truly understand each other’s audiences, propositions, capabilities and limitations. It’s amazing how often we’re introducing people to each other despite working for the same organisation. Or hearing, “Wait, you can do that?” or “I had no idea you were struggling with that!” Newfound connections and empathy can break down silos and foster collaboration.
Dissecting supporter interactions: where the magic happens
One of the most enlightening aspects of workshops is the opportunity to dive deeply into, or be challenged about, even the smallest facet of a supporter experience or an audience trait. It’s like putting them under a microscope. It can reveal a world of hidden gems and opportunities. Almost all exchanges can be broken down and explored, be it a donation process, emails, social media ads, or an on-event participant experience. We uncovered surprising friction points, gaps or contradictions that have quietly frustrated supporters for ages. It’s not all doom and gloom!
This process also highlights moments that matter. Flashes of delight which create memories, reinforce your mission and nurture lifelong loyalty. Perhaps it’s a personalised thank you card. A shout out on social to thank them for their volunteering. A mindful follow-up phone call to check in on someone’s training for a marathon. Reaching out at a key time of the year when a supporter is remembering someone special to them. Simple, human actions which recognise supporters can make them feel truly valued; it’s often little things (or a speedy, authentic apology) that make the biggest impact.
Finding hidden capabilities
An exciting by-product of workshops is the chance discovery of hidden talent or desires to learn and grow within your organisation. Perhaps there’s a DM whiz in your IG / RG team who’s been itching to flex their machine learning muscle. Or a data analyst in IT who has a huge following on social and is a natural at making great reels / YouTube shorts. How about the regular runner or cyclist in the Finance team who could be a training lead for your next virtual challenge? Bringing diverse teams together creates a forum within which to spotlight people’s untapped potential.
An ode to Post-it notes
We mentioned our adoration for Miro earlier. Many hat-tips to the platform that literally saved workshoppery during COVID. However awesome things are in this age of digital everything, there’s something oddly satisfying about the tactile experience of scribbling on a Post-it note. Ensuring your handwriting is illegible in case your idea is crap. Getting Sharpie pen ink all over the boardroom table / walls / carpet. Slapping armfuls of notes all over the place.
This interactive analogue approach to brainstorming and problem-solving can lead to unexpected breakthroughs. We’ve seen events, appeals and strategies re-imagined thanks to just one, two or three well-written and elegantly stuck notes, triggering a moment of collective inspiration.
Bridging a continuing COVID-era chasm
We’re seeing a shift from Facebook challenges back to a mix of physical, virtual and hybrid events. This uncovers milestones in a participant’s journey when high-touch support can measurably lift fundraiser activation and performance. Discussing supporter feedback surveys, meeting participants and workshopping with multiple agencies to enhance key propositions all unleash sparkling insights.
The deprecation of Facebook Fundraising tools in the EU led to a wholesale return to the ‘old days’ of online peer-to-peer platforms. In most cases clients can now combine triggered and timed emails, SMS comms, customised fully branded sites and personalisation for their participants. This ‘old school’ way of working is showing great results and offers additional opportunities for engagement. We’re still recommending clients use both Facebook and online tools when they can, but all these bells and whistles require cross-team coordination. Workshops provide a perfect space to address evolving needs and ensure your cause is equipped to support all types of fundraisers.
Some recent unexpected outcomes
Here’s where things get spicy. Workshops have led to surprising insights with far-reaching impact:
An accidental innovation lab: what started as a journey-mapping exercise evolved into shaping a new fundraising concept by allowing different teams to bounce ideas off each other.
- A great equaliser: Post-its surfaced extremely valuable feedback from the ‘shop floor’ of which senior attendees were unaware. Fresh ideas from volunteers and a young supporter sat alongside notes from the CEO creating a more inclusive problem-solving vibe.
- A therapeutic session: in the middle of seeking to tackle a massive problem, part of the interaction became an impromptu mentoring session. Having set inclusive ground rules and Chatham House restrictions on the topic being discussed, attendees were able to voice frustrations, celebrate recent wins, empathise about colleagues who were under pressure and reconnect with their shared purpose.
- A time to challenge metrics: a discussion about an event’s participant experience revealed confusion and holes in the basic metrics being tracked. The outcome was an overhauled collection of actionable KPIs in place of ineffective vanity metrics.
We’re sure there are a further 20 fabulous benefits to write up. However, you’re already sleepy and the night is drawing in here. While the primary goal of a workshop may be to enhance supporter experiences, define audience personas or map donor journeys, there is frequently massive additional value to be gained too.
Next time you’re mulling over some Miro mayhem, consider the possible wins which you might achieve from hosting a hybrid or face to face, cross-team workshop.
Who knows, you might get to scrawl on a billion Post-it notes, role play an irate supporter and have a ton of fun along the way!