Improving Supporter Experience: The Heart of Supporter Journeys and Thanking
At Woods Valldata, we believe that improving the supporter experience is at the heart of successful fundraising. It’s not just about raising money—it’s about building genuine relationships, fostering loyalty, and helping supporters feel valued at every step of their journey. When we get this right, we don’t just increase lifetime value; we lay the foundations for legacy giving and gifts in wills, ensuring our causes thrive for generations to come.
Why Supporter Experience Matters
The Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Supporter Experience Group page explains, “If, as fundraisers, we only focus on the money, we will damage the relationship with the supporter. But if we focus on giving supporters a great experience, then the money will follow.”
This philosophy was echoed throughout the Woods Valldata webinar, Supporter Journeys and Thanking, where sector experts discussed how supporter journeys and thanking are central to driving better relationships and loyalty.
Chris Allum, Head of Fundraising Products at Guide Dogs shared, “Having an effective supporter journey is really critical for us to maximise the return we get from donors… If our donor retention is really good, our average gift is really good.”
Driving Loyalty and Legacy
Improving supporter experience isn’t just about today’s donations—it’s about nurturing loyalty that leads to gifts in wills and legacy giving. As CAF points out on their charity resources pages, “A donor who has a positive experience when supporting a charity is more likely to continue giving than those donors who don’t. Happy donors quickly become one of the most valuable assets a charity can have.”
In additional to this, UK Fundraising reports increasing supporter loyalty just a little bit can lead to 9% more people intending to leave a legacy. By investing in supporter journeys and thanking, you’re investing in the future of your cause.
So, how can supporter journeys improve our approach to supporter experience?
1. The Power of Thanking
Thanking isn’t just a courtesy—it’s a strategic tool for building loyalty. As Chris noted in the webinar, “Four out of five people who give say that a beautifully crafted acknowledgement letter is all it takes to want to give again.”
At Woods Valldata, we make thanking simple and impactful. Our SmartThank solution is an automated, flexible thanking service offering hundreds of variable text options, so every supporter feels personally appreciated. Whether you’re running large-scale programmes or are a smaller charity, SmartThank ensures your supporters receive timely, relevant thanks—driving engagement and repeat giving.
Whether you’re managing your charity response handling in house or outsourcing to a fundraising services company like Woods Valldata, ensure your thanking is the first stop on your supporter journey development.
2. Personalised Journeys for Every Supporter
Supporter journeys are about meeting people where they are, with the right message, at the right time, through the right channel. Jessica Hosseiny, Head of Retention and Development from Shelter explained in the webinar, “We’re really looking at collaborative working across Shelter, wanting to make sure our key message is consistent, and that we’re meeting people where they are on their journey. It’s about clarity, relevance, and being person-centred.”
Remember to use the data you have available to personalise your communications: the message, the timing and the channel.
3. Consistency is Key
Your supporter experience lies in consistency. Your supporters need to build a relationship with your charity brand. It’s likely that in supporting your charity they’re already some-way invested in your cause – whether your work reflects their values and beliefs, or whether they have a personal connection to your cause. Every interaction with you therefore needs to reinforce the reason they are supporting you and how their support is helping you make a difference.
It's not just about the ask. It’s at every touchpoint. It’s not only about the message you use. It’s about how you show you care for them as a supporter.
So take the time to create content they care about. Think about who wants to know about which elements of your work. And when they do interact with you, make sure your response is not only relevant and personal, but also timely. Receiving a thank you for a donation 3 weeks after it was given does not show a supporter you care. Receiving a thank you immediately does.
Take action: Transform Your Supporter Experience
Ready to improve your supporter experience and drive better relationships, loyalty, and legacy giving?
Contact the friendly team at Woods Valldata today to find out how our Response Handling services (including ResponseGo for smaller charities, and SmartThank taking the complexity out of personalised thanking) can help.
And don’t forget to watch our Supporter Journeys & Thanking webinar on demand for more insights and practical tips.
