542. How It's Built: How to Create a Modern Donor Journey - Nicholas Kristock, Fleece and Thank You
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Overview
Meet Nicholas. He’s a former international soccer player turned serial entrepreneur and servant leader⚽ He’s found his passion in social impact work and is all about building businesses that tackle real-world problems. He founded and serves as the Executive Director of Fleece & Thank You, a nonprofit that provides psychosocial support and programs to children in the hospital. In this episode of "How It's Built," Nicholas shares how mapping donor journeys with intention has transformed their nonprofit🗺️ From listing all touchpoints to prioritizing a core welcome series, he walks us through practical steps to personalize the donor experience. Tune in to hear how you can adapt this modern framework for your org✨
💡Learn
The Impact + Case for Building Modern Donor Journey
The Playbook: 5-minute Fundraising Asks
Pro Tips + Lessons Learned
Today’s Guest
Nicholas Kristock, Founder + Executive Director, Fleece & Thank You and Founder + CEO, KindKatch
“What questions did I ask today?”
Episode Transcript
Download Full Episode Transcript Here
Episode Highlights
Nicholas’s story and journey to where he is today (3:40)
Fleece and Thank You's Donor Journey now and the impact of it (10:45)
How It’s Built: Modern Donor Journeys + The Playbook (15:45)
Pro tips + lessons learned (25:20
A powerful story of philanthropy in Nicholas’s life (28:15)
Nicholas’s One Good Thing: Ask more questions. Ask yourself, “What questions did I ask today?” (30:35)
How to connect with Nicholas (31:45)
Impactful Quotes
“We're always trying to drive the general gift, the interaction, or the unsubscribe. You either love us or you don't want anything to do with us. That's okay. We don't mind it if you unsubscribe, because we're always just trying to move you along and bring you to support more.” -Nicholas
"We're very intentional. Now, taking it from, who are we missing to why are we missing them?" -Nicholas
“We're on a boat, and we are sailing across the ocean. But there are multiple checkpoints on this ocean journey. And right now, we're just gonna get to checkpoint one.” -Nicholas
“What questions did I ask today?” -Nicholas
How it’s Built: Modern Donor Journey 👇
Practical Tips to Get Started:
Brainstorm and Map Journeys:
Gather your team to list all donor touchpoints
Define desired outcomes for each interaction
Plot the journey between touchpoints, noting overlaps and gaps - assuming someone might be in multiple journeys you want to make sure they get different communications across the board
Assess Tech Stack and Automation:
Review your current tech tools and their capabilities
Determine integration needs and automation potential
Estimate manual work vs. automated processes
Identify any additional software requirements and resource needs
Core 4 Donor Journeys You Need:
The non-donor welcome series
Always try to drive the gift, the unsubscribe, or more support
The first time donor welcome series
What would it look like if at the end of this experience someone will want to go to Google and leave a 5 star review because of their experience with us?
Set up crucial touchpoints
Within 7 days you’re getting a phone call from this organization
Text from the team thanking you
6 months later you get emails educating you more
6 months later we’re asking you to give another gift
The lapsed donor series
What do we do when someone doesn’t give another time?
Sustained Giving
Drive someone who has given multiple gifts to become a formal sustained giver and foster that relationship
Pro Tips:
Small Bite Strategy:
Leadership sets the expectations for the team that are realistic and move forward one check point at a time Breaks complex projects into manageable steps.
This strategy enables steady progress toward larger goals.
Call each donor
Gather a team of board members, key volunteers, and staff to assign weekly calls to based on their their availability and capacity
Fleece and Thank You has a “Donor Outreach SWAT Team”
Access their template here
Provide a standardized template for call notes to streamline the process and ensure consistency.
Share feedback from donor interactions to increase team engagement and strategic alignment.
CONNECT WITH Nicholas
Email / Website / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / LinkedIn / TikTok
Connect with Jon
Connect with Becky
CONNECT WITH WE ARE FOR GOOD
Join the We Are For Good Community
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