Launching A Campaign with Globalfaces

In the beginning

It’s launch time!  You have a proposal; you’ve secured the necessary approvals and you are ready to launch your fundraising campaign. You’re excited to get started!  But what’s next?  Who in your organization needs to get on board?  Whose help do you need to execute the plan? 

This month we interviewed Ken Liao, VP of Technology at Globalfaces and spoke to him about what it takes to ready your organization for a fundraising campaign.  Whether you are launching a face-to-face, outbound telemarketing (telefundraising as we like to refer to it) or digital lead campaign, Ken has the answers to any questions you might have to ensure that you will have a successful launch.

Preparation for your campaign launch makes the act of fundraising a seamless process for your organization and the donor.  As the saying goes, “you don’t know, what you don’t know!”  In this interview, Ken will help shed some light on that.  Whether you are in fundraising or IT these tips will be invaluable to you.  

Collaboration.  Right from the start.

Q. Ken, let’s start with the basics.  What is the first thing you should do to ready your organization for a fundraising campaign?  

A. Good question!  Internal collaboration is key.  The process starts with a discovery meeting. The charity campaign manager facilitates a meeting between Globalfaces client service manager, the Globalfaces IT team lead and key stakeholders at their organization.  The meeting should include a member of their finance team, to set a budget and gain understanding of how those funds flows back to the charity.  It should also include an expert on their CRM platform and ideally, a CRM end user to ensure a seamless transfer of donor acquisitions.  These early conversations help to avoid long-term mis-steps and keep the campaign on target.  After all, the client is the one who ultimately manages the donor data and revenue when it comes into the organization. 

Q. What should the client do to best prepare for that meeting? 

A. I believe that, as part of the discovery process you should create a scorecard. A scorecard should include scenarios, probability and impact and will ensure focus and weight is placed on the right objectives.  It helps identify roadblocks to guide what the probability is that something is going to happen vs the outcome if it does occur.  This helps to level set expectations to determine what the potential impact is on the campaign if certain criteria are not met. Nice to have or need to have, a scorecard will help keep all parties aligned. (Examples of scenarios: what happens when payment method fails, what if the API fails). 

Q. What set-up do you recommend for the seamless transfer of donor information?  

A. We ‘talk’ directly with our client’s CRM (i.e. RE, Microsoft CRM, Luminate gateway, etc.).  By integrating directly, the donor information flows into their CRM in real-time, by-passing any manual efforts that can be prone to error.  We recommend using an Application Programming Interface (API) to connect directly into our client’s CRM.  This allows for the submission of donor information, gift amount and payment information, all in real-time.  We also receive an immediate response if payment is successful or denied.  

There are a number of benefits to using an API.  Our fundraisers are able to ask for an alternate payment method while they are still with the donor.  Additionally, it benefits the donor experience.  The client is able to send a welcome email to the new donor when the donation is processed, immediately thanking them for their gift and initiating the donor journey process.

Q. What if a charity doesn’t have an API?  How do we manage integration of the donor data in those cases? 

A. The good news is that there is always a work-around.  An alternative solution is to build a donor CSV file.  The donor data will not be received in real-time, but this process still allows for secure donor integration which is always top of mind.  Omatic is a good importing tool that ties nicely with Raisers Edge (RE), a common charity CRM.

Q.  What is the software development lifecycle, or in general terms how long does this process take? 

A. Typically 3 weeks, mapped out as follows: 

Week 1: Scoping Phase: the collaboration between Globalfaces and the client to map out the initial donor journey. This would include a request for the campaign code, appeal code, and if required, coding that would include the donation amount. At this time the charity provides API documentation and Globalfaces access to the API to determine method and sequencing.

Week 2: Development Phase: this is where Globalfaces developers will integrate and perform internal testing. 

Week 3: User acceptance testing (UAT): submit test donors in a live environment, charity to review and provide feedback.  All parties sign-off. 

Good to go!

It’s that easy!

Well, there you have it.  It’s that easy, especially when you bring everyone together right from the start! Our IT team at Globalfaces is there to walk you through every step, answer all your questions, which makes the transition seamless so you can start receiving monthly donors, the ultimate goal for both our client and us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kenneth Liao

Ken is our VP of Technology, an entrepreneurial IT executive with a proven track record in servicing clientele in broad areas of IT.  Ken ensure that projects are deliver efficiently and effectively and oversees overall IT operations for Globalfaces.