Streamlining Donation Requests with SOPs, Automation, and ROI Tracking

My retainer client was being inundated with requests for product donations. This began to cause overwhelm and resentment.

Having had experience in fundraising and operations I was able to provide a strategy and system to alleviate future stress.

First, we got clear on the true Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

We determined that with each donation my client was spending at least 2 hours of time in addition to costs of the product, shipping, and marketing materials.

Second, we attempted to determine the ROI on these donations.

1️⃣ How was the donation item being marketed?
2️⃣ How many people would the product get in front of?
3️⃣ Were any sales coming from the donation?

Unfortunately my client wasn’t using any tracking so there was no way to tell.

We developed a 6 step process to streamline future requests:
1️⃣ Identified 3 causes that the client was passionate about
2️⃣ Decided what type of donations they would consider (online or in-person auctions, gift baskets, gift cards)
3️⃣ Developed a landing page that shared dates when donation requests were accepted, the annual budget for donations, and the targeted causes my client supports
4️⃣ Added a form link on the landing page automating the requests coming in
5️⃣ Crafted a template for any requests directing them to the landing page
6️⃣ Designed materials with a tracking code to indicate how many website visitors/customers came from the donation

By making a streamlined SOP for all future requests we were able to save my client from having to recreate responses to each inquiry.

Clear communication and automation relieves so much time and energy!

The client was able to feel good about their contributions and could gather actual data on how much time and money was spent, as well as what sales came from participating in fundraisers.

One of the most rewarding parts of my work is finding unexpected ways to save clients time and energy.

Want to see how we can work together to streamline your operations or branding?

Book a free consultation HERE!