“At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, JDRF worked in partnership with QTS to run a thank you campaign for our supporters. Needless to say, so much has changed since then, but one thing that remains a constant is the power of saying thank you.
We are the type 1 diabetes charity. We rely on the generosity of our supporters to fund medical research and support people affected by type 1 diabetes today. We simply wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our wonderful supporters.
Many of our supporters live with type 1 themselves or support a loved one living with the condition. When the pandemic hit we knew that, for some people, this would add to what was already an uncertain time. So, we wanted to proactively reach out to our supporters.
Having worked with QTS for a number of years, we know our supporters love talking to QTS staff. QTS are always warm, friendly and engaging and feel like an extension of the JDRF family rather than a telemarketing agency. They never put our supporters under any pressure to donate and the calls aren’t sales-y, so we were confident that QTS were best placed to deliver our campaign.
The aim of our campaign was to check in with our regular givers. We wanted to show them that we were here for them, thank them for their continued support and offer them the option to cancel or put their regular gift on hold, should they wish. There was no ask attached, but this wasn’t ‘just’ an administrative call. This was much more than that. We firmly believe in two-way supporter relationships and that our supporters are at the heart of everything we do. So we wanted to reassure our supporters as best as we could and offer them support should they need it, for example by answering their questions or directing them to our online Covid-19 information page.
The campaign reinforced our belief that thank you calls are worth it! These campaigns are our chance to show supporters how much we appreciate them and to get to know them better. The best thing about the campaign was seeing how delighted some of our supporters were to receive the call and what it meant to them. We listened to call recordings where supporters happily chatted away with QTS staff. And it’s fair to say we couldn’t have done better ourselves! We’ve always been impressed with the warmth and friendliness that QTS display when talking to our supporters, but it was something else to see this during such uncertain times.
But don’t just take my word for it! Some supporters were so impressed they increased their regular gift without being asked to and some took the time to contact us directly to share their feedback. Here are a couple of examples:
I was contacted by a lovely lady today simply to ask how I was. It was a lovely phone call to receive. I thought it would be the usual – asking for more money – but no, just a simple hello and a friendly chat. Thank you JDRF. Please can you let me know how I increase my monthly contribution? Many thanks, keep up the good work, and most importantly stay safe x
I was delighted to receive a call enquiring how I was managing during the current lockdown. Happily, I am doing well and have the support of my husband.
Would we run another thank you campaign in future? Absolutely! Our supporters need to know just how amazing they are and just how much we appreciate what they do for us. Thank you campaigns are here to stay.”
We’d like to say a great big THANK YOU! to Saira Rahim, Individual Giving Manager at JDRF for writing for our blog this month.
