Fundraise Up powers digital fundraising for enterprise nonprofits. Developed with a donor-centric design and artificial intelligence, Fundraise Up provides a frictionless donation experience that makes it as simple to donate as it is to shop online. Their mission is to reimagine the way that people give, making it easy for donors to identify with the causes they care about and for nonprofits to connect with their donors to build long-term relationships. Because of this mission, the Fundraise Up team prioritizes customer support with prompt response times and thoughtful replies.
Challenge
Before Front, Fundraise Up was using a shared inbox in Gmail to manage customer support and communications. But it was hard for multiple teams within the company to work together on common problems. Also, because Gmail is built for individuals and not teamwork, it was tough to know for sure that support requests were fully handled. Fundraise Up needed a communication platform that enabled team inboxes with complete visibility and had features that streamlined collaboration.
Solution
Fundraise Up implemented Front with every team in the organization to improve their ability to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Justin Reisch, Director of Marketing at Fundraise Up, says that “Front has been a game-changer for us in the way we work internally. Having good communication is crucial in an industry where the sales cycle involves multiple touch points, and prompt customer support is crucial.”
Message routing and automated workflows empower faster response times
All of Fundraise Up’s teams use automated workflows to keep their inboxes organized and ensure that every message receives a timely reply. Reisch says, “The automated rules and tagging system make it easy to manage internal alerts, critical notifications, Google alerts, and internal routing between shared team-inboxes.” Additionally, Front’s built-in features make it easy for team members to see what messages need a reply and how long they’ve been waiting. With these capabilities, the team has been able to hit their target response time of seven minutes or less.
Streamlined collaboration speeds crucial customer support
Front’s been so good at boosting both individual efficiency and team collaboration that Fundraise Up has been able to exceed its customer satisfaction goals. Reisch explains, “The organizations we support often laud our attention to customer support, which is a real point of pride for us. It’s often a completely different level of support from what they’re used to, and I think a lot of that can be attributed to how Front keeps us organized.”
For example, when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in August of 2021, Hope for Haiti, a Fundraise Up customer, started getting an outpouring of donations for their assistance and emergency aid work. Those gifts were immediately flowing to aid workers on the ground with supplies. The resulting donation volume was so rapid and unprecedented that Fundraise Up’s payment-processing partner placed a temporary hold on the Hope for Haiti account. The Fundraise Up team moved quickly to coordinate with Hope for Haiti, looping in the success and support teams to spot the issue, work to whitelist the IP address, and prevent donation loss. Using Front, the Fundraise Up team was able to keep correspondence limited to a single point of contact for the customer and resolve the issue within an hour.
Personalization improves results
As you might expect, personalization is extremely important to Fundraise Up when communicating with customers and prospects. Reisch says, “People work in the nonprofit space because, above all else, they care about other people. Because of that empathic disposition, it’s imperative that our communications always come from a place of humanity and humility. The best way to do that is by having the right person communicate the right message at the right time. Front helps us achieve this by providing features that support organization, clarity, and internal accountability.”
Front makes work more enjoyable
When it comes to knocking down business goals, Front’s been a sledgehammer for Fundraise Up, but the team is finding that it makes their work more enjoyable as well. Reisch explains, “Front is intuitive and easy to use, and I like the playful elements it encourages, like the use of an emoji. For the team, it’s been a joy to have a product that just makes your life easier.”