Shoutout

I'm Syntex, and today we're going to dive deep into a specific tool that, really takes donor retention from just a goal on a spreadsheet to something you can do every single day efficiently.

And on Query. Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready to help connect those dots, you know, between the tech in our platform and what actually works today in a high impact fundraising strategy.

Welcome everyone to this edition of Beat Behind Each and Every Product. We're covering the latest products and features right here in our platform at Click and Pledge.

So our mission here is the Click and Pledge team. It's really simple. We want to help you be truly effective fundraisers. Yeah. And the reality is, you know, the cost of information, well, it's basically approaching zero now with AI.

Everybody can get data, everyone can send out those emails that look personalized but maybe aren't.

Right. So the conversation has to shift, doesn't it? Totally.

It's no longer just about what data you have. It's really about how you use that data to build genuinely better, more meaningful relationships with your donors.

Okay, let's unpack that then. Let's talk about the solution we've actually built for that exact problem. Today we are diving into a really powerful tool. It's designed specifically for that personalization and donor retention. We are talking about Shoutout, that's the video thank you feature that lives right inside our mobile tool, the Swiper ONE app.

Yeah, it's kind of about using technology to inject that that human touch back into the donor journey.

Absolutely. So let's start with the why. The big picture strategy. I mean, every fundraiser knows this dilemma, right? Nothing beats thanking donors personally.

But realistically, who has the time or the money to take every single donor out for coffee or lunch?

Exactly. I mean that in person thank you, it just doesn't scale, does it?

Not at all.

And that's where, video really comes into its own. Think about it. When a donor gets an email, okay, they read text, but they get a shout out video. They see a face. They hear a genuine voice, maybe some real emotion.

They feel the, the effort you put in.

That perceived effort. Yeah. That's gotta be huge for attention.

It is. It's crucial. So we really recommend thinking of this, not just as like a receipt for their donation. It's immediate personal feedback. It validates their action, their generosity.

So it turns that high touch stewardship thing, which usually takes ages, into something scalable and high impact.

That's the goal. Yeah. But is there actual data behind using video? I mean, why is it better than just a really well written personalized email?

Yeah. Good question.

Definitely. The, the measurable bit here is really around engagement and, recall. How much they remember it. Now we don't share specific client numbers obviously, but what we see across the board industry wide is that gratitude delivered by video. It just sticks in people's minds more.

It has a higher emotional impact compared to just static text.

That's okay.

You're basically creating this unique little thing, this asset that maybe they even share. And, you know, we really suggest using ShoutOut strategically. Think about, first time donors.

Oh, yeah. That's critical.

Right. That first interaction often decides if they stick around, they become a loyal supporter down the line, a personalized video right at the start, that can make a huge difference.

That makes a lot of sense. So we're tackling the time and money problem but delivering maximum personal impact all through the phone in your pocket.

Exactly. And that efficiency, that's baked right into the process. Let's talk about the actual workflow, how it works. Think of Swiper One, the mobile app, as like your camera crew out in the field. Okay.

And then Connect, our main platform that's more like the, the editing suite in the distribution center.

Right. So if I'm, you know, the fundraiser, I'm running around, maybe I'm at an event, how easy is it to actually send one of these thank yous?

It's designed to be incredibly fast. You, you open up Swiper One, navigate to the shout out section, and the key thing here, the way we designed it, is the app immediately shows you your recent transactions.

Oh nice. So no digging around.

No digging. You're not searching databases you just see the date, the donor's name, the amount they gave it's all queued up ready for you.

So if I see Jane Smith donated $50 just five minutes ago I just tap her name and the camera's ready.

Precisely. You tap the name linked to that transaction and boom you can start recording your personalized message right then and there.

That immediacy. Yeah that really shows you care doesn't

it? It's a huge factor.

Okay so I've recorded my heartfelt, you know, thanks, Jane message. What happens next in the app?

Right. So after recording, you give the video a quick name. Something searchable, maybe like Jane S. Thank you. May 24.

Makes sense.

Yeah. Okay.

And then you assign a category. It's either generic, maybe something you could reuse or personalized. Once you hit submit, Swiper One uses that transaction info. It already had the donor's name and crucially the correct email address to send it off.

Okay. And I like that the system handles the who does this go to part automatically. Now the email itself, the one that has the link to watch the video, the organization writes that. Correct? And it mentions the donation amount right there at the video link.

Yes. Exactly. You compose the template for that email. And yeah, mentioning the amount connects the thank you directly back to their specific gift. It keeps that immediate link strong.

Okay, good. Now let's, let's switch gears a bit. We've talked about doing it on the fly with the mobile app. What about the back The branding, the, you know, the technical stuff that lives in Connect, right? Our main platform.

Correct. While Swiper One is great for the quick capture, we wanted organizations to have full control over how these messages look and get delivered. So all those centralized settings, they're in connect. You go to fundraising, then the shout out section, and specifically into shout out settings.

Got it. So what are the key things we need to customize there to make sure it, you know, looks like it's coming from us?

Good question. You control the from name. Definitely want your organization's name there. Nice and clear. You also control the sent from email address.

Now for the technical sending part, we actually recommend using something like do not reply at clickandpledge.ccc just for deliverability, but critically you set the reply to email. So if a donor does hit reply,

it goes to a real person.

Exactly. It goes to a monitored inbox. You can also set an internal recipient. Maybe your development director wants a copy of every thank you confirmation that goes out.

Okay. That covers the sort of compliance and branding side. What about the email message itself? The template? Are we stuck with just one version?

Oh definitely not. The subject line, the email body, they have wildcards. You know little codes.

Like for the donor's name.

Donor name, donation amount, things like that can be pulled in automatically. We give you a default message to start with, but yeah, we strongly recommend customizing it. Yeah. Put your organization's voice in there. And here's a neat bit of flexibility.

Even though you set that main template in Connect, you can still tweak the message inside Swiper one right before you send a specific video. Maybe add a quick personal note just for that donor.

Oh, that's really useful. Okay. Speaking of workflow and who does what, let's talk scaling and maybe delegation. Say I've got an intern or maybe a volunteer who's just fantastic on camera, great with social media stuff. Right.

But I really don't want them having access to our entire financial system in Connect. Sounds like a recipe for disaster or at least a headache.

Yeah. No. It doesn't help to be. That's exactly why we built in really granular user controls. You might absolutely want someone dedicated just to doing these thank you videos.

It's a high touch important job.

So can we actually limit their access so they only get into the mobile video part?

Yes, you can. The way we suggest setting this up is, you go into connect, go to settings, then users, then profiles. You create a brand new profile and the key is you give that profile only access to Swiper One, nothing else. Then you assign that specific restricted profile to your video person, intern, volunteer, staff member, whoever. They can log in to Swiper One, record and send those amazing shout outs, but they can't get into the wider donor data or financials in Connect.

And I guess you could enable or disable that user easily too. Right? Maybe they only do it on Fridays or something.

Exactly. It turns delegation from something risky into a really controlled, scalable process.

That's, that's the power of having the mobile app and the big platform talking to each other properly. Actually, but let's flip this around. Most of what we said starts on the phone. What if I'm sitting at my desk, I'm in Connect, looking at a big donation that just came in and I think, this person deserves a video. Thank you.

Like right now. Can start it from my computer?

Yep. We built that initiation pathway into. It still involves the phone for recording, but you can kick it off from the desktop. So if you're in Connect, you'd go to the transaction section, find the donation, click the order number, and you'll see a blue button there that says new shout out.

Okay. And when I click that, what happens? Can I pick an old video?

You have two options. Option one, yeah, you could choose an existing recording from your library, maybe that generic one. Option two, if you want to record a fresh personalized one right then, you click the new recording box and that opens up a QR code on your desktop screen.

A QR code. Okay. So then I grab my phone, open Swiper one.

Scan the code. Right. And the app instantly knows which transaction, which donor this new recording is for.

Okay. Hold on though. Just playing devil's advocate. If I'm already at my computer, why do I need to scan a QR code with my phone just to record the video? Isn't that a bit, I don't know, clunky, an extra step?

Yeah. That's a fair question. It might seem like an extra step, but it's a deliberate design choice. It really comes down to two things, security and hardware. First, security.

It makes sure the video is being recorded using the authenticated Swiper One app that's linked to your organization's account.

Okay. That makes sense.

Second, and probably more important, is the hardware. It guarantees you're using a mobile device which has a decent camera, a decent microphone. Right? We want these to look and sound good. So the mobile app, Swiper One, is always where the actual recording happens, even if you start the process from your desktop.

Got it. So the phone is the designated tool for capturing that personal touch, no matter where you initiate it from. That distinction makes sense. Now what if I don't want to record live? Maybe maybe our CEO recorded a really nice generic thank you message for say all our monthly donors.

It's an m p four file sitting on my computer.

Yeah. Absolutely. You've got that flexibility too. You can upload existing media files. We support common formats like m p three for audio, m p four, m o v for video.

You just upload them from your mobile phone right into your shout out library within Swiper One.

Ah, okay. So they live in the apps library.

Right. And once they're stored there, prerecorded maybe higher production value files, they can be selected and sent just like a freshly recorded shout out. Perfect for, yeah, standardized acknowledgements or maybe messages tied to a specific campaign.

That's good flexibility. Okay. This brings us to maybe the most strategic part of this whole thing, data management. If we're going to the effort of creating these really personal videos

No.

We absolutely need to track that. Right? That personal touch needs to be logged somewhere in the donor's record.

Precisely. You said it. Yeah. If it isn't tracked, it basically didn't happen. Mhmm.

Especially when you're talking about managing relationships like with major donors.

Mhmm.

This kind of communication, it has to be part of your overall CRM strategy. Otherwise, what's the point?

So how do we make sure that, you know, the fact that Jane Smith got that personalized video, thank you, how does that get recorded alongside her gift information?

So what we recommend is adding the shout out logs, the record of sent videos as a related list, you know, like a section

Mhmm.

On both the contact record layout and the opportunity layout in your system, whether that's Connect or Salesforce.

Okay. Why both? Contact and opportunity.

Well, tracking it against the contact gives you that long term historical view. You see all the stewardship touches for that person over time. But tracking it against the opportunity, meaning like the specific fundraising goal or project they gave to that, that's crucial too. It directly ties that relationship building activity, the shout out, to the success of that particular fundraising effort.

Ah, I see. So it helps prove the value of doing this personal stuff. It shows how it impacts the bottom line, the fundraising goal.

Exactly. It provides measurable data. It shows how relationship building contributes to closing gifts to achieving those goals, which let's face it, is really important today with all the the generic AI driven stuff flooding everyone's inboxes.

Yeah, it's the necessary counterpoint, isn't it?

It really is. When information is basically free, that genuine human connection becomes invaluable and tracking that connection is just paramount.

Absolutely. Okay. So let's try and wrap up this deep dive then. The bottom line is Shoutout makes that personalized video based donor gratitude efficient. It makes it scalable and maybe most importantly it makes it trackable.

It turns that vital relationship management task into a really high impact feature you can use right from the palm of your hand.

Well said. And just to be absolutely clear here, we want everyone to know this feature. Shout out. It is completely free. It's included for all Click and Pledge accounts as part of the Click and Pledge fundraising command center.

No extra cost.

That's fantastic. So for more information about Shoutout or really any of the Click and Pledge products, make sure you visit clickandpledge.com. You can request a one on one training session or a demo there. And that's whether you're already a client or maybe you're curious about the platform. Just reach out, ask us, and we'll gladly get together with you for a chat.

Definitely. Talk to you all soon in our next episode of Beep, where we'll take another deep take into all things Click and Pledge.