The who, what, where, when and why of event support.
What are we talking about?
Supporting your participants! Yes, you need to give your event participants helpful tactical information on how they can raise more money and all that good stuff, but what if they’re having technical issues and cannot get into their participant center or need to reset their password? Charity Dynamics offers administrative and participant support for nonprofit organizations that have the occasional technical question. We resolve support cases through emails, phone and live chat.
Why is support for event participants important?
Many event participants have difficulty making donations online or setting up their “participant centers.” Providing technical support (when applicable) is at the utmost importance. If an event participant is trying to raise money for your organization’s cause, they better be able to do it – from a technical standpoint that is. If your participants are having a hard time accessing their participant center, they may not come back to fund raise for you again next year. Ensure your fundraisers have a good experience so they can raise more and will want to come back again next year. Sometimes, it can more cost effective for organizations to pay for contracted support, rather than to hire a full time staff. It’s a great option for organizations who run fundraising events for part of the year. The support team at Charity Dynamics can help your event participants resolve their issues in a timely & efficient manner.
Who is doing this extremely well?
The American Heart Association and Children’s Hospital Trust are prime examples of using the fore-front of technology. They have implemented live chat in their repertoire of customer support. Some participants do not want to take the time to call in, live chat offers a great alternative for these people. The American Heart Association and Children’s Hospital Trust both send a clear message to their constituents – their participation & donations are a priority. These organizations show this by offering every tool for technical support available.
Where should my organization start?
First your organization may need to decide if they want to contract out for support of if they want to do it in house. Then, after those logistics are set, deciding which channels of solution will be offered to participants is very important. When it comes down to it though, the key to offering great support is listening to the user. Usually, when someone contacts support they are already frustrated. Listen to their description of the problem and diagnose the root of the problem. Then walk them through the process of resolving their technical issue.
How can I learn more?
Convio has teaching modules on their support site, which is a great resource. Ensure that you have strong (and patient) leadership. At Charity Dynamics, Aleena is our Customer Support Supervisor and she is always willing to show our staff how to resolve more complicated cases. At the end of the day, I think people have to learn by experimenting with the software.