We help Hivos with marketing automation, online advertising and conversion optimization. For the latter, in addition to A/B testing, we also use feedback surveys to improve website and campaign performance. This allows us to collect not only quantitative but also qualitative input. In this case study, we take a deeper look at how we use these surveys.
But first, what kind of organization is Hivos? Hivos is a Dutch development cooperation organization based on humanist values. It works with local organizations to improve the social position of women, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. It also places strong emphasis on climate justice, civil rights, and freedom of expression. This important work is made possible thanks to the support of many donors in the Netherlands.
For Hivos, we use several different types of feedback surveys aimed at continuously improving the website and email campaigns. In addition, they are used to improve conversations held by street fundraisers. We have set up five continuously running surveys, as well as point-in-time surveys at specific moments.
In this article we cover the following survey types, with a bonus of five tips for better feedback surveys:
- Email newsletter feedback surveys
- Email newsletter reactivation surveys
- Website feedback surveys
- Online donation feedback surveys
- Street fundraising feedback surveys
- Five tips for better feedback surveys
"Insight helps us to efficiently collect continuous online feedback from our supporters. This allows us to better involve them in our work, improve our communication, and ensure that donors continue to support us for longer."
Jeroen van Aken
Head of Fundraising Hivos
Email newsletter feedback surveys
At the bottom of every email newsletter that is sent, the question appears: “How satisfied are you with the content of this newsletter?”. Recipients can start the survey by clicking one of five smileys, ranging from angry to very happy. And yes, this is called a smiley scale!
This first response is recorded immediately, followed by a question on how the content of the newsletters could be improved. To date, we have collected more than 500 responses from newsletter subscribers and implemented various improvements in email marketing campaigns.
Email newsletter reactivation surveys
If a recipient has not opened the last five newsletters, an automated email is sent via HubSpot with the subject “May we ask you something?” and preview text “We hope you’ll answer two short questions about the emails you receive from us.” The open rate of this email is 12.5%, and 26% of those who open it start the survey.
This survey has two goals:
- Collect feedback to improve the email newsletters.
- Trigger recipients who no longer open the newsletter to start reading it again. This is the reactivation part of these feedback survey emails.
This is a second way we collect feedback to improve email newsletter campaigns, but crucially this time from recipients who seem to have lost interest in the marketing emails. In this way, we both gather improvement points and re-engage recipients.
Website feedback surveys
In addition to email campaigns, we also use feedback surveys to improve the Hivos website. This is done via a feedback button on the right side of the website, where visitors can share their opinion (again using a smiley scale) and suggest improvements. With this survey, we can identify website issues we were not aware of but that visitors experience, as well as collect general improvement points.
We also notice that feedback is regularly submitted that is not strictly about the website, but about the Hivos brand in general, which we can use to improve the overall brand proposition.
Online donation feedback surveys
This is the second way we use feedback surveys to improve the website, this time via email. It is a transactional survey that gives us more insight into the online donation process.
After every online donation, a link to a survey is included in the confirmation email. This is used to understand how donors experience the donation process, what goes well, and what could be improved. This helps us optimize online donations, leading to more and higher donations.
Street fundraising feedback surveys
A great example of using an online channel to improve an offline campaign. After someone becomes a donor on the street, a confirmation email is sent in which the new donor is invited to complete a feedback survey. The following questions are included:
- How did you experience the conversation on the street?
- How can we improve our street conversations?
- Why did you decide to donate to Hivos?
This helps improve street fundraising campaigns, and as an added bonus, many positive responses come in that are shared with the fundraisers and within Hivos itself. This is highly motivating for all employees!
However, this survey does have a limitation: we cannot survey passersby who chose not to donate. Unfortunately, this means we do not collect negative feedback. Still, enough improvement points are gathered to make these surveys valuable.
Five tips for better feedback surveys
- Try different positions for surveys on your website: bottom-left, bottom-right, in a modal, embedded in a page, etc. This helps you discover which positions generate the most responses.
- A/B test the introduction of a survey to ensure as many people as possible start it.
- Avoid confirmation bias in your questions; instead, actively seek honest feedback, as this provides the most valuable insights.
- Get to the point! Use short surveys with sharp questions so that as many people as possible complete them.
- Ensure a strong call-to-action on the survey thank-you page, such as signing up for the newsletter or, in Hivos’ case, making a donation.
In my opinion, collecting feedback is valuable for every organization and essential for improving business results. After all, if you don’t know what is happening with your target audience, how can you serve them properly?
