Go To Market Planning: Feature Re-launch
In today's digital landscape, crowdfunding has become a vital tool for nonprofits to engage supporters and drive donations. Join me as I walk you through the process of crafting a GTM plan that aims to relaunch a Yelp-like nonprofit's crowdfunding feature into a powerful tool for increasing donations and engaging supporters.
Situation
GreatNonprofits (GNP), a leading nonprofit rating and reviews platform, allows users to donate to nonprofit charities directly through its website. The organization earns revenue by collecting a small transaction fee and encouraging users to leave a thank you "tip." Before the pandemic, GNP launched a crowdfunding feature aimed at increasing donations. However, the feature was unsuccessful, with low adoption rates, high abandonment, and minimal social shares. It failed to meet revenue goals and was used by only a small audience.
Task
As the Product and Engineering Manager at GNP, I was tasked with creating a plan for revitalizing the underperforming crowdfunding feature.
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Context Gathering | Planning & Executing the Launch | Redefining the Feature |
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Actions - Phase 1: Context Gathering
Research and Analysis
Reviewed all available documentation and spoke with team members who had worked on the original project to understand the initial vision, successes, and challenges.
Discovered that the feature had been built by contractors who faced difficulties integrating it into the legacy PHP5 site.
Identified issues such as poor visibility on the homepage, an unsearchable feature, and a non-descriptive name ("Personal Giving Campaign").
Noted that the feature was only usable by supporters, not the charities themselves, and was essentially a prototype rather than a minimum viable product (MVP).
Socialized market research findings highlighting the success of crowdfunding platforms which were profitable and growing with strong marketing support.
Discovered that the initial launch of GNP’s crowdfunding feature lacked marketing support, appearing in fewer than 10 email blasts and having no dedicated marketing plan.
Win/Loss Analysis
Invited users from various demographics to participate in user testing, gathering insights from potential donors.
Conducted a detailed code review and created a feature gap analysis, highlighting missing functionalities and user expectations for a successful crowdfunding platform.
Spoke with nonprofit practitioners to determine their interest in using the feature to host online fundraising campaigns.
Actions - Phase 2: Creating a Plan for Executing the Launch
Given my findings from the activities above, I suggested enhancing and re-launching the crowdfunding feature with proper marketing support.
Developed a comprehensive Go-to-Market (GTM) plan to support the relaunch, focusing on reintroducing the feature with enhanced functionality and robust marketing support.
Defined success metrics to measure the relaunch's performance and set realistic expectations for leadership.
Actions - Phase 3: Redefining the Feature
Engineering Plan Creation
As a precursor to the relaunch, I also suggested having the engineering team do the following:
Non-coding marketing staff relied heavily on engineering support to launch Monthly Giving Funds for natural disasters, social movements, and other causes. From a functional and technical requirement perspective, Monthly Giving Funds were nearly identical fundraising campaigns. These features should be merged to unblock internal staff and minimize recurring engineering requests.
Have the engineering team build out key functionality that had been described in the original design documents so that the feature could be relaunched as a true MVP.
Modernize the UI based on user research results and design best practices.
Create validation and smoke tests.
Addressing high-priority tech debt introduced by the initial project.
Create in-depth documentation of the new feature.
Ensure Google Analytics 4 is set up to track new crowdfunding actions.
Transaction (and Tip) Fee Structure Maturation
As previously mentioned, GNP earned revenue by allowing donors to leave a tip on top of their donation. Tips were used to support operating costs and were the only means of revenue to GNP other than direct contributions. My plan urged leadership to consider:
For Nonprofits: Introducing a monthly subscription fee for charities/ nonprofits wanting to use the GNP platform for fundraising campaigns. Over time, this could be further developed into a tiered subscription model offering premium features.
For Donors: Re-introduce the deprecated recurring donation functionality which would allow donors/ supporters to set up recurring donations to charities and causes they care about.
For Supporters: Fundraisers created by those supporting a cause or charity would encounter a tiered fee structure based on the amount of funds raised. Data modeling revealed that a 4% platform fee for all fundraising campaigns raising between $1 - $50K, and a 2% platform fee on amounts raised above $50K could increase operational revenue by 28%.
Results
Although the organization's leadership ultimately decided to shift focus towards improving SEO for the existing platform, the GTM plan demonstrated the potential impact of a well-supported crowdfunding feature. The plan served as a valuable learning experience and provided insights for future initiatives.
Lessons Learned and Future Considerations
Importance of Marketing Support: A successful feature launch requires a comprehensive marketing plan to raise awareness and drive adoption.
User-Centered Design: Involving users early in the process helps identify pain points and expectations, ensuring the product meets their needs.
Realistic Timelines: Setting achievable deadlines is crucial to delivering a polished MVP rather than a prototype.
Stakeholder Alignment: Continuous communication and alignment with leadership are vital to maintaining focus and securing necessary support.
Curious about the detailed Go-to-Market plan I created? Check out the complete GTM strategy presentation deck here.
Note: The information provided in this case study has been carefully revised to ensure the confidentiality of the organization and its stakeholders. Any specific details that could potentially identify individuals or sensitive internal processes have been omitted or generalized. The content has been adapted to focus on the project outcomes and methodologies while respecting the privacy and confidentiality agreements in place.
