TL;DR
- Platform reliability upgrades across workflows, imports, and matching.
- Dependable receipting with duplicate safeguards and faster PDFs.
- Faster support from more customer support staff and the new AI chatbot, Remy.
- Proactive communication and monitoring aimed at catching issues early.
- Ongoing product work on: queries, dashboards, and reporting.
From November (or earlier) through January, fundraising teams are processing donations, sending receipts, tending donor relationships, and getting ready for year-end. Wondering whether your software will hold up shouldn’t be on that list.
Over the past nine months, the Virtuous customer experience and engineering teams have focused on platform reliability and customer support, so nonprofits can count on their tools during the busiest months.
We sat down with Willow Moellering, Chief Customer Officer at Virtuous, and Tim Choate, VP of Engineering, to hear what their teams have been working on and what customers can expect this giving season.
You can watch our interview with them here:
Our Main Goal: Let Fundraisers Focus on Fundraising
We asked Willow what nonprofits need most from Virtuous during giving season.
Her answer? They shouldn’t have to think about Virtuous at all.
“Your software should do everything you need it to do so you can spend time doing the real important things, spending time with your donors.” – Willow Moellering, Chief Customer Officer at Virtuous
For Willow and Tim, that has been the shared goal for the last nine months.
To Willow, reliable software shows up in daily work:
- A major gift officer can pull up donor information when they need it.
- Birthday emails keep going out in November.
- Every GivingTuesday donor can be thanked.
- Receipts go out looking the way they should.
And Willow sees that reliability running until the last receipt is out the door, hopefully in January.
Here are the five areas their teams focused on to get orgs like yours bulletproof for end-of-year giving season.
5 Ways Virtuous Is Preparing to Support You This Giving Season
1. Strengthening Platform Reliability for Giving Season
Throughout the year, the Virtuous engineering team has been reviewing data from the previous giving season to identify areas for improvement.
According to Tim, three priorities have guided that work:
- Workflow reliability: Improving the dependability of workflows nonprofits rely on.
- Import performance: Strengthening how data is imported into the platform.
- Data matching: Improving the process of getting clean data into the system.
The engineering team has also made changes to how software updates are released.
Rather than relying on larger, less frequent releases, the team has introduced smaller, more frequent updates, sometimes daily or multiple times a day.
While more frequent releases might sound counterintuitive during a season when stability is especially important, Tim explained that making smaller changes helps maintain platform stability.
These improvements have been part of an ongoing effort throughout the year, informed by data and feedback from the previous giving season.
2. Making Donation Receipting More Dependable
Tim called receipting critical for donors and nonprofits. It’s a way for nonprofits to connect with those donors and show how they’ve impacted the organization.
Tim pointed to two areas of work. Feedback from the last giving season and throughout the year shaped the first.
Additional Safeguards Against Duplicate Receipts
Virtuous added safeguards to prevent duplicate receipts. For example, if a nonprofit runs a receipting process more than once or uses a query that isn’t quite right, the safeguards are meant to keep donors from receiving duplicate receipts.
The goal is for the platform to handle more of that complexity so fundraising teams have less to worry about.
Faster, More Scalable PDF Generation
Virtuous used to rely on third-party software to generate receipt PDFs. That functionality now lives inside the application itself. Tim says the change improves speed, reliability, and the ability to scale.
Whether a receipting run covers 100, 1,000, or 10,000 receipts, Tim says the software should scale even better this year than last.
3. Helping Customers Get Answers Faster
Even with a more reliable platform, questions and issues can still come up, and during giving season a timely answer matters.
Over the past six months, Willow’s team has brought on more customer support staff, done more training with the team, and introduced Remy, the Virtuous AI chatbot, to help customers get answers faster.
Willow also doesn’t want customers to have to start the conversation.
“If something goes wrong, we want you to know about it before you reach out to us.” – Willow Moellering, Chief Customer Officer at Virtuous
To get there, Virtuous has put new processes in place for proactive communication. Smaller issues go on the status page, and the team reaches out directly when a problem affects an organization.
4. Identifying Issues Before They Interrupt Fundraising
Another engineering priority has been observability, which is the team’s ability to see what’s happening on the Virtuous platform. Tim says the team made significant investments here this year.
Tim says engineering can now see what’s happening in almost all areas of the platform, with alerts set up, so the team can spot issues before customers tell them. From there, engineering can get in touch with a customer success manager or support and work with Willow’s team to get information back to affected organizations.
The aim is to fix issues before they lead to a lot of support calls or interrupt a nonprofit’s work.
Tim says the monitoring improvements have been paying dividends already, and the team expects them to show up in a positive way this giving season.
5. Continuing to Improve the Tools Nonprofits Rely On
Engineering is also working on product features. Tim pointed to a few areas of ongoing development.
Queries, Dashboards, and Reporting
Engineering is also working on an enhanced query experience, dashboards, and in-app reporting. Tim says the team has heard feedback that dashboards and reporting are really important, especially during giving season, and that query performance and getting the data you need when you need it is critical.
These features are in development right now, and Tim said he doesn’t have a general availability date to share. Tim says the team is focused on these areas.
If Something Isn’t Working, Tell Us
If something’s going on or you need help, Willow wants customers to let the team know. That includes feedback and even a simple how-to question or a walkthrough. The customer experience team wants to hear all of it and make any improvements it can quickly.
“We are your partner. We see ourselves that way, and we are absolutely here to receive any feedback that we can.” – Willow Moellering, Chief Customer Officer at Virtuous
Frequently Asked Questions
What Has Virtuous Done to Improve Platform Reliability for Giving Season?
To improve platform reliability this giving season, Virtuous engineering focused on workflow reliability, import performance, and matching improvements, and improved observability of the platform. The team also moved to smaller, more frequent software releases to help keep the platform stable.
How Has Virtuous Improved Donation Receipting?
Virtuous added safeguards against duplicate receipts and moved PDF generation from third-party software into the application. The in-app PDF generation is meant to improve speed, reliability, and the ability to scale.
How Is Virtuous Supporting Customers During Year-End Fundraising?
Virtuous has brought on more customer support staff, implemented more training with its team, and introduced Remy, its AI chatbot, to help customers get answers faster. The team has also put new processes in place for proactive communication, using the status page for smaller issues and reaching out directly when a problem affects an organization.
How Does Virtuous Identify Platform Issues Before Customers Report Them?
Engineering has improved observability, which is the ability to see what’s happening on the platform, and set up alerts. The team can now see almost all areas of the platform, so it can spot issues before customers report them, work with Willow’s team to get information to customers, and fix issues before they lead to a lot of support calls.
What Product Improvements Is Virtuous Currently Working On?
The team is also working on an enhanced query experience, dashboards, and in-app reporting. Tim said he doesn’t have a general availability date to share for the query, dashboard, and reporting features.
What Should Virtuous Customers Do If They Experience an Issue During Giving Season?
Let Virtuous know if something is going on or you need help, including feedback and simple how-to questions. Willow Moellering says the team wants to hear from customers and make any improvements it can quickly.
