What Your Non-Profit Can Learn from Starbucks

Starbucks app is #1 in mobile payments beating Apple Pay.

Why? How? Ever had the urge for coffee and thought…where is my loyalty card for my free drink?
Well, Starbucks rewards/loyalty program is that, but on your phone. No need for paper cards for free drinks.

Here is a quick view:

Why does this matter for charities?

There are a couple reasons why Starbucks approach matters for your non-profit. First, we see clear evidence that rewards work, so don’t spend any testing A/B time on wondering if your campaign with rewards will do better than your campaign without (rewards wins…on all levels). Secondly, when dealing with a global community, Starbucks created a universal point system for every customer that has lead to a renewed and greater sense of loyalty to their brand. While your charity doesn’t need points there is a lot to be said for building a community on a single point/loyalty program. Last but not least, Starbucks saves your credit card in the app so you can reload your amount with 2 clicks. What if everyone on your donor file could help with your latest need that easy and fast?

You don’t have to create your own loyalty program:

For a charity to create their own loyalty program and point system it requires a team who has a good sense of the consumer side of creating ongoing engagement. While it could be a simple as donation based rewards the reality is that donors want more than a transaction. When evaluating donor loyalty programs think simple and think global. What will allow you to plug directly into your global audience while maintaining the Starbucks 2-click ongoing simple payments?

You don’t have to create your own app:

For some charities having their own app might make sense, but 99% don’t need to waste resources on building and maintaining their own app. Ask even the big guys who have abandoned their work a few short years after release. It’s a big commitment to maintain a growing mobile community. The key learning from Starbucks is that to move to the top of your donors mind you need to engage them with “creative loyalty”. There are a ton of ways to do this and our team is passionate about making this easy for non-profits.