This document summarizes interviews conducted with key stakeholders of charity auctions, including corporate donors, individual donors, and charities. It identifies the needs and perspectives of each group. For corporate and individual donors, important factors included ease of use, recognition or enjoyment from donating, and ensuring their donation makes a difference. Charities wanted solutions that save time and effort, attract more donors, and improve engagement. The document defines metrics to measure outcomes and outlines next steps to develop product concepts that address the identified needs. It proposes creating a decision matrix to evaluate and select the final concept.

1. 11/01/2011
Kelly Ireland
Jon Carrier
Ryan McCollum
Geetha Shankar
Sonia Punwani

2. Redefining Problem
• Problem Statement
• Many charities do not effectively manage their auctions to meet the needs
of key stakeholders – auction coordinators (charities), corporate donors,
and individual donors
• Objective
• Create a product/service that helps improve the charity auction experience
for all key stakeholders
• Key Stakeholders
• Corporate Donors, Individual Donors, Charities
• Conducted interviews
• Interviews vs survey to better understand the users

3. Charity’s Perspective: How Can I Save
Valuable Time, Effort, and Resources?
• Is there a way to track ‘engagement’ of my donor list so I know who I need to reactivate?
• How can I improve the process for collecting item descriptions, pictures, costs, etc from donors?
Solicit Items • How can I create a consolidated donor list that tracks and ranks donors for future events?
• How do I extend beyond my personal networks to attract new donors and new buyers?
• How can I better leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn and Social Media?
Increase • I’m not technologically advanced, can you make setting up the website and posting item information easier?
Awareness
•Should I collect the items in advance? How do I know where to ship?
• Can I get donors to send the items directly to buyers? How can I better work with donors to track shipments?
Manage the • How can I avoid 4-5% credit card fees?
Transaction
• Can I create a ‘turnkey’ solution to make the process repeatable for future events?
• Is there a way to automate Thank You letters to donors?
Finalize the • Is it possible to automate tax letter mailings with face value of item donated?
Paperwork

4. Donor’s Perspective: Key Takeaways
• Corporate Donor • Individual Donor
• Gain recognition/visibility for • Enjoy donating more when it is
donating interactive and part of an activity (10k
race, habitat for humanity, etc)
• Will not donate if the donating
• Likely to donate more if they get
process is complicated/costly/time something out of it
intensive
• Often have a purpose they are trying to
• Want the ability to support a wide support but not a particular charity
range of different charities, both local • Do not find the donating process that
and national organizations enjoyable (neutral) and would donate
• Want to easily track donations for tax more if the donating process was a
benefit purposes more enjoyable experience
• Only donate if they feel their money • Less likely to donate if the donating
will really make a difference process is complicated
• Only donate if they feel their money
will really make a difference
• Primarily donate money and clothes
but would donate services/special
skills if they could
• Will only donate to professional /
secure organizations and websites

5. Define User Needs
• Used interviews to determine user needs of key stakeholders
Corporate Donors Individual Donors Charities
• Easy to make and track • Confidence that donation will • Affordable and effective
donations make a difference • Easy to use and saves time
• Ability to be recognized for • Exposure to wide array of • Engagement with / exposure to
“doing good” (visibility) charities and causes broad base of donors (attract
• Confidence that donation will • Convenience and ease of use new donors)
make a difference for chosen • Enjoyable experience • Positive donor experience
cause • Secure and trusted process • Flexibility
• Reputable and secure • Trusted and reliable process to
system/process follow (best practices)
• Automation of simple tasks

6. Define Key Metrics
Metric Baseline Goal
1 Time spent donating/collecting ??
donations/setting up auctions
2 Errors made donating/collecting ??
donations/setting up auctions
3 Cost to donate/accept donation/hold auction ??
4 Number of donors ??
5 Amount of donations made ??
6 Money collected for donations ??
• Defined desired qualitative improvements and tried to find ways to quantify them
• Solicit feedback from class on setting baseline and goals**

7. Define Development Schedule/Responsibilities
• Creation of Gaant Chart

8. Next Steps
• Near Term
• Finalize Metrics – Baseline and Goals
• Generate Product Concepts
• Goal of 5 good ideas
• Search externally - existing solutions, experts, key users
• Search internally - Internal team generation of ideas (individual and group sessions)
• Long Term
• Select Final Concept
• Use Decision Matrix (see next slide)
• Solicit Key User Input
• Iterative process

9. Decision Matrix
• Select 5 concepts
• Choose Decision Criteria
• Weight Decision Criteria Based on Importance to Key Users

10. Questions/Comments/Feedback?