In 2022, a non-profit organization with a long history of advancing educational opportunity in Israel was looking to expand the reach and effectiveness of its fundraising activities. As part of the effort to achieve this, the organization opted for both extensive quantitative and qualitive research into the behaviors, motivations, and characteristics of givers and prospective givers. City Square Associates designed and fielded the qualitative portion of the work and collaborated with the quantitative partner to ensure that the two modalities complemented each other.

The research consisted of focus groups with donor prospects and one-on-one interviews with current donors. Having developed proficiency conducting qualitative research online during the pandemic, City Square Associates fielded virtual focus groups that were both more affordable for the client and made it possible to reach a cohort of respondents scattered across of number of different geographies. Clients had the opportunity to observe the groups live from a virtual “back room,” and those who were not able to observe live had the opportunity to watch the video recording after. Collaboratively, we were able to iterate the focus of these discussions from one focus group to the next in order to make the learning more responsive to the organization’s immediate needs.

Among the most important take-aways from the research with prospects was the discovery that understanding of the system of public education in Israel was quite limited among the donor prospects, and passions around the history and future of Israel sometimes distracted potential donors from both focusing on the core educational mission of the organization as well as envisioning the positive impact of their gift. Feedback from the donor interviews underlined the very clear differences in donative behavior based on life stage. Taken together with findings from a market segmentation that was developed for them with another agency, the organization was able to update its communication strategy with prospects and prioritize steps for improving donor retention and increasing lifetime value.