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Write a few survey questions.

• Aim to discover your donor's desires, based on the cultivation methods you enjoy. Do this by taking your "Likes List" and write a few survey questions. Here are some example questions.  
  
  
• Resist the urge to offer cultivation methods you dislike or find draining, no matter how much you think you "should" be doing them. Be free, my friend!
  
  
• Consider your capacity. Don't offer monthly prayer letters if that's not something you have the capacity to do. 
  
  
• Encourage open-ended feedback.
  Maybe you love to write, so your prayer letters are a novel. And maybe your support team would appreciate seeing you take that gift of writing and put it into a short Instagram post or text message instead. It's ok to ask what they'd appreciate LESS of, alongside asking what they'd appreciate MORE of. 

• Here's a sample survey.  5 questions.

Send that survey. 

• Use any method you wish.
  

  Send a little or a lot.
  You might have to use a few or all of these methods to get a good sampling of respondents. 
  
  

  • Google form: Here's how to create & send. Good for surveying a lot of people. Can send link via text, email, social or all. 

  • Standard text message: Good for surveying a few people / quick, short responses. Higher response rate. 
  • Standard email: Good for surveying a lot of people / longer responses. Lower response rate. 
  • Phone call: Good for surveying a few people and getting in-depth responses. 
    You might have to use a few or all of these methods to get a response from each type of donor. 
    
    
• Aim for a few responses from each donor type.
  • Friends & Fam. People who were your friends & family before you joined staff.
  • The Executive. Higher-capacity donor. Usually in an executive or leadership profession. 
  • The Adopter. Those who tend to respond to your prayer letters. 
  • The Cricket. Those who never respond to anything. Hint: Ask for their advice.
    

*Remember the point: Get feedback from a few donor types on their preferences so you know what your supporters actually want/ expect.

Review Insights.

What did you learn from this exercise? Anything surprising? How good were you at predicting what your supporters wanted? Any areas where you were way off base? 

Share your findings with your MTD coach, a teammate or a spouse. Also save your findings with your "Likes List." You'll need them for the next step.