Building welcome journeys: how Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation made every moment count (and how you can too)

In my last post, we talked about the importance of a great welcome journey, and how satisfaction followed by commitment are the most influential drivers of loyalty in those first few months.

So, with only 31% of supporters making a follow-up donation, what are those factors that really make the difference, and move people beyond that first moment of giving into a more committed relationship?

While our research at About Loyalty shows that all 12 supporter experience measures improve across that first year, three of them increase significantly more than the others:

• I feel {charity} understands why I offer my support.

• {Charity}’s communications always meet my needs for information.

• The relationship I have with this charity is something I am very committed to.

  
  

These all say something about the importance of creating a real emotional connection from the start: a personal understanding, which plays out in relevant communications, and which builds commitment to your particular organisation.

This chart shows how each of these statements improves across the first 12 months:

Two of these measure elements of supporter satisfaction: not just whether a supporter feels thanked, but whether they feel understood by the charity and are given what they need at that moment.

The other measures a key part of commitment – whether the supporter has a sense of relationship with the organisation. Most supporters give because they share your cause, but the relationship element is something more: they have chosen your charity, in particular, as their way to invest in changing the world.

And what’s really interesting is that these three statements consistently score the lowest across all organisations who benchmark in The Chase Index. Perhaps they are the hardest things to do well - but they seem to be where the greatest opportunities for building meaningful connection, and therefore retention, lie.

"Perhaps they are the hardest things to do well - but they seem to be where the greatest opportunities for building meaningful connection, and therefore retention, lie."

How can charities meaningfully improve their welcome journeys to grow loyalty?

Tess O'Sullivan, Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation

I shared some of these insights at Loyalty Day 2025, where we also heard from Tess O’Sullivan, Individual Giving Manager at Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, about the award-winning transformation of their own welcome journey.

And guess what?

SCHF's interventions to improve their welcome journey perfectly illustrated the three statements highlighted above:

• The team are investing in focussing on understanding their supporters – using a ‘welcome quiz’ that is part of the automated welcome email journey, alongside a new telephone campaign to speak directly to their new supporters.

  
  

• The valuable insights gathered from this activity is helping to tailor content and information for supporters, based directly on that understanding – and helping to meet their needs for information.

  
  

• Lastly, once donors reach the third donation point – a moment that their research has highlighted as critical for supporter retention - the SCHF team are sending them a small thank you gift. Not just any gift, but one that says "I'm all in for kids’ health” – a visual reminder of a shared purpose and identity. In other words, a moment that builds an emotional relationship between them and the supporter.

SCHF's third gift: a visual reminder for supporters of their shared purpose and identity.

So - SCHF have understood their new supporters, they have met their needs, and they have grown the relationship. And they’ve already seen an increase in supporter giving and long-term retention: median gifts have increased by $17.80 (approximately £8.60), whilst supporter retention rates have soared from 39.7% in 2021 to 54.0% in 2025.

"Supporter retention rates have soared from 39.7% in 2021 to 54.0% in 2025."

What does this look like for you?

What might an excellent welcome journey look like for your new supporters? As you consider this, ask yourself two questions:

• How can you make your welcome journey a two-way process - not just telling but asking, building understanding and helping them feel listened to?

  
  

• How can you ensure that every interaction uses the insights you’re gathering to help the supporter feel understood?

If this is something you’re working on right now, I’d love to hear more. Just drop me a message at Sally@About-Loyalty.com, or get in touch below:

Get in touch

And if you haven't yet, then I'd recommend tuning into Loyalty Day for some real-world advice and inspiration on improving your supporter experience and growing loyalty:

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