Asking the right questions: how the RNLI used audience insight to improve the supporter experience

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24 hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands.

In 2019 our Chief Fundraising and Communications Officer, Jayne George, rejoined the RNLI crew. Her return sparked the integration of our fundraising, marketing and media teams, and the creation of our current fundraising strategy which puts treating supporters brilliantly at its heart. But to do this, we needed to understand what motivated people across the country to give – and continue giving – to the RNLI.

Measuring our experience

We partnered with About Loyalty, whose extensive research has identified the three most important feelings to measure as a sign of an excellent supporter experience: commitment, satisfaction and trust.

This research formed the foundation for our supporter experience survey, where we asked supporters to respond to 21 statements measuring their feelings of commitment, satisfaction and trust, alongside 70 bespoke statements of our own. The bespoke statements covered a wide spectrum: from donor attitudes and emotional connection to Lifeboats, to engagement with the sea and participation in watersports.

By surveying supporters to see where their feelings were strongest and where there was room for improvement – we could start to map out what an excellent supporter experience might look like for each of our supporters.

 The findings were validating, and insightful: we were able to demonstrate that commitment, satisfaction and trust are vital for loyalty at the RNLI, and we have now anchored our communications around these elements. This insight has helped to inform big strategic decisions, such as the direction of our comms strategy and language, but it’s also helped us delve deeper into specific supporter groups and make more tangible changes.

For example, by listening to how our supporters referred to themselves in their responses, we have been able to change our language, meaning we now refer to them as ‘family’, not as ‘crew’. This was a real wow moment for us, as ‘crew’ had been firmly embedded in our external comms approach for many years. We’re also now reviewing the number of asks supporters receive, where they’ve shown sensitivity to this in the survey, and we’ve analysed where our scores were higher across certain supporter groups and explored which elements of their communications could be replicated elsewhere.

In our 201st year, the RNLI’s strategic intent is to ensure we are set up for success: now and for the next 200 years, and counting. It’s vital that the RNLI keeps abreast of how supporters feel about our cause, and how we treat them, so that we can move with changing supporter expectations and continue to grow - and tracking and measuring the supporter experience allows us to do that.