This is lesson thirty-four. This is towards one of our missions. Education. You’ll learn everything about marketing - from the basics to the most advanced strategies - for free, thanks to VellumWorks.
Customer Experience (CX) is not a tactic, a channel, or a department.
It is the total of every interaction, perception, and emotion someone has with your organisation over time.
In charities, CX determines:
whether people donate once or stay for years
whether volunteers disengage or advocate
whether trust compounds or erodes quietly
whether your mission feels human or transactional
What Is Customer Experience (CX)?
Customer Experience (CX) is the holistic experience a person has across their entire relationship with an organisation — before, during, and after engagement.
This includes:
what people do
what they think
what they feel
what they remember
CX exists whether you design it or not.
The only question is whether it’s intentional or accidental.
CX vs Marketing vs Customer Service
Many organisations confuse these.
Marketing
Sets expectations
Communicates value
Creates perception
Customer Service
Responds to problems
Resolves issues
Handles moments of friction
Customer Experience
Encompasses both, plus everything else
Includes silence, waiting, tone, clarity, and follow-up
Exists across every department and touchpoint
CX is cross-functional. It cannot live in one team.
The Three Core Dimensions of CX
Every experience has three overlapping layers.
1. Functional Experience (Ease & Usability)
This answers: “Was it easy?”
Includes:
clarity of information
intuitive navigation
speed and responsiveness
accessibility (language, disability, tech)
simplicity of forms and processes
If something is hard, people disengage, even if they believe in your cause.
2. Emotional Experience (Feeling & Meaning)
This answers: “How did this make me feel?”
Includes:
empathy
reassurance
pride
frustration
trust
belonging
People remember emotion more than content.
Emotion drives loyalty.
This answers: “What does supporting this say about me?”
Includes:
alignment with values
ethics and transparency
reputation
community belonging
social proof
People support organisations that reinforce their identity.
Customer Experience vs User Experience (UX)
UX = experience of a specific interface (website, app, form)
CX = experience of the entire relationship
UX is a subset of CX. CX extends far beyond digital.
The CX Lifecycle (End-to-End)
CX unfolds across time, not moments.
1. Awareness
first impression
clarity of mission
credibility
2. Consideration
research
trust-building
clarity of impact
3. Decision
ease of action
emotional reassurance
confidence
4. Action
donation / sign-up / participation
5. Confirmation
thank-you
receipt
acknowledgement
6. Relationship
updates
communication rhythm
value beyond asks
7. Advocacy
referral
fundraising
word-of-mouth
Most organisations over-invest in steps 1–4 and under-invest in 5–7.
That’s where CX wins or fails.
Moments That Matter (Critical CX Points)
Certain moments disproportionately shape experience:
first donation
first thank-you
first follow-up email
first mistake
first response time
first time someone asks for help
These moments define memory.
CX Metrics & Measurement
You cannot improve what you don’t measure. Measuring the wrong thing is worse than measuring nothing.
Core CX Metrics
NPS (Net Promoter Score) → loyalty & advocacy
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) → immediate reaction
CES (Customer Effort Score) → ease of experience
Retention rate → long-term success
Churn → silent failure
Lifetime Value (LTV) → relationship depth
Quantitative metrics must always be paired with qualitative insight.
Voice of the Customer (VoC) in CX
CX without listening becomes assumption-driven.
VoC includes:
surveys
open-ended feedback
emails and replies
comments
complaints
drop-off behaviour
The most powerful CX question:
“What nearly stopped you?”
Fixing near-friction increases impact more than optimisation.
CX Design Principles (Best Practice)
Great CX follows universal principles:
Clarity beats cleverness
Ease beats persuasion
Consistency beats intensity
Trust beats urgency
Listening beats assumptions
Human beats automated
CX is not about delight everywhere.
It’s about removing unnecessary pain.
CX for Charities (Specific Considerations)
Charity CX is distinct because:
trust is existential
emotion is central
money involves moral weight
supporters expect transparency
Charity CX must emphasise:
dignity (for beneficiaries)
gratitude (for supporters)
accountability (for trust)
clarity (for confidence)
Poor CX doesn’t just lose donors. It damages legitimacy.
Common CX Mistakes
focusing only on conversion
neglecting post-action experience
automating without empathy
over-surveying without acting
measuring satisfaction but ignoring retention
assuming silence = success
Silence is often dissatisfaction unexpressed.
CX is shaped internally before it’s felt externally.
Strong CX cultures:
empower staff to fix problems
reduce silos
reward empathy, not just output
close feedback loops
prioritise long-term relationships
Weak CX cultures:
optimise KPIs over people
treat supporters as transactions
ignore frontline insight
over-focus on acquisition
Culture is CX.
Customer Journey Mapping (Core CX Tool)
Journey maps visualise:
actions
touchpoints
emotions
friction
expectations vs reality
A real journey map includes:
what people expect
what actually happens
how they feel
where trust is built or broken
CX improves fastest where emotional friction exists.
10-Minute CX Audit (Practical)
Pick one journey (e.g. donation).
Ask:
Was it easy?
Was it clear?
Was it human?
Was gratitude expressed?
Was trust reinforced after?
Fix one thing this week.
CX improves through accumulation, not overhaul.
Why is this important to know?
Because people don’t remember campaigns.
They remember how you made them feel.
In the long run:
CX outperforms marketing spend
CX drives retention more than persuasion
CX builds reputations quietly — or destroys them invisibly
Strong CX turns:
donors into advocates
supporters into partners
organisations into communities
At VellumWorks, we believe knowledge should be free. That’s why this series will guide you, step by step, through everything from the basics to the most advanced strategies in marketing: no jargon, no gatekeeping, just education that empowers.
