What the 2025 community fundraising mystery shop reveals about the supporter experience

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the THINK Community Fundraising Forum – and the 15th year of our annual mystery shopping programme. This long-running exercise provides a unique lens on the real experiences of supporters.

Each year, three mystery shoppers register to fundraise for every participating charity. Over a seven-month period, they monitor and evaluate eight key touchpoints:

1. Telephone registration
2. Online registration
3. Fundraising pack
4. Follow-up call
5. Acknowledgement
6. Non-payment reminders
7. Query via social media
8. Future communications

This year, 81 mystery supporters reported on approximately 650 points. Together, they paint a picture of a sector that is becoming increasingly supporter-centric yet still struggling with consistency across crucial points in the journey. So what are the key learnings from this year’s exercise?

You only ever get one chance to make a good first impression

The initial touchpoints continue to set the tone for the entire supporter experience. Supporters registering online had largely positive experiences with these interactions feeling intuitive, inspiring and efficient. Telephone registration worked well when supporters felt heard, valued and clear on next steps but fell short when supporters experienced difficulties connecting with a call handler, where directed to other channels and crucially when communication preferences were not checked.

Equip supporters with the resources to enable fundraising

Mystery supporters were asked to provide feedback on the fundraising packs provided with supporters placing a high value on the materials they receive after signing up.

The mystery shop found:

• 73% received a digital pack
• 4% received a physical pack
• 7% received both
• 16% received no pack or materials

When packs arrive promptly and contain practical, motivating content, supporters feel equipped and excited. When they don’t – and 13% reported dissatisfaction with the length of time it took for the pack to arrive – energy and commitment can drop significantly.

The middle of the journey and follow up still needs attention

The critical period between sign-up and event day remains the area with most room for improvement, with 65% of supporter receiving a follow-up (up from 42% last year). Where follow-up did occur, it was appreciated with supporters scoring communications received highly rated.

Personalisation is key. Mystery supporters appreciated genuine attempts to personalise communications and this definitely increased their sense of feeling valued and appreciated. The opposite applies here too. Where there was no attempt at personalisation or a half-hearted attempt this decreased overall satisfaction levels leaving supporters feeling demotivated.

Handling non-payments and post-donation communications

We asked some supporters to contact their charity to inform them that they are no longer able to go ahead with their events and to make a small donation. Other supporters were asked not to contact the charity so we could see what ‘chase’, if any, was received.  We found that only 48% of charities sent out a non-payment reminder.

Post-donation communication has improved from last year with 65% of supporters receiving some form of ongoing stewardship communication. Supporters who received updates said they felt informed, valued and motivated to fundraise again.

Next steps and further optimisation in 2026

In conclusion, the 2025 mystery shop shows improvements. When charities invest in engagement, the results are clear: supporters feel valued and motivated.

Moving forward, priority areas for further improvement/optimisation must be:

• Ensuring all supporters receive a pack/resources in the format that works for them
• Strengthening the mid-journey follow up
• Implementing non-payment reminders
• Enhancing post-activity stewardship

Consistency is the challenge, capturing of communication preferences up stream critical as is balancing automated stewardship with personalised touches and human stewardship.

If you lead your charity’s Community Fundraising function and would benefit from a senior peer network, a series of tailored sessions and unique insight then membership of the THINK Community Fundraising Forum would be ideal for you. Check out https://thinkcs.org/services/forums/ or contact garyk@thinkcs.org for more details.

Gary Kernahan, Executive Director
November 2025

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