The magic ingredient for nonprofit employee productivity

Here’s a cool study from the Inside Influence Report that shows how you can improve the effectiveness of your staff: A Great Recipe for Employee Productivity…in Five Easy Minutes.

The study went like this:

1. The first group read about the personal benefits of the jobs — financial rewards and development of skills
   
2. The second group read stories from the beneficiaries of the organization, describing the positive impact on their lives.
   
3. A control group didn’t read anything.
   

Here’s what happened:

What they found was amazing. Employees in [groups #1 and #3] looked almost exactly the same after the intervention as before it in terms of amount of donation money raised and the number of pledges earned. Yet, those in [group #2] earned more than twice the number of weekly pledges (from an average of 9 to an average of 23) and more than twice the amount of weekly donation money (from an average of $1,288 to an average of $3,130).

How many other ways can you think of where giving someone information transforms their behavior for the better? It’s like magic, huh? And if you’re a nonprofit you have this magic right at your fingertips.

Never forget the power of constantly reminding nonprofit employees up and down the line — especially those in fundraising, who tend to be away from the frontlines — about the difference they’re making happen in the world.