How to get glowing testimonials for your nonprofit’s website
You may have heard before that getting good testimonials or reviews can help your website - or maybe you’ve never heard of it, but you know you need them for another reason. The pesky part is finding a way to collect those testimonials. Who do I ask? Am I even allowed to ask? And what if what they say doesn’t make any sense? I want to share my best tips for getting those testimonials from those who are excited to promote you!
How to ask for testimonials for your site
Okay, here’s the thing. For a long time, I didn’t even bother asking because I felt embarrassed that they wouldn’t help, the interviewee would be inconvenienced, or… excuse, excuse, excuse. Once I finally got up the courage, and sent another, and another and another, I realized the most important thing was just to ask - confidently. By contrast, when I sort-of asked people, they sort-of responded.. slightly awkwardly, and not sure what to say. To avoid awkward emails, let’s make the process clear and simple.
Who?
Start by asking those you know you’ll have a good response from
Nervous to get started? I was too. Make it easy on yourself by asking some people that you know were thrilled by your work and would be happy to help push you forward. As an organization, expand who you think about asking! Of course, you could ask members of the organization - those who love to volunteer and have found purpose in it. Ask community members who have benefited from your work and want others to find you too! Testimonials are a great way to help the website reader feel understood and seen before they even meet you in person.
What?
When you ask for a testimonial from a past volunteer, or recipient of your aid, don’t be afraid to guide them through the process. Ask leading questions like:
“What part of the process did you most enjoy?”
“What were you hesitant about before choosing to participate?”
“How did you feel while we were working together?”
“Would you recommend us to a friend or coworker?”
“What did you learn about yourself or us during the project?”
“How would you describe our work to someone else?”
After asking these questions, I always like to make it super clear by if I’m allowed to use this feedback to create a testimonial for promotional use online. Always make sure you have permission to share before you share opinions online!
When?
Ask for testimonials right after they’ve worked with you, and have the experience fresh in their minds
You know what it feels like - when you get a call from a company months after a service, asking how it went. How are you likely to respond? “Uh, yeah. Sure. It was fine.” Which, if you don’t actually care what people think of your services, is fine. Sure. I guess. However, if you’re looking for the gold mine of compliments, or at least, great feedback to help improve your services, ask sooner. I time my emails asking for feedback about a week after the project is finished, letting them know their warranty is almost finished, and if they’re ready to contribute, they can easily do so through a link.
How?
Provide a simple form for them to submit, so they’re not left guessing ‘What should I say!?”
Though I use a form on my website they can submit with, it’s also completely acceptable to send an email asking, with the questions number for easy response.
My email looks a little like this:
Hi [Name]
Thanks for [whatever you did together] - I'm so glad we were able to work together. [Any other related details about closing up the work, if necessary]
We have been doing everything we can to get our name out there, and would be grateful you could help with any of the following things.
Leave a review on Google - This helps our business so much as if someone Googles ‘[whatever you offer]‘, our website will be more likely to show up. Click here to leave us a Google Review
Leave us a review on our Facebook page by clicking the review section.
Fill out our Feedback form - Finally, we'd love to receive any feedback you have about our services and work together. Here is a link to a page you can fill out letting us know more about your experience.
Again, any little bit helps, and regardless, I really appreciated working with you. If you have any questions about any of our work together, or are looking for more services, feel free to let me know!
Signoff
You see I included links to add direct reviews to Google or Facebook too - I’ve found several clients more than happy to add the reviews there as well as my feedback form, which really helps others to find me.
Now - you have what you need - go get ‘em! You deserve to have your organization well represented online, so don’t be afraid to ask!
