Feeling the Data: Measuring Emotion in Individual Giving

What does it actually feel like to be a donor — and why does it matter more than you think? In this episode, host Simon Scriver is joined by Steven Dodds (Managing Director) and Paul Seabrook (CEO) of Beautiful Insights, a full-service market research agency specialising in the charity sector. Together they explore one of the most overlooked challenges in fundraising: how do you measure the emotional experience of your supporters, not just the financial data? The conversation covers: Why satisfaction alone doesn't predict donor loyalty or generosity The SAFE Index — Beautiful Insights' benchmarking tool for measuring non-financial supporter KPIs How donors often vividly remember why they first gave, but rarely recall anything about the ongoing supporter experience Why feeling "useful" might actually be a warning sign in your donor data How charities can compete with commercial brands that have mastered emotional advertising The difference between transactional stewardship and communications that genuinely move people This episode sets the scene for Steven and Paul's session at the upcoming Individual Giving Conference, where they'll dive deeper into the specific emotions that drive donor retention — and which ones should have your attention. Find out more about the SAFE Index and Beautiful Insights at beautifulinsights.com Join us at our Individual Giving Conference 2026   If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to hit follow and enable notifications so you'll get notified to be first to hear of future podcast episodes. We'd love to see you back again! And thank you to our friends at JustGiving who make the Fundraising Everywhere Podcast possible.