We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Privacy Overview
Login
Your Role
Challenges You Face
results
Learn
Resources
Company
The best way to predict the future is to invent it
I was tired of waiting.
When I was just a donor, I was frustrated with the letters, newsletters, and emails I received from my beloved charities. They were insulting. Off-putting. And downright offensive.
They broke my heart.
So I turned my ship in another direction.
I used my marketing expertise to invent new ways of doing things. I had no idea what they were saying in the echo-chambers of the fundraising industry. At that point, I had never read a book or attended a conference on fundraising. But I wanted to develop a new future. One that didn’t tick people off driving them to hop from charity to charity relentlessly searching for one that would treat them right.
And, as I explored this new realm, I discovered that fundraising actually is marketing, customer service and sales. What fundraisers expect from Apple is exactly what donors expect from fundraisers.
Therefore, the new concepts and technologies I invented were not really that new at all. In fact, private businesses were already using some of the technologies I invented. In the end, my invention was really just to on-ramp existing technologies into the nonprofit space.
Now, I can predict the future.
I know where the fundraising industry is headed because I’ve decided to steer it that way and here are my predictions for the future:
- More focus on engagement; Less focus on asking
- More stress on simplicity; Less on complexity, legalese, and fancy talk
- More prominence is given to proving impact; Less on bragging about how awesome your organization is
- More empowerment, access, and transparency for supporters’ who want to get involved; Less secrecy and conniving
- More emphasis on retention and the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 Rule); Less on acquisition and dissipation
- More tracking of your supporters’ interests, wants, needs and desires (the way Amazon and Netflix do it); Less ignorance
- More relevant and personalized communications; Less one-size-fits-all
- More effective outreach at greatly reduced costs; Less waste
- MORE REVENUE ACQUIRED MORE EFFICIENTLY
There you go, that’s the future of fundraising.
Now the only question is: Will you be part of it?
Related Posts
>> Introducing “ENGAGEMENT FUNDRAISING”— the Future of Nonprofit Marketing
>> How to Generate More Planned Gifts with Less Money and Reduced Resources
Recommendations
>> Fun activity: Get some new perspective
>> A Foundation-Donor Love Story for the Digital Age
LIKE THIS BLOG POST? IF YES, SHARE IT WITH YOUR PEERS AND/OR LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments
Get the book!
Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
Get smarter with the SmartIdeas blog
Subscribe to our blog today and get actionable fundraising ideas delivered straight to your inbox!