BROWNE INNOVATION GROUP

Thursday, December 29, 2011

BIG’s Blog: You Really Think You’ve Got Time?

Today’s blog is this year’s last blog. If there is a theme for my blogs in this last week of 2011, it is that the “business as usual” fundraising is quickly losing its effectiveness as the fundraising world goes more digital.

But hey, most of your current donors keep giving through the mail and your humongous direct mail programs keep bringing in the dollars don’t they? You’ve got some time to “fix” your fundraising for the younger generations…or do you?

Just like you, I am catching up on my reading over the Christmas holiday and I ran into Bob Lefsetz’s Christmas Eve blog entitled, My Mother Wants An iPhone.

My mother has mellowed. That's one great thing about age, you stop trying to change the future, you go along for the ride. Life is one big amusement park, you think you can get on the Autopia and steer but really there's a rail in the middle preventing you from veering too far, life's more akin to a roller coaster than a free form assault. And once you accept this, you're so much happier.

My dad died before his time. At age seventy. After he passed, my mother told me he never thought he'd make it that far. I thought that was insane, but now I identify. The males in my lineage just don't last that long.

But the females do.

So my mother sold the house and moved into an apartment building that's akin to summer camp. If this is retirement, I want in. Everybody still standing from the area has a unit and my mom is so busy she throws me off the phone, there's bridge and dinner and parties and movies... And my mother can barely walk, she finally acceded to using a walker, which makes us worry less on the west coast, but it's impeded her not a bit. She still goes to the city for theatre, she flies cross-country... Hell, they put her in a wheelchair and escort her through security; it's easier than it's ever been.

So now that my mother has grown into her skin, is comfortable, is accepting her children's lives as opposed to trying to change them, well, not completely, our conversations are totally different. We discuss the movies, the books and the news...and talk tech.

You see in the late nineties all the Gray Panthers got online. Not that they did much. E-mailed at best. They all bought Windows machines, this was before the Apple renaissance, and you need a full time IT guy to make those work.

But in the upgrade cycle, all the octogenarians have switched to Apple. And when my mother gets flummoxed she calls me and I take over her screen via iChat and it's a beautiful thing.

She's got an iMac with a screen bigger than she is, as you age you shrink, a Time Capsule, an Apple TV, I'd be lying if I told you she knew how to work this stuff well, but she's addicted to watching TV shows on her iPad and reads books on a Kindle.

But the questions are not complicated.

Where'd the icon go?

My mother is not mouse-savvy. She's always dragging icons off the Dock.

And Netflix continues to confuse her. It's the menu hierarchy. I try to teach her to intuit how these devices work, but she always wants to write the instructions down.

And she gets frustrated.

As if the device has a personal vendetta against her.

But now, unlike a decade ago, if I e-mail her she gets back to me in forty eight hours instead of a week, she goes online just that regularly, but unlike the younger generation, she's not addicted.

But she soon will be.

You see her brethren are getting iPhones.

That's how it works. There's a wave of acquisition, it sweeps through the building until everybody's got one. Not that they know how to use the device, but they've got one.

It was fascinating to see them all get cell phones. First they declared them unnecessary. But then they became addicted. I think my mother's generation depends on mobile phones more than we do, if for no other reason than they're not that mobile.

So in our conversation tonight, my mother tells me a friend got an iPhone imitation. I winced. You've got to get the real thing.

Another friend got the iPhone 3GS. It was free with renewal. You see the older generation is value conscious. A fourteen year old thinks nothing of blowing $200 on a cell phone, but an oldster...just doesn't see the merit.

So I told my mother if she can use an iPad, she can use an iPhone, they work the same way.

Although there is a learning curve.

And she's got to switch to Verizon... Remember last year in Palm Springs when AT&T had no service?

And she's ready to jump.

I just read 44% of shoppers have smart phones, up from 18% last year (http://t.co/iZECO8m4).

And the thing about Apple is it's the new Sony, the public trusts it.

And there's the Genius Bar.

And I find it so funny that my mother wants to play.

If you think about it, the entire entertainment business is about not playing, about trying to keep the customer in the dark, back in the twentieth century.

But when even eighty five year olds need the latest gadget you know that philosophy is doomed.

You may think CDs are better than MP3s. That a physical book is better than a Kindle.

But try telling that to the people in my mom's building. They're completely wired and up to date. They want what we've got. And it puts a smile upon my face.

-Bob Lefsetz, December 24, 2011

So, you still think you’ve got the time?

It’s just like President Lyndon Johnson’s comment back in 1968 after watching Walter Cronkite editorialize that it was time America got out of Vietnam. He is reported to have said; “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”  

As Bob Lefsetz’s story of his mom makes clear, you are losing even your oldest supporters to the digital revolution.

2012 is the year to really get serious about transforming your fundraising operation.

The good news is that this transformation will get your organization back on the track of growth and sustainability.

Happy New Year!

-Mike

Welcome to BIG's Blog!  Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and coworkers...and don't be afraid to leave a comment!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

BIG’s Blog: Time to Transform

So seriously, what do you as a fundraiser make of all the changes in the retail shopping
scene?

Do you think there is a fundraising connection to the fact that Christmas 2011 shoppers
did more shopping online than ever before? Or, if they were shopping in retail stores they
were using smartphone or iPad apps to comparison shop?

Do you think this online thing somehow won’t affect your organization's fundraising
efforts?

You think you’ve got the time, right? You know this online movement is coming, but
your current base of donors will sustain your organization while you figure it out.

On that point you’re probably right . . . if you seriously start transforming your fundraising organization in 2012.

My take is that 2012 is the pivotal year.

The old timelines don’t apply in the digital age. Everyday you are seriously falling
behind as new charities and other nonprofit organizations come on the scene...and from
day one they are digital. Frankly, these new charities and other nonprofit organizations
don’t have the money to compete with your direct mail programs.

But guess what? They don’t have to. Your fundraising group has a website, uses email marketing and has a Facebook page...so you think you’re digital. You have ceded
these new fundraisers to the always-on Internet world.

2012 is the crucial year.

You still have the upper hand. But the moves you make in 2012 will, in all likelihood,
actually determine your fundraising group’s competitiveness beyond 2012.

Remember Borders Books? A decade ago their super store model was putting mom &
pop bookstores out of business. They were smart managers. Borders took the existing
bookstore model and made it bigger, shinier and better. But they didn’t get digital.  And
now they are bankrupt and out of business.

Don’t choose the Borders mindset of "doing better" than what everyone has been doing for
50+ years.

The Internet changes everything!

2012 is the time to transform your fundraising.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG's Blog! Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and
coworkers...and don't be afraid to leave a comment!

Monday, December 26, 2011

BIG’s Blog: Deadline for Dollars Re-Do

Sorry my earlier blog this morning was so hard to read. Let’s try this again!

Katya Andresen reminds fundraisers that a third of all online giving happens in
December. Of that total, 10-20% happens in the last two days of the month. And on
December 31st, online giving peaks between midday and early afternoon.

How’s that for precise? Welcome to the world of always-on Internet-based fund raising.

And by the way, we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here!

What’s your online communications plan for this week?

You thought you had it covered with that email you sent out in early December, didn’t
you?

Maybe it’s time to rally the troops to get a few email blasts out this week reminding your
donors to remember your organization as they plan their end of year giving.

It’s too bad you don’t have as many email addresses as you do mail addresses. Make
a note to work on that next year…which is a good way to remind you that it’s not too
early to make a New Years resolution to really get this Internet-based thing figured out in
2012.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG's Blog! Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and
coworkers...and don't be afraid to leave a comment!

BIG's Blog: Deadline for Dollars



Sorry my earlier blog this morning was so hard to read. Let’s try this again!


Katya Andresen reminds fundraisers that a third of all online giving happens in
December. Of that total, 10-20% happens in the last two days of the month. And on
December 31st, online giving peaks between midday and early afternoon.


How’s that for precise? Welcome to the world of always-on Internet-based fund raising.


And by the way, we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here!


What’s your online communications plan for this week?


You thought you had it covered with that email you sent out in early December, didn’t
you?


Maybe it’s time to rally the troops to get a few email blasts out this week reminding your
donors to remember your organization as they plan their end of year giving.


It’s too bad you don’t have as many email addresses as you do mail addresses. Make
a note to work on that next year…which is a good way to remind you that it’s not too
early to make a New Years resolution to really get this Internet-based thing figured out in
2012.


-Mike


Welcome to BIG's Blog! Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and
coworkers...and don't be afraid to leave a comment!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

BIG’s Blog: Thanks For Your Time!

A good friend forwarded a story to me that I want to share with you. From all of us at Browne Innovation Group, have a wonderful Christmas! 

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life,” she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral,"
Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly...

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said.

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,' Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox.  "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the Main Post Office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
 
 
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:  "Jack, Thanks for your time! - Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most was...my time."

Jack held the watch for a few minutes then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.

"Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,"

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

2 A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

3 Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

4 You mean the world to someone.

5. If not for you, someone may not be living.

6. You are special and unique.

7. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you
trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.

8. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.

9. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look:  you most likely turned your back on the world.

10. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

12. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.

13. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

Send this story to all the people you care about, if you do so, you will certainly brighten someone's day and might change their perspective on life...for the better. 

To everyone I sent this to: “Thanks for your time."

-Mike

Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

BIG’s Blog: When the Post Office Changes


In my last blog I gave you a peek into how the postal service will dramatically cut its costs to survive the huge fall-off in first-class mail revenue.

But the loss of first-class mail changes more than just the revenue stream of the postal service; it changes the very ‘essence of value’ in how postal patrons view the mail.

For example, almost every city in America has a daily newspaper, or did until the last few years. And along with daily newspapers, most cities have a weekly advertising circular-type paper, with names like the “Penny Press,” that are also delivered to the home. These advertising circulars have little, if any, editorial content and are primarily advertising vehicles.

How much more value do you put on the newspaper than you do the advertising circular?

It’s the same with postal mail. As first-class mail dwindles away, so too does the ‘value’ of the mail. Postal patrons that continue to receive the mail will ‘know’ that it is morphing into an advertising media. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but direct marketing response rates will decline as the ‘essence of value’ is diminished.

Hopefully, long before this comes to pass, your fundraising organization will have moved your fundraising efforts in a different direction.

In my blog the other day, wherein I described the end of mail home delivery and the outsourcing of P.O. boxes to private retail companies, several of my readers challenged me on this point. Their arguments essentially came down to, “It will never happen.”

To the people who wrote in, and to those of you who may also harbor some unbelief that mail home delivery may someday disappear, I remind you that some of my earliest memories are of milk and dairy products being delivered to the home. Today, home delivery of milk is a distant memory...as soon will be mail home delivery.

-Mike


Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

BIG’s Blog: Where is the Post Office Going?


The other day on the drive home from work I passed a postal drop-box while the postal service employee was picking up mail.

I could tell he was older as all his hair was gray. You have to feel for these postal service employees. This guy probably has enough seniority that he will hopefully be able to make it through the coming severe downsizing of the postal service...but what about all those employees in their 40s, 30s and younger?

The postal service is a monopoly, and all monopolies act the same. They take for granted their privileged place. They provide the agreed-upon lowest standard of product and service and expect that every year their customers will grant them price increases. After all, what choice do we have?

Very soon the U.S. Postal Service will begin the process of severely downsizing and transforming itself. They will have no choice. We all know they are currently losing billions of dollars maintaining a service infrastructure and business model that can process 70% to 80% more first-class mail. And we all know first-class mail volume is going to only shrink.

Going forward, the vast majority of "mail" volume will be advertising mail, including nonprofit mail. Assume that nonprofit postal rates will rise as the nonprofit postal discount is phased out.

The key move in saving the postal service as a business will be the cost-saving transformation of how they distribute the mail. Home, neighborhood, and business delivery will end. Every person, household, and business that wants to receive mail will have to get a Post Office Box, but they won’t be at post offices. Post office buildings will cease being retail outlets. Interestingly enough, this change will set off a bidding war by retailers such as CVS, Walgreen’s and grocery chains to host neighborhood boxes. Retailers will love having postal patrons coming into their stores one or more times a week.

This move alone will quickly turn current postal losses into profits as it will also mean the downsizing of postal employees by half or more.

But what are the implications for nonprofit direct mail fund raisers?

We will address that in our next blog.

-Mike
Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

BIG's Blog: What Exactly is Public Relations Today?


If you think the nonprofit fundraising industry is going through change, how would you like to be in public relations?

If you’re in your 40s or 50s, you probably have some idea of what P.R. used to be.

Stuart Elliott writes in The New York Times that the industry of public relations has to redefine itself in the age of social media.

The Institute of Public Relations, the International Association of Business Communicators and the National Black Public Relations Society are coming together to redefine what public relations is in today’s world.

Adam Lavelle is the chief strategic officer of iCrossing, a unit of Hearst. “The definition is ripe for a refresh . . . before the rise of social media, public relations was about trying to manage the message an entity was sharing with different audiences. Now, P.R. has to be more about facilitating the ongoing conversation in the always-on world.”

Dan Tisch, chairman of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management has said, “In a world where the ordinary consumer is walking around with global publishing power in his or her pocket . . . the role of public relations and corporate communications has shifted from creating content to attempting to influence the content created by others.”

As you shift your fund raising and communications efforts from limited audiences, such as direct mail lists of donors and prospects where you control the message, to Internet-based communications, you are opening the organization to the world. In the Internet age, “control” has already passed to the consumer.

Just like the P.R. folks that are having to redefine what they do in the age of the Internet and social media, so too do nonprofit organizations, including their fundraising groups, need to redefine how they do business in the Internet age.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Monday, December 12, 2011

BIG’s Blog: The Attention Economy


“We are in information overload. We have so much coming at us; it is hard to process it all.”

Sound familiar? Whether it is you saying it or reading someone else saying something similar, the idea of information overload has been building for a long time.

Today we have myriad choices of content; the limiting factor in consuming this information is our ability to pay attention.

“Attention is focused mental engagement on a particular item of information. Items come into our awareness, we attend to a particular item, and then we decide whether to act.” (Davenport & Beck 2001, The Attention Economy: Understanding the Currency of Business).

The advertising industry has been worried about this for a long time. The advertising industry’s primary concern is getting consumers to consume advertising. Traditional media (including direct mail) assumes consumers follow a linear process in consuming media known by the acronym AIDA – Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Attention is the first and major stage in converting non-consumers into consumers. If you don’t get their attention, you’re sunk.

What are the audience trends in traditional media such as TV, direct mail, print and radio? They are pretty much collapsing.

Why?

Media options are exploding and the platform behind the exploding media options is the Internet.

But what marketers (and fund raisers) really want is the attention from those that are interested and able to buy (donate) now. When someone is looking, you want to be there.

Where is this happening?

On Google; it’s called "Search."

When you did your last Google search, do you remember those ads on the right side of the page?

How big a part of your fund raising budget is search?

-Mike

Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Friday, December 9, 2011

BIG’s Blog: The Old Ways


I was reminded the other day of what the actions of a nonprofit organization can say about their organization.

I received a year-end appeal from a faith-based organization. The letter began with the salutation: Dear Friend. You might have thought that it would start with Dear Mike or Dear Mr. Browne. Nope; it began with 'Dear Friend.'

You know what? I’m okay with that salutation, because I know the organization. My mother would be okay with that salutation. We remember the time that all appeal letters started that way. We have a connection to the organization . . . the name of the organization means something to us . . . their brand allows us to overlook their lack of sophistication in mail methodology. But, what if it was someone my daughter’s age?

Of course, it wouldn’t have taken much in direct mail sophistication to slightly personalize that salutation to Dear Mike; in fact, the cost would have been minimal.

What it did do was have me stop and ask myself what else in their ministry they may be behind the times in. Are they really productive in how they steward my donations vis-à-vis their mission work? I know they care, but are they wasting money?

I also worried about their future. If they are employing 1970’s direct mail techniques, how do they make the leap to Internet communications?

A lot of charities are being given a “pass” by their current donor base in that “the old ways” of doing things still work for them. But what’s the future of their fund raising look like if they keep doing what they have always done? Do they care about reaching people in their 40’s, 30’s and even 20’s?

I am hopeful that all organizations that read this blog are experiencing year-over-year fund raising revenue growth. But, I am hearing a lot of organizations are struggling to hit last year’s numbers.

As a new year approaches, maybe this is this new year you re-think “the old ways” of doing things.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

BIG’s Blog: Can Nonprofits Innovate?


In Monday’s blog, I explained both the philosophy of why our company searches out new “innovative” fund raising business models for today’s nonprofit fund raisers, but also why it is so core to our mission that we incorporate the word “innovation” into our company’s name.

But this begs the question, “Can nonprofits innovate themselves?”

My answer is that “yes” nonprofits can innovate; in fact, I could cite examples of surprising and successful innovation in the nonprofit world. But, I would also make the blanket statement that, as nonprofit organizations, including their fund raising arms, become institutions over time, older institutions are extremely resistant to change.

Virtually 100% of our client base is made up of nonprofit institutions that are 50+ years old and needed outside help to guide needed change.

However, I would be the first to say that if your organization has the internal resources, expertise and leadership commitment, by-all-means commit to innovate internally.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG’s Blog and yes, by all means forward our blog to your friends and co-workers.