BIG's (Browne Innovation Group): Blog

BIG’s Blog: Timidity

2012-02-06T22:45:00.000-06:00

Monday’s blog was tough sledding for many of my readers . . . No One Can Serve Two Masters.

Change is upon us and you have to be open to things you might not have thought of.

At Browne Innovation Group, we try not to sugar-coat the fact that the world of fundraising is changing but we want you to be a winner!

The winners will adopt new fundraising business models and will continue to grow their revenue stream for their organizations. It isn’t easy, but it certainly is rewarding. Just ask our clients.

The losers won’t move and that will be that.

There are many people who understand the perilous crossroads that many organizations are facing with digital disruption. One of those is the blogger and author Seth Godin. His recent blog was dead on.

In search of a timid trapeze artist

Good luck with that, there aren't any.
If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long.
And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution.
Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one.

-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: No One Can Serve Two Masters

2012-02-05T22:28:00.000-06:00

Jesus’ lesson goes way beyond money as the book of Matthew relates in Chapter 6, Verse 24. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The shift in fundraising methodology is so profoundly different that you need to separate your existing marketing fundraising functions along the analogue and digital divide. Separate direct mail from all digital and Internet-based marketing. Donor services need to be placed in the digital group as well, but I’ll talk about that another day.

The only exception to this hard and fast rule is if your fundraising group is very small; five or fewer. But if you have a significant, long tenured direct mail fundraising group with dedicated staff and your program is still viable, leave them alone.

Trying to force direct mail managers and staff with deep experience in the science and art of direct mail fundraising to take on elements of the new digital marketing just doesn’t work. Been there – tried that. It doesn’t work.

No one can serve two masters.

Digital and web-based fundraising applications are new and rising and are just now beginning to deliver a financial impact while analogue (direct mail) is still the dominant fundraising financial driver. . . even though long term it is declining.

Take your digital and web-based marketing functions and separate them. Manage them separately. Staff them separately. Prepare separate budgets.

No one can serve two masters.

-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: Finding a 21st Century Roadmap

2012-02-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

Let’s be honest, this change is massive. It’s bigger than just one thing, which is why we blog each time about just one element. We do this so that rather than “gulping” the elephant, you can eat it bite by bite.

Today I want to elevate one sub-group of my blog audience which is . . . interestingly enough . . . the oldest group of fundraisers in the nonprofit sector; they are the Catholic religious communities.

But secular nonprofit groups should still pay attention; there is much you can learn.

I am highlighting Catholic religious communities because virtually all of them were raising donations before direct mail fundraising became common fundraising practice. In fact, some of these religious communities pre-date the Postal Service.

Before mass marketing fundraising, individual members from these communities would travel out to churches, groups, and events, connecting with individuals by way of sharing stories about who they were and what their communities were about. They developed supporters one at a time. They kept in touch with these supporters. Over time they formed deep relationships with these supporters.

You could say that direct mail supplanted this personal contact methodology and you would be correct. And as direct mail fundraising evolved, the personal communication gave way to the “mass” communication. The process of acquiring supporters, thanking supporters, and just communicating with supporters evolved into a “mass” process. And insofar as all other fundraisers followed the same process, it worked for all. But that didn’t mean it was the most comfortable for the religious communities.

Today through technology we have evolved personal and interactive ways to communicate using the Internet. Many Catholic religious communities are seeing the connection to the “old ways” of connecting as becoming the “new way” of personally connecting to their supporters; returning to a more comfortable approach to developing relationships with supporters. One joked with me the other day that the past 80 years was a small aberration for her group and they wanted to return to their roots and connect personally with their many supporters. She viewed the Internet as allowing them to develop the depth of relationship they used to enjoy between themselves and their supporters.

Catholic religious communities are drawn to this more personal person-to-person contact methodology, but are struggling for a 21st century roadmap.

Many of these groups are engaging with us and it is exciting! Collectively, we are integrating the new technologies with the “old ways” of personally connecting and communicating. Very exciting indeed!

-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: What are you?

2012-01-31T21:57:00.000-06:00

An onion is an onion. But the onion provides a great metaphor because of its construction to help us all think about something that’s really confusing.

You are the leader, or are a part of the leadership team, of your organization’s fundraising group. But if you peel back your fundraising group all the way to its core (as you would peel back an onion) you hopefully will get to the “reason for your existence.”

Fundraising . . . right?

We can study the philosophy of philanthropy and spend a lifetime working through the nuances of “why people give,” but if your group is charged with raising funds to power the missions of your organization and the funds are not hitting the goals that you set, that’s a problem.

We are always comfortable with what we know, and a part of that is forgetting what we “are” and instead seeing ourselves as “what we do.” This is always a big challenge in times of great change like we are experiencing today.

Huh?

It isn’t just fundraisers that fall into this. It is so endemic that it is easy to find all kinds of similar examples. Take the railroads for example.

The railroads forgot that they were in the transportation business, carrying passengers and freight. They saw themselves as railroads and evolved a culture . . . some would say a romantic narrative . . . around all the history, events and characters (think Casey Jones) of what the railroad culture means.

And insofar as the people that actually built and worked on the track beds, ran the trains or otherwise focused on the operation of the railroad, the culture of being a railroad man or woman made sense.

But for the leaders or members of the senior leadership team that ran the company that actually owned the railroads, forgetting they were in the transportation business was inexcusable.

As new transportation technologies developed, and began to siphon off passenger traffic, why didn’t they follow their customers and incorporate these new transportation technologies into their transportation companies? Why don’t we have Union Pacific airlines, or Burlington Northern airlines? Exactly!

For fundraisers it’s no different today. If you view your fundraising group as direct mail and planned giving, because that is what you “do” today, rather than following communication technology and your current and potential donors as they fundamentally shift how they communicate, engage, and donate, you will actually be worse off than the railroads. At least the railroads had a freight business to fall back on.

-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: The 99% and the 1%

2012-01-29T23:16:00.000-06:00

I overheard only two words from the conversation of two young ladies behind the hotel desk: “Haiti” and “earthquake.” I immediately opened my smartphone and clicked on my Wall Street Journal app. Under the tab,“What’s News,” there it was under a banner of “Breaking News:” the first report of a report of an earthquake in Haiti.

We digest news and information differently now. Electronic media and word of mouth give us the broad brush strokes of what is happening. But, it is digital media that offers us the deep dive into the details.

We hear things all the time and 99% of it won’t be in our memory banks five minutes later because it doesn’t connect to our lives. But when we do hear something or see a headline about something we personally care about – like “Haiti” and “earthquake” to me; we are immediately going to the internet to seek out all the information we can find.

As direct-mail fundraisers you send out a lot of direct-mail appeals. That is information. If there is a story in your appeal or a particular issue you are addressing to your donors and friends, it had also better be on your website.

For the 1% of the information that matters to us, your website provides something we never had before. It connects seekers of more information to a deeper understanding of the story or issue that is relevant to them.

-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: U.S. Banks and Fundraisers Need a New Business Model

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

Nonprofit fundraising isn’t the only sector of the economy that is seeking out a new business model. How about American banks?

The consulting company McKinsey recently released a paper by Toos Daruvata that details the problems U.S. banks face and their need to fundamentally redo how they do business. “By business model, we mean how banks actually operate – how work is done, the degree of automation, the pricing and design of their products, and the underlying compensation systems.”

Aren’t banks still making money? Yes, but not enough. Banks are owned by investors and if an investor’s bank stock investment is worse than other classes of investments, the investor will sell their bank stock. If too many people want to sell their bank stocks, the stock price goes way down.

Today banks are being buffeted in three areas; expanded capital requirements, increased regulations, and consumers and businesses deleveraging. “These forces of change will compel banks to reinvent their core banking business. In five years, branch banking will probably look fundamentally different as branch layouts, formats, and employee capabilities change. The use of Internet and mobile devices will grow exponentially. Overall, the cost of serving each customer in a branch is likely to fall by one-third.”

But what about fundraisers? If fundraisers stay with current failing fundraising business models then donations will begin to decline and the work or ministry of the organization becomes stunted. Soon donors that continue to hang on begin to see the organization declining and they, too, pull back.

There will be many nonprofit organizations that fail because their fundraising failed to adopt new fundraising business models.

When a bank fails, it is a bad thing. Some people lose their jobs and investors lose their investments. When a nonprofit organization fails – that is a tragedy. Critical services or ministries are lost to those who really needed them.

-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: Death by a Thousand Cuts

2012-01-24T23:13:00.000-06:00

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union’s armies controlled Eastern Europe. Many of these Eastern European countries had been western-style democracies before the war. To his shame, FDR agreed to the Soviet demand to allow “spheres of influence” in the territories (former independent countries) occupied by the Allied armies.

There was never any question that the U. S., France and Britain would allow the countries they occupied to freely elect post-war governments, including Germany. The Soviets had other plans.

But even the Soviets knew they could not quickly impose their domination on eastern countries like Poland and Yugoslavia while the American and British armies were still in place.

The Soviet tactic was to slowly, very slowly, put like-minded communists in leadership positions, change former constitutions, and rewrite laws in these formerly democratic countries. Their thinking was that the populations wouldn’t rebel because the changes were slow and incremental. But they had the effect of slowly ceding democratic rights to the state; the state that was now dominated by Soviet puppet leaders. It was called “Death by a thousand cuts.”

Last Sunday the U. S. Postal Service raised rates yet again. Slow and insidious price increases by Postal management that do nothing to make the Postal Service a better service or that underpin changes that would turn the Postal Service into a viable 21st century organization and business. Death by a thousand cuts.

-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: The “Words” Struck a Nerve

2012-01-22T23:47:00.000-06:00

“So while the old players are lamenting you can’t do it the old way, nimble players are utilizing the new tools to gain advantage.”

We live in our own worlds. So we can be forgiven when we “misinterpret” people we think are talking about our world, when in fact, they are talking about something else entirely.

But even when we figure out they are not talking about our world, and take a step back, we can’t help but notice how similar the “issues” are.

It turned out that the above quote came from the head of an Internet company who was opining that the SOPA and PIPA bills currently in front of Congress dealing with protecting intellectual property and stopping online piracy actually could have the effect of infringing on freedom of speech and could hurt future Web development. The bills enjoy particularly strong support in Hollywood and the music industry.

I could have sworn it came from a nonprofit fundraising blogger describing the all too prevalent attitude among way too may senior direct mail fundraising executives.

-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: Can You Change the World with Donor Service?

2012-01-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

“Life is service,” said hotel magnate E. M. Statler, “and the one who progresses is the one who gives his fellow human beings a little more, a little better service.”

Service is about the entire experience. For businesses, it’s about making it easier for customers to spend money with you. Customers will be happier, you will be happier.

Service is about the entire experience. For not-for-profits, it’s about making it easier for donors to donate money to your organization. Donors will be happier, you will be happier.

Every single not-for-profit organization serves somebody. Service is ultimately the core cause of virtually every not-for-profit. Therefore, every not-for-profit should understand the word service.

Why, then, are there still not-for-profit organizations that make it either difficult or impossible to give online?

Spend waaaay more time making your online donation process easier than you do nitpicking your campaign copy!

Your organization’s concern about your donor service says waaaay more to current and potential donors than your copy.

Can you change the world with donor service? Only with happy donors.

-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: Mobile Buying Trends Portend Mobile Giving Trends

2012-01-17T23:10:00.000-06:00

You sense that a trend is a hot topic when there is a lot of research around it.

Some time back, I wrote about the prediction that smartphones in 2012 would soon account for over 50% of all mobile phones. Tablet (think iPad and Kindle Fire) growth is also double digit. Both smartphones and tablets are considered ‘mobile’ devices by research companies that are gauging the growing mobile use of online commerce.

Both research from Wakefield Research and IBM showed that the proportion of mobile online retail sales doubled to 11% in December of 2011 from 5.5% a year earlier. And of online consumers that had a mobile device, 38% used their mobile device to purchase a gift.

Not surprisingly, 18-34 year-olds were most likely to make a mobile purchase, and again, not surprisingly, the iPhone and the iPad drove the most retail online traffic.

John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay, recently said that gross merchandise volume from mobile devices in 2011 hit $5 billion for eBay and he expects it to hit $8 billion in 2012. That’s a 60% increase in one year!

To a fundraising industry tied to print and ink direct mail, this research is just another indication that to reach younger demographics...your next generation of donors...you must be moving online.

-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: The Power of Habits

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000-06:00

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

It’s an age-old imponderable, but also a metaphor for what perceptive fundraisers are asking today.

Most fundraisers that depend on direct mail today understand that direct mail’s effectiveness is dropping year after year. But why; and what do we do about it?

The focus turns to “new” digital media and digital communications like email.

But what if the “big story” isn’t the new media or the digital communications we think are important today? What if it’s about the devices?

We all understand today that tablets (think iPad) and mobile smartphones are increasingly where people are accessing their email, search, varied applications like Facebook, and even online news sites.

Aren’t the devices what are changing our habits? Don’t we have to pay as much or more attention to the new habits of access as we do to what we access? After all, my changing habits are what are having me cancel my print edition to the Wall Street Journal, but keep my digital access. The only time I read the print paper is the weekend edition . . . maybe.

But for the last two years I had both the print and the digital subscription. What changed? I got a new smartphone with the ability to access the WSJ app and I got the iPad that gave me the ability to access through the WSJ app or the WSJ website through the Internet. Now my habits dictate that the print edition is constantly old news and so I cancel it. The devices are moving me and everyone else to focus on digital access. The devices are changing our habits.

Changing habits drives real change.

-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: When Does It Get Serious?

2012-01-12T22:00:00.001-06:00

Fundraising results are trickling in and we are hearing it’s a mixed bag of results for last fall and Christmas season giving. Not surprisingly, our clients are mostly reporting gains. Of course, many of our clients have been some of the most successful fundraisers over the last ten years.

Our clients’ “transformation” initiatives for which they engaged us haven’t fully kicked in, or in some cases are still in the building phase. We tell all our clients to think of the initiative as a “Decade of Transformation.”

Do we wish they would move faster? Of course; but the pace of transformation needs to be driven by the organization.

There is one womens religious community that can’t move fast enough. They understand that their opening to the world is through the Internet. And they understand that transforming their fundraising approach to "Real-Time" and "Always-on" will not only expand donations, but will also affect every other part of their community from vocations to expanding missions.

-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!

Introducing BIG TV! (Retry!)

2012-01-12T08:42:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends,

I apologize for the hard-to-read text on our first email!

I want to introduce you to Browne Innovation Group’s latest tool for communicating with you. We call it BIG TV.

Please forward this email to your associates, nonprofit fundraising peers, and friends.

Thanks for watching,

-Mike

BIG’s Blog: Figuring It Out – Or Not

2012-01-10T23:00:00.002-06:00

An article in the WSJ had a call-out box that got my attention: Digital technology continues to roil all manner of once-dominant companies.

The article was about Barnes & Noble, the once-dominant book retailer that left smaller bookstores quaking in fear to a struggling giant, grasping for a plan to ensure its long-term relevance in the publishing industry.

I’m betting Barnes & Noble will figure it out. Why? Because the article goes on to tell us that they are not trying to figure it out all by themselves. In addition to engaging outside consultants, they are talking to groups and individuals far and wide. They even instituted a strategic-review process.

How does that differ from Borders Books that went out of business last year? I’ve heard that “the geniuses” that ran Borders stated over and over: they didn’t need outside help and could figure it out themselves.

Proverbs 20:18 Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance . . .

-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: Disruption

2012-01-08T22:27:00.000-06:00

This year . . . 2012 . . . is going to be a critical “decision year” for a lot of fundraising organizations and their leadership.

What’s the scariest word for people managing businesses and organizations today? No, it’s not recession, depression, unemployment or the skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Those are big problems and worries, but nothing compared to Disruption.

Disruption is an existential threat. Disruption is a term economists use to define the effect of organizations failing to reinvent themselves for the digital future.

Sector after sector of the economy has faced the “changing force” of digital disruption.

The music industry was one of the first to face it when a couple of engineers created Napster. Napster allowed people to share their music back and forth without having to buy their own album. The reaction of the music establishment was to get Napster shut down. In this battle they succeeded, but they ultimately lost the war. Today, the old model of distributing music is, if not dead, certainly dying. Remember when Best Buy had a huge area of CDs? Today, the shelves of CDs are gone and Best Buy only sells music online. And now there is Spotify.com and other music sites that are practically like the old Napster.

Why isn’t the music establishment trying to shut down Spotify.com? Because even they are seeing the explosion of new artists as the public demands the ability to get their songs online. And the big hook is free music. A new business model for the music industry is emerging and digital plus the Internet is at the heart of it.

And now disruption is coming to fundraising.

Years ago a wise person told me, “Hope is not a plan.”

Guess what? Having a website, doing email marketing or . . . the latest buzz word . . . “integrated marketing” won’t in and of themselves somehow miraculously transition your fundraising into a successful digital model.

You think that bolting on digital tools to your current fundraising organization is going to carry you to the new fundraising Promised Land?

I cannot install a brand new state-of-the-art Bose sound system in my old 1986 Ford F-150 pickup truck. The electrical system can’t handle it.

Where’s the plan?

Every month we get email and mail requests for proposals to provide comprehensive reviews and evaluations of direct mail programs. Beginning January 1st of this year, we will no longer provide that service. Perhaps a better way of saying it is; “We will no longer waste your organization’s TIME or MONEY providing what is essentially a useless service.”

The gist of these requests comes down to the following: “Our direct mail program has been declining in effectiveness for some years; we need recommendations to make it profitable again.”

Our firm arguably has more experience in direct mail marketing (read direct mail fundraising) than many consulting groups. I personally have practiced direct mail marketing for over 35 years. We could make recommendations that would tinker around the edges and improve performance. But in helping you momentarily improve your declining direct mail fundraising performance, you only postpone dealing with the real issue which is fundamentally transforming the way you think about fundraising and practice fundraising in the new digital world.

The real issue is that the digital future has arrived for fundraisers.

2012 is going to be a "critical decision" year for fundraisers.

-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: Misprint Alert!!!

2012-01-06T09:30:00.002-06:00

In the fifth-to-last paragraph of today’s post, the text should read, “Fundraisers AREN’T being manipulative,” rather than “Fundraisers are being manipulative.”
We apologize for the controversial misprint!

-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: 2012 Will Be the Year You Make Your Move!

2012-01-05T23:22:00.001-06:00

In early 2010 – two years ago – Forrester Research wrote: “Changes to technology, media, and society at large have led the advertising industry into an ‘adaptive marketing’ era, defined by greater interaction with consumers and initiatives tailored to the individual. The era will see marketers (read fundraisers) create more holistic (read integrated), consumer-focused (read donor-focused) strategies, while abandoning ‘push’ marketing. Companies will also seek to create consumer ‘experiences’ instead of campaigns and change their strategies to reach ‘individuals’ instead of segmented audiences.”

Three things really pop out of that prediction:
1) abandon “push” marketing
2) create consumer “experiences”
3) reach “individuals” instead of segmented audiences

I really do pity the poor consumer product marketers today. Old line advertising (push marketing: as in push out your message) is fading in effectiveness. Telling consumers “what to buy” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Virtually nobody makes a serious purchase today without searching on the Internet for ratings, comparable products, and, of course, price comparisons.

A few companies get the “experience” part right (think Apple); most really struggle. Come on, a toothpaste experience?!?!

And targeting individuals instead of segmented audiences; now that’s a radical departure for marketers that grew up with an audience paradigm.

Nonprofit organizations are different. Nonprofits aren’t schlepping a product or service. With nonprofit organizations, it’s the cause.

And, ladies and gentlemen, the new adaptive marketing era which seeks to create an “experience” through tools and technologies is tailor made for nonprofit fundraising marketing which seeks to touch emotions.

Fundraisers aren't being manipulative. A nonprofit’s cause is all about emotion. That is what motivates individuals to give of their time, talent and treasure.

Are you beginning to see why I talk all the time about “The New Golden Age of Fundraising?”

I’m not making this stuff up. Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company that provides advice on existing and potential impact of technology, to its clients and the public.

What we (you and me) have witnessed over the last two years has vindicated their prediction from 2010.

It’s time to make your move!

-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: Apple Still On Top

2012-01-03T23:00:00.001-06:00

If my house is a microcosm, Google Android better get its act together. The latest Android I’ve seen, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus with 4.0 version of Google’s mobile OS, is very fast and runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but is actually bigger than the iPhone.

Too late for my wife who loves her new iPhone 4S after struggling with two versions of Android smartphones. And Siri, Apple’s built in digital assistant is the icing on her Apple iPhone cake. Both my 20-something daughters are jealous of mom’s new phone, so guess what they will buy when their current Android smartphones are up for trade?

According to Neilson figures that were just released, Apple is still on top with 29% marketshare of smartphone sales, then HTC running Android at 21% and Blackberry at 17%.

I’ve got a one-year-old Blackberry flip but no touchscreen, and a minute selection of apps compared to Apple and Google. Back in 2007, when the iPhone first came out, Blackberry was king. But Google and Apple evolved their platform, bringing in the apps marketplace for the apps that brought more people to smartphones.

Smartphone penetration of the mobile phone market will pass 50% this year.

What are your donors carrying in their pockets and purses? And are you planning to communicate with them through their smartphones this 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!

BIG’s Blog: Playing Golf With My Brother

2012-01-01T23:00:00.003-06:00

My brother likes to play golf with me...but there is a problem. My brother really likes to play golf but he doesn’t have any clubs, golf balls, or tees.

When we play golf, we have to share the same clubs and other golf paraphernalia.

The other big problem is neither of us hit straight down the fairway. I tend to hit to the right and my brother tends to hit to the left.

Can you imagine how hard it is to play all over the fairway with one bag of golf clubs?

Some nonprofit fundraising groups that want to transform themselves into internet-connected, new media-savvy fundraisers are having trouble breaking old habits.

Which brings me back to my point; if you are going to play golf, you have to have your own golf clubs. And if you are going to build a fundraising team that works in the technology-connected world, all the members of the team need to have their own technology tools.

Trying to share computers, tablets, or smartphones isn’t going to work. These are the basic “tools” of the work you are doing. Everyone working in fundraising needs their own computer, tablet, and smartphone.

-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: You Really Think You’ve Got Time?

2011-12-29T23:30:00.001-06:00

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!

BIG’s Blog: Time to Transform

2011-12-28T07:58:00.000-06:00

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!

BIG’s Blog: Deadline for Dollars Re-Do

2011-12-26T12:27:00.000-06:00

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

2011-12-26T08:27:00.001-06:00

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: Thanks For Your Time!

2011-12-22T23:30:00.001-06:00

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.

BIG’s Blog: When the Post Office Changes

2011-12-20T23:33:00.004-06:00

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.

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

2011-12-18T23:55:00.004-06:00

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.

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

2011-12-14T23:06:00.006-06:00

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.

BIG’s Blog: The Attention Economy

2011-12-12T23:33:00.014-06:00

“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.

BIG’s Blog: The Old Ways

2011-12-09T01:46:00.000-06:00

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.

BIG’s Blog: Can Nonprofits Innovate?

2011-12-07T00:10:00.000-06:00

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.

BIG’s Blog: Innovation

2011-12-05T00:50:00.000-06:00

Recently, someone asked me why we called our firm Browne Innovation Group. The point of their question was the word “Innovation.”

Actually, that was a really good question and after I told them the reason, they said, “You should write that in a blog.”

So, here it is.

If you look up the word 'innovation' in the dictionary, it can be a bit confusing and even misleading on first read. Typically, the first definition is: “Something new or different introduced, as in; numerous innovations in the high-school curriculum.”

But, you need to be careful that you don’t confuse innovation with invention. 'Invention' is defined as: “something that did not exist previously.”

Invention is something brand new.

Innovation is something new or different, but, refers to a variation on a theme or an iteration of the previous thing or idea.

The point of drawing the distinction is to explain that our philosophy at Browne Innovation Group is not to invent something new; frankly, that is way too hard and way too expensive.

Innovation used in the context of nonprofit fund raising means looking for new business models . . . coming mainly from the commercial world . . . and applying them to nonprofit fund raising.

We do not intend to invent something new; our clients still raise funds as fund raisers, but the way they do their fund raising changes as they adopt a new business model. Their new fund raising business model is an innovation over the old fund raising model.

Browne Innovation Group has found successful business models that today’s fund raisers can use as their old business models begin to fail.

In other words; we let the commercial world pioneer and perfect successful methodologies (business models) and then we borrow them for nonprofit fund raising.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Mobile for Fund Raising – Part Three

2011-12-02T02:49:00.000-06:00

How do we get information quickly and inexpensively to people with mobile smartphones that want to know about your organization's mission and work?

To listen to Laura Marriott, the CEO of NeoMedia, the answer is the convergence of mobile and mobile barcodes; also called QR-codes.

Ms. Marriott says, “Mobile is changing the way in which consumers (read donors) interact with the world around them. Mobile provides marketers with an enormous opportunity to engage a target audience in a way that has not been possible using other channels before. The consumer/donor is looking for flexibility, convenience and control over their interactions with organizations and mobile provides them with that ability.”

Mobile barcodes are a key means of enabling a rich media experience allowing them to quickly access content and relevant information.

Want to see how this looks? Click here.

While you are still producing copious quantities of direct mail, maybe you should printing QR-codes on the mail.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Mobile for Fund Raising – Part Two

2011-12-01T02:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we learned that people are increasingly using mobile devices . . . smartphones and tablets . . . to check out Web sites. But, does your organization have a smartphone or tablet version of your Web site?

If you do, then you are ahead of the game.

But if you don’t, it turns out you are in good company. According to Sean Carton in his article entitled, Go Mobile Now!, 70% of all business Web sites do not have mobile smartphone or tablet versions. I wonder what the number is for nonprofit Web sites?

Sean states, “We’ve gone past the point where having a mobile device is an option. Currently, upwards of 80 million people in the U.S. have smartphones. The mobile Web has clearly reached critical mass.”

So, why are so many behind in mobilizing their Web sites? Sean Carton believes it is the usual suspects; tight budgets, expertise in mobile is hard to come by, and most organizations are still struggling with social media and expanding marketing channels. Sound familiar?

It turns out it doesn’t have to be expensive, time consuming or technically difficult. Click on the link above and read the full article which offers options for converting your Web site.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Mobile for Fund Raising – Part One

2011-11-30T01:22:00.000-06:00

Where is mobile today and what does it mean for fund raisers?

IBM’s Coremetrics Benchmark Industry Report released November 4 predicted online holiday shopping in November to grow 15% compared to last year. This is huge.

“Mobile commerce is expected to surge this holiday season because of an increase in iPad and Android device adoption,” said John Squires, chief strategy officer of IBM Coremetrics. “We are witnessing the end of the PC era,” he added.

“All of those people who predicted the last ten years that next year would be the year of mobile are finally right,” said Squires.

So what does this surge in people going to Web sites through their mobile devices have to do with your fund raising organization?

Have you bothered to create a mobile smartphone or tablet version of your Web site?

If you have, great!

If you haven’t . . . well, check out our blog tomorrow for quick ideas to help.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: The iPod Killed the Walkman

2011-11-29T03:16:00.000-06:00

At a recent family reunion, iPads outnumbered laptops eight to one. And yes, the laptops were driven by 50ish uncles.

And the PCs, well, my take is that if I were Meg Whitman at HP, I’d reverse my decision to keep the PC division and close it.

iPads are already devastating the PC marketshare. What the kids and adults used to do on PCs, they now do on iPads. You still use a laptop or PC at work, but at home it’s the iPad.

And the future? A recent Neilson survey shows kids electronic appetites run to the iPad. The Neilson survey quantifies what I saw in my own family.

By-the-way, the iPad falls under the category of mobile.

The iPod killed the Walkman.

The iPad is killing the PC.

The Kindle and the iPad are killing printed books.

And all the above are killing direct mail. So, it is no surprise the U.S. Postal Service just announced proposed rate increases for 2012.

So what should fund raisers do?

Starting next year, we will be partnering with several different organizations and companies offering ½ day seminars on transforming your fund raising. If you are interested, please send me an email and I will make certain you get an invitation if there is one in your area.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Digital?

2011-11-27T23:40:00.000-06:00

Later this week, I will be blogging about the rise of mobile. Mobile and mobile media is a game changer for marketers and fund raisers. To prove the point, a recent IBM report states that 15% of all online holiday shopping this year will be done on mobile devices.

I’m always conflicted when I write blogs about the growth in digital and digital media because although all nonprofit charities have Web sites, and a few are starting to use social media, there is no real plan on how to use the shift to digital to transform fund raising. There is just huge institutional momentum to keep doing what we have always done and for long-established fund raisers that means direct mail.

But, it isn’t just the charity realm of nonprofits; it seems other nonprofit industry sectors and even the governmental sector are the last bastions of the pre-digital.

The four industry sectors most resistant to digital transformation are: 1) Education, 2) Healthcare, 3) Charities and 4) Government. And of these four, government is starting to make the most strides to embrace digital reacting no doubt to the economic pressure of less revenue.

My personal goal for government and the day I will be able to say government has fully embraced digital is when I can vote online.

Think about that.

I believe the day is fast approaching where you will be able to vote online, at your desk, at work, or at home.

Then, of course, you will either; go to work or if you voted at work, turn around and start planning your next pre-digital direct mail campaign.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: I Know How to Lift the 2%

2011-11-25T01:35:00.000-06:00

A recent report by Blackbaud and the Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising began with a piece of not-so-good news.

In the United States, charitable giving is estimated to be around two percent of average household disposable (after tax) income. Regrettably, this is also the 40-year average for this figure, indicating that, despite an increasing effort on the part of nonprofits, individuals today are no more generous than their predecessors were over four decades ago.

To the authors credit, they actually listed 32 recommendations and divided them into four themes: Theme One: Enhancing the Quality of Donor Relationships, Theme Two: Developing Public Trust and Confidence, Theme Three: Identifying New Audiences, Channels, and Forms of Giving with Strong Potential for Growth, Theme Four: Improving the Quality of Fundraising Training and Development.

Many of these recommendations are good, others are common sense, but still, others are silly and a few are self-serving. And when I read the list of the groups and individuals that participated in this study, while giving them an “A” for effort; I would have to say that their ideas and recommendations – even if all fully implemented – wouldn’t budge the needle. It reminds me of the old saying, “Today’s Generals are always fighting the last war.”

I have read and re-read the report and it strikes me that there is little or nothing in the report that focuses attention on the most “disruptive” force in world commerce today – and that is the Internet.

In 1996, Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corporation was quoted as saying, “The Internet changes everything.” Fifteen years later, the Elites of nonprofit fund raising haven’t figured out disruption has come to the nonprofit fund raising sector. And it is this disruption that offers the opportunity to “change everything.”

You know what the definition of insanity is don’t you? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Hey guys, you’ve spent forty years and haven’t moved the needle. How about internalizing, “The Internet Changes Everything?”

As an aside, if there was ever one of my blogs to pass along, this is the one. As is evidenced by this report from what we would perceive to be the Elites of fund raising, they are clueless as to the reality and implications of the huge digital shift going on. In fact, if you know anyone or any of the groups that participated in this study, please send them my blog; not to make them mad, but, to hopefully shake their tree and wake them up.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: To Make Great Decisions, Clear the Head

2011-11-24T10:50:00.000-06:00

Joshua Ehrlick is an Executive Coach. He works with both senior executives and on-the-fast-track young executives.

One of the first things he tells them; getting stuff done is overrated. Knowing where you are going and how to get there – strategy – is everything.

Too many senior executives spend too much time “doing” and not enough time “thinking.”

So, on this long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, if you are feeling scattered and stressed by the amount of work on your plate at work, take a few minutes to read and then re-read Joshua’s five rules for breaking your transactional mindset so that you can focus on needed strategy and direction for your organization.

Remove the obstacles. Say “no” to administrative tasks and unnecessary meetings. Work on building a stronger team so you will feel comfortable trusting and delegating. Stay out of details best left to others and start zooming out – looking ahead at your team’s strategy.

Quiet the noise. Carve out quiet time to help your focus to become clearer. Mindful breathing can help quiet internal distractions. Sit for five minutes each morning with the intent of focusing on your breathing. Mindfulness helps leaders solve problems more creatively and learn more quickly and flexibly. Begin to read more broadly and attend conferences in search of new ideas and to network.

Percolate. Begin to journal and reflect on your ideas. But keep a diverse group of advisors engaged in your ideas so you are not self-deceived by the brilliance of untested ideas.

Clarify your message. Half the battle with strategic thinking is conveying your vision clearly. Test your ideas with colleagues and advisors and ask for feedback based upon what they heard.

Keep reflecting and adjusting. A strategy must be effective. Adjust and tweak your strategy so that it fits your organization.

Of course, some of these tips may not work for everyone. Find what works, and keep polishing it.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: The Power Shift

2011-11-23T00:35:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, I quoted Peter Drucker from 2003: “In the next few years, power will shift to the customer – for the simple reason that the customer now has full access to information worldwide.”

And, of course, at the heart of Mr. Drucker’s power shift is Internet-based Search (think Google).

Virtually all nonprofit fund raisers and more commercial companies than you would think still put the vast majority of their marketing efforts into the broadcast media and audience paradigm.

What do all broadcast media have in common?

First, the information flow is one-way.

Second, the “power” is with the broadcaster.

But, Peter Drucker says power is shifting to the customer (donor) based upon access to any information we seek.

The customer isn’t waiting for a broadcast. The customer is “looking” for what they are interested in – NOW.

If the customer (donor) is looking; will they find your organization? And if they do find your organization, is there someone ready to engage them in real-time?

If your goal is to attract donors, then understand Search and be ready to Engage in Real-Time.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: What’s A Donor Cost/Worth?

2011-11-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

Publishers Note: We are sorry that the previous posting of this blog truncated and did not print in full. Below is the complete blog for Tuesday, November 22, 2011.

I spend hundreds of hours a year writing and talking with nonprofit fund raising leaders about shifting their fund raising dependence on direct mail to multiple Internet-based applications and channels.

Two things every nonprofit fund raiser needs to know. First, how much does it cost to acquire a new donor, and second, what is the Lifetime Value of a donor?

When I ask their direct mail managers, they immediately give me answers to the above questions. This is a standard metric direct mail fund raisers have been tracking for decades.

But then I ask, “What are your Internet-based channel equivalents?”

Blank stares.

Why do I ask? Because the Internet is shifting the economic paradigm. Facebook and LinkedIn (to name just two) are delivering new prospects at close to zero cost. How does that compare to cost-per-acquisition in direct mail when fully 60+ % of acquired donors do not give a second gift? Yes, I know Internet-based approaches can be two, three or more steps before you convert to a donor, but when a person engages with your organization for almost zero cost, the Lifetime Value metric looks real good, real fast.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Who is the Best?

2011-11-21T09:19:00.000-06:00

What is your mission worth?

What is the difference in salary cost between “who you can afford” and “the A player” you really want and need? 10% more, 20% more, 30% more, double?

What is the difference between what the A player can accomplish and the other guy you can afford? 2X, 4X, 10X?

The difference between mediocre results and off-the-charts results.

First, determine who the A player is, and then go after her with a vengeance.

Why?

Because your mission is worth it.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: A Smile To End The Week

2011-11-18T00:11:00.000-06:00

To end the week, a couple of bumper stickers from my travels:

“A closed mind is a wonderful thing to lose.”

“Money talks . . . it says bye, bye.”

Have a great weekend.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Fascinating Juxtaposition!

2011-11-16T21:38:00.000-06:00

Be honest.

A couple of years ago when the government was bailing out General Motors and Chrysler, you thought GM would probably make it, but Chrysler . . . not so much.

Now comes word that Chrysler – now owned by Fiat, the Italian automaker – is expanding its workforce in the U.S. as demand for autos continues to expand.

So what’s the “fascinating juxtaposition” I refer to in the title? Well, National Public Radio does the work for me. They juxtapose Chrysler’s expansion as their business grows to another American icon going a different direction.

But enough reading; click on the link below and give a listen. It takes less than a minute.

Carmakers’ Volume Goes Up . . .

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: The Philanthropy Pie Gets Divided Even More!

2011-11-16T02:48:00.000-06:00

When we talk to groups around the country, we share three major drivers that are changing the world of fund raising today. They are: 1) a generational shift in donors, 2) the information technology revolution, especially in communications, and 3) the rise of competition in fund raising.

Almost invariably, it is a surprise to many in our audience that we focus on rising competition. In 1987, the IRS reported 420,000 501(c)3 nonprofit corporations. Ten years later in 1997, the number had grown to 690,000. By 2010, a mere 13 years later, the number had more than doubled to over 1.5 million.

According to a just published report by Blackbaud and the Hartsook Institute for Fund Raising entitled, Growing Philanthropy in the United States, charitable giving is estimated to be around two percent of average household disposable (after tax) income. And the authors point out that regrettably, this is also the 40-year average for this figure, indicating that, despite an increasing effort on the part of nonprofits, individuals today are no more generous than their predecessors more than four decades ago.

Well, get ready to divide up the pie even more.

A recent article by Marisa Lopez-Rivera for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, states that more than 12 million Americans, from 44 to 70 years old would like to start nonprofits or businesses that solve social problems. The new study by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank was supported by the MetLife Foundation and compiled by Penn Schoen Berland, a marketing research firm.

-Mike

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

BIG’s Blog: Apple’s Siri is as Revolutionary as the Mac

2011-11-14T20:24:00.000-06:00

You’ve got to figure out how to transition your paper-based fund raising model to digital online. You know that is the future; but how?

Every day that goes by, the gulf widens between how you are doing fund raising and the “real way” more and more of the populous is communicating. And this communications just keeps evolving.

James Allworth is a Fellow at Harvard Business School and just wrote a blog on the importance of what Apple just introduced with their latest iPhone model, the iPhone 4 S.

Apple’s Siri is as Revolutionary as the Mac

Read this and if you still think you can “wait” to transform your fund raising, call me.

-Mike

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