BIG’s Blog: Three Part Series on the Future of Fundraising – Part Two

What Is The Alternative For Fundraisers To Direct Mail?

In the second installment of this series, the worm turns. Up to this point there has been the negative overhang of talking about declining direct mail.

This is where we can all turn positive!

I firmly believe that nonprofit fundraisers are at the cusp of a new Golden Age in fundraising. Will it “look” and “feel” like the fundraising world you all grew up in? The answer is no.

But… and this is a big BUT… it will be so much more productive in generating donations and connecting and engaging all of the constituents of your organization; from volunteers, to those you help and serve, to employees, as well as donors.

The Internet is changing our world. And the Internet changes everything. The Internet is a powerful platform that connects people. You may know this intellectually because you use email, Facebook, or the myriad other Internet-based services, but are you really grasping the reality of being wired to everyone on the planet?

Do you think I am being “over the top?” Well, there are about 7 billion people in the world. Facebook will shortly have 1 billion users and it’s only 9 years old as a company. How old is your organization? One billion down and six billion to go; and that’s just Facebook.

If you can reach everybody on the planet… and they can reach you… in real-time…what does that mean?

This is not science fiction. This isn’t coming sometime in the future. THIS IS NOW!

Right now, maybe your head is spinning. Maybe you’re worried you don’t how to do this… what it looks like…what it means for YOU.

If that is what you are worried about… congratulations… you’ve just made the leap from the old analog print-and-ink audience-based world to the Real-time, Always-on Internet world.

Now all you have to do is start learning what you don’t know . . . yet.

Remember when you got your first computer? Remember when you first tried to figure out Microsoft Outlook or some other computer program? Back then, you didn’t know what you didn’t know. And today you DO know those programs and many more besides. So tomorrow, you will know what you don’t know today.

In our final installment, I will address The First Thing Fundraisers Must Do To Make the Shift To The Internet


-Mike

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