BIG’s Blog: Optimism

My friend Jim Clifton, who is the CEO of the Gallup Organization, recently wrote a blog entitled Strategy: Maximize Your Current Customers.

It is an incredibly important reminder that there is much more value in existing relationships than constantly bringing in new customers (or donors in the case of nonprofits).

But what do you do if you have no customers … or donors, in the case of nonprofits?

Of course businesses will never run out of potential customers, but what about nonprofits? If they keep on their current path, they will run out of donors.

Fundraising’s most pressing issue is that soon, many nonprofit organizations won’t have any new or existing donors to maximize. The fall-off in new donor acquisition, plus that 60%+ of first time donors who never give a second gift is making the economics of acquiring new donors with traditional methods unsustainable.

This is the dirty little secret in fundraising that NOBODY wants to talk about. It is the impending disaster.

D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R !

Is that putting too fine a point on it, or is it strong enough for a real wake up call?

The world is online, but you would never know it by how most fundraising organizations are merely playing around with online. Most fundraisers aren’t committed to online . . . and what online applications and technologies they do use are in support (supposedly) of their direct mail appeals.

There is no focus on how to make online actually bring in revenue or make it a standalone revenue center.

How about your organization?

Are you committed to online, or are you just using it to support your direct mail appeals?

And why are you not using online as a standalone revenue center?

Is it because you are scared you can’t make it work?

Is that what you’re scared of?

Yet when your new donor acquisition is drying up and even your base of supporters is growing older and smaller … you’re scared about online not working?

But wait … hold it a minute. Wasn’t this blog post supposed to be about optimism?

It is.

Because if you want to know the first steps in how to shift online successfully… where your fundraising can grow and develop sustainability … you can email me for free information.

Drip, Drip, Drip.

-Mike

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