BIG’s Blog: Don’t Read This Blog…

So far so good . . . if you’re reading this, it’s a good sign that you don’t listen to directions and, by implication, might be the type of person that would go against the herd mentality.

There is hope for you and, by extension, the organization that you work for.

We live in a very difficult period of transition from the analogue world of paper-and-ink and broadcast communications to the digital-based Internet world. And today . . . as you read this . . . you are neither a 20-year-old leading a fully digital life, nor an 85-year-old leading a fully non-digital life. You and I are somewhere in between.

And, frankly, that is hard because we have one foot in each world.

So where do you (personally) fall on the digital to non-digital continuum? My guess is you tip non-digital. Oh yes, most of us are using some digital tools, but compared to a 20 year old? Come on! Plus, most . . . not all . . . but most of our digital use is personal, not professional. Or, another way of saying that is that we use more digital applications and tools in our personal lives than we do in our workplace. And that is especially pronounced if we work in nonprofit fundraising.

At some point professionally (that is, our work career) we have to start to move seriously to digital. And that goes double if we work in nonprofit fundraising. What I mean by “seriously” is we have to: A) Learn it, and B) Make it work!

I hear Development Directors complain that none of their digital tools are generating anywhere near what their direct mail programs generate.

Why is that and whose responsibility is that?

Do they believe that there are not charities raising virtually all their donations online? Do they think that direct mail appeal response rates are magically going to turn dramatically UP and that costs of production and postage are going to turn dramatically DOWN?

Look at the twenty-somethings and their adoption of digital communication. That is your future. The world isn’t going back. And unless you shift the direction of your fundraising department by learning how to make online pay . . . you will be out of a job.

But . . . as I said at the beginning . . . I’ve got hope for you because you didn’t follow the crowd that heeded my instructions NOT to read this blog.

Good for You.

Join us!

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Mail Bag

From my recent request to send questions?

Mike,

We really get mixed messages as fundraisers. I recently attended a workshop and one of the speakers said direct mail is alive and well. But then I read your blog and wonder. What’s the truth?

Name withheld - California

Dear California Fundraiser,

You are correct in saying my position is that direct mail appeals are not alive and well. If direct mail as a fundraising media/vehicle were generating revenue like it used to, why would anyone have to argue it is alive and well? In fact, if mail were alive and well, wouldn’t the U.S. Postal Service be in the black instead of in-hock to the U.S. Treasury for billions? But all that is fluff; here is the truth to guide you. If a mail program generates revenue for your organization, then keep mailing it. If other programs do not generate revenue for your organization, terminate them; the odds of them returning to profitability are slim.

_________________________________________________________________

In response to one of my blogs: Balloons at the Beach

Great allegory!

ML, New York

Excellent blog that communicates the new fundraising model message.

Per your story fundraising results:

Old way    - $1,000

New Way - $50,000

% Change – 4,900%

GH, Chief Financial Officer, New York

_________________________________________________________________

In response to one of my blogs: The Internet

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the blog. We enrolled our daughter in a new high school. They have taken out their library and replaced it with a technology center. The high school requires that all students have a smartphone and bring them to class.

LP, Pennsylvania

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: What is really lost from Gilligan’s Island?

For Baby Boomers and those who can remember when three national television networks dominated, today’s digital disruption has basically ended what we perceived as the national conversation.

We have lost the national cultural meeting place where a small clique of men at CBS, NBC, and ABC determined what we would watch and, news-wise, what was important.

What has it come to? Today, a 12-year-old with a smartphone can rival Rupert Murdock as a publisher to millions.  

Today, I can post a blog that is seen by thousands as they are having their first cup of coffee, without the intermediaries of a printing plant or delivery boys. And the same people who read my blog one moment can shift from that to the New York Times, CNN.com, or Horse & Hound in minutes and without getting ink on their fingers.

So, setting aside the “ink on the fingers thing” for a moment, are we better off now in seeking out what we want to read and deciding for ourselves, or were we better off being told what was important?

I mean, that is really what the question is . . . isn’t it?

We can complain that there is no real national conversation, as we remember it, around what happened last night on Gilligan’s Island, because today people are seeking out their own entertainment interests from the gazillions of choices available. But was that old world real or contrived? We never were really a homogenous whole, were we? What got covered news-wise was what some local or national editor deemed to be important. If we didn’t like Gilligan’s Island, we would feel out of the mainstream of our friends, family, or co-workers.

It reminds me of the time I stopped in a New York City art gallery. I was looking at a showing of paintings I really liked but had never heard of the artist. One of the people who worked in the gallery approached me and briefly talked about the artist and then said, “this painting,” pointing to one of the paintings, “this painting is very important.” I couldn’t believe it, as the painting that she was pointing to was the one painting I didn’t like in the least. Important to whom?

It’s the same with determining what charity we will support. Forty years ago there were fewer charities. Today, just in the United States, there are over a million individual 501(c)3 nonprofit corporations. Why so many? Probably because not everyone sees the same problem or the same solution.

The new online world allows many more to tell their story, reach out, and create relationships with those of a like mind and heart. Will all the new charities succeed? Probably not. But then they are all going after the people you would love to have supporting your charity.

Yesterday is yesterday. Gilligan’s Island is long since in reruns and is no longer a part of the cultural conversation.

Today is today. And today’s world is the world you need to generate supporters in.  

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Quote to Start the Week

“A society grows when the old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.”

Does that speak to you today? It does me. Maybe because, at 60 years of age, I understand my mortality and am drawn to the sentiment of sacrificing today for a better tomorrow . . . and as the proverb makes clear, a tomorrow that “those who sacrifice” will not benefit from.

That’s the challenge for today’s Baby Boom generation of fundraising leaders, isn’t it? If you are one of them, you have the power and the choice.

The power to begin the process of moving your fundraising department towards a serious online strategy where you can begin capturing younger supporters.

The choice to move, knowing it will take time to build  . . .  or not to move and leave it for the next leader. If there is a next leader.

It’s hard, isn’t it?

The online world with all its new technology tools, buzzwords, and new ways of doing things makes you feel like a fish out of water. Moving to seriously change the way you fundraise will, for sure, upend how you do things now and, frankly, will be tough sledding for a while.

But then you are the hero, the visionary, the Steve Jobs of your department.

But in the beginning, the change is hard.

This isn’t theoretical; I hear it in the questions and the voiced concerns of the smart, generous, and committed Baby Boomer leaders who are taking our courses and learning how to move their Development organizations into this new digital fundraising future.

Make no mistake, these people are heroes. Unlike 20 and 30-somethings, they are immigrants into this digital world. Young people are the natives who intuitively know the language and can more easily navigate their way around these new technologies. Young people, however, don’t have the wisdom or experience to know how to change organizations; that takes gray hair. Week in and week out these courageous Boomer generation fundraising leaders are learning what they don’t know and putting it all together. They are committed to their organizations.

They are planting trees for tomorrow.

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Selling the Washington Post to Amazon.com

Okay, technically the Washington Post newspaper was sold personally to Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, rather than the actual Amazon Corporation itself.  

But the important fact is that a tech titan of the digital era bought what is perceived to be a dying print newspaper of the analogue era.

The Washington Post, like most American newspapers, has been losing money for years. And the Graham family that owned the newspaper couldn’t see how to turn a profit anywhere in the future . . . so they sold it.

So now Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. What does he do with it? Frankly, I don’t think anyone knows for certain, but what I do know is this: Jeff Bezos is all about the future. He was one of the first to clearly understand that The Internet Changes Everything. Not only did he found Amazon, but also he has been an early investor in many of the major Internet-based companies…Google, Facebook, etc.

Amazon began by selling books online. Today, Amazon sells a gazillion categories of stuff. Wal-Mart worries more about Amazon than they worry about Target or other brick-and-mortar competitors.  

The thread that connects not only Amazon’s success but also all of Bezos’ other investments is the Internet. It’s the Internet!!!!!!

I don’t know and, frankly, I don’t care what the Washington Post looks like in five years, but I certainly care what your Development department looks like in five years. And if Bezos’ thinking is our guide, I’ll bet it is more Internet-based.

Print newspapers are dying because their owners can’t figure out how to make money when the world is moving online for their news.

Your direct mail fundraising programs are slowly shrinking away and you can’t figure out how to turn them around. Hopefully, your mail appeal programs are still turning positive revenue, but for how long?

How long could the Washington Post continue to operate without changing its business model in the online world? It couldn’t. What do you bet that Bezos installs a new business model?

How can your fundraising department continue with its current fundraising model?

Be open to the possibility that others can offer you a different model that is built on the Internet.

Don’t look at today . . . look towards tomorrow.

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Fundraising Vendors

I spend a fair amount of time on the phone with board members, CEOs, Development Directors, and leadership of faith-based organizations answering questions about future directions of fundraising. That’s part of my job! But lately, I am finding myself spending a lot of time on the phone with old (and new) friends who are vendors to the fundraising industry. These are really great people and many of them are seeing digital disruption grab hold in fundraising. And most are unsure of where it goes, or even where they fit in with the new digital landscape.

The fine line that many of these vendors walk is compounded by the fact that the demand for their product or service is today. And though they see some of the same signs of decline that you see, you are still asking them for product and service.

The truth is that nobody wants to buy a product or service from a vendor who is telling you that things aren’t as good as they used to be. Vendors aren’t going to be the first to tell you things aren’t as “rosy” as they once were. You are depending on their product or service to continue to generate revenue for your organization, and they are running a business that needs to be there to support you.

A vendor’s job is to deliver a great service or product on-time and on-budget.

The path to the future of your fundraising department is YOUR job!

You know . . . I know . . . and most vendors know you need a new online digital-based fundraising model to capture younger supporters – starting with the Baby Boomers. We can help you with that.

But meanwhile, keep working with your current vendors with successful programs that connect with the Depression and WWII generations.

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Is this you?

Is this happening in your organization?

Over the last 50 years, the missions of most nonprofit organizations and the fundraising departments have become estranged . . . not divorced, just estranged. Just like a husband and wife who are very close and loving from courtship through the honeymoon, then have their first child (and then another, and then another) even as the husband's career takes off,  and mom gets busier and busier with the kids. They don't talk as much about themselves but rather focus on their main responsibility; the husband on his career work and the wife on the work of being a mom.

They both begin to become experts in their own demanding fields.

It isn't that they aren't still in love; it is just that the demands of learning their own focus in life build a wall between them. Not a wall that will lead to divorce; they understand they are a family and they are committed, but a wall of separate culture . . . home life vs. work life.

Today, the demands for growth (or sustainability) in revenue to fund the expanding needs of the mission of most nonprofit organizations create a tension between Development and the mission side of the organization. This cultural rift has only grown over the last two decades. The good news is that Development, for the most part, has kept up their end of the arrangement. Like the husband building his career so his wife can stay at home with the kids, Development has met its obligations and demands for growth over the last 30+ years in powering the growth of the mission.

But now comes digital disruption.

The Internet changes everything.

The demands of the mission aren't declining, in fact, in the accelerating austerity environment of decreasing government funding, demands for revenue are actually increasing. Maybe your organization relies on private donations, but your elderly donor base is shrinking. Why aren’t you getting younger donors?

And for the fundraising department, the traditional modes of marketing and events that have built and sustained fundraising are failing.

Okay, so what are we going to do about it?

Well, first we are going to see if this is really a problem from the “real life” perspective of “real live” fundraisers or is this just the figment of my imagination?

To accomplish that . . . I am asking you to submit your stories and perspectives as well as questions and we will take them on.

At the bottom of every blog is my email address. Forward your stories, perspectives (especially if they differ from mine) and your questions as well as letting me know if you want to remain anonymous or if I can use your name.

As a conversation starter, is there a wall between your fundraising department and the rest of your organization?

Remember, the Internet is interactive, which means these conversations can go two ways.

Join us.

-Mike

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BIG’s Blog: Resist the urge to conquer the world

In the fundraising world, people always judge a Development or Advancement department by the total money that they raise. That worldview and thinking is dying with the industrial model that we have all grown up with. The Internet changes everything. The Internet can potentially connect you to everybody, but that is not the point. The point is that it can connect you to the right people.

The Internet becomes the great leveler.

In the pre-Internet world, a few newspapers, television networks, Hollywood, and publishers held the power to feed you news, art, and entertainment. They determined what you watched, heard, or read.  Then came the Internet. It became a platform on which anyone could publish in any media.

Then came “Search” (think Google). We . . . you and me . . . could, on a whim, look up anything . . . anything.

Up to now in the fundraising world, people would copy mail appeals, or some new event idea if they deemed it was successful. So, someone came up with a new tactic and everybody copied it, and then others copied them, and on and on. The same thing happened with Madison Avenue marketing and advertising.  Me, too . . . me, too.

But marketing tactics are fading in effectiveness, even if they are new. They are fading for the same reason that pushing messages at people is becoming less and less effective. With the always-on Internet-enabled world, nothing stays new for long.

So what are fundraisers to do?

Go back to developing relationships.

The ethos of people has changed. Nobody wants to be sold and nobody wants to be manipulated into donating.

Can people be touched . . . genuinely touched . . . by appeals from nonprofit organizations that are doing huge good in their communities, or the world? Yes, absolutely. But then why do only 6 of 10 first-time donors never give again?

Start with developing relationships around your mission. Can this be done with direct mail? Absolutely! Can it be sustained by direct mail? Doubtful.

Why doubtful? Because we are fast-approaching the tipping point at which people are turning off push-messages from INSTITUTIONS. Even if those institutions have a face. The face of an institution is still the face of an INSTITUTION.

People give to people, even if there is a cause behind the person. People want to hear from and know the story of the “face” beyond just another “ask” for funds.

The Internet changes everything. Now you can reach the world and put many faces on your cause . . . but resist the urge to conquer the world, because then your thinking is still mass. The new Internet world is intimate. That is fundamentally different.

First, develop relationships, and then the money will come.

Join us.

-Mike

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