I’m amazed by the generous outpouring by Americans in response to the Haiti earthquake last month.
What can nonprofits learn from the Haiti response that will translate into success for the rest of the year?
I’d like to take a minute to look at an article by Peter Schoewe about the fundraising outlook for 2010. By looking at his predictions in light of the Haiti earthquake, you can sharpen your fundraising over the next 11 months.
Those intrigued (or overwhelmed) by how fundraising continues to change.
Those interested in learning more about the latest trends.
Those in roles responsible for fundraising and marketing/communications, as well as in general positions of leadership.
It’s a new decade. If you’ve been in the nonprofit fundraising business for any length of time, you know the 2000s were a decade of unprecedented change for nonprofits. So what do the 2010s have in store?
We’ll look at both micro- and macro-trends, from the role of social media in the fundraising mix and the increasing importance of mobile marketing, to the value of taking a relationally oriented view of donors (something we call Donors For Life®) and other long-term trends you need to be aware of.
At the end of this webinar, you’ll:
Know the key trends to watch in 2010.
Understand how you can tap into these trends as appropriate for your fundraising mix.
Act on practical recommendations to stay on top of these trends in 2010.
At Masterworks, we’re committed to helping you maximize your Kingdom impact. That’s why we’ve put together this enlightening and practical webinar – for you!
There are a couple things I want to call out about this video:
The video was up within FIVE hours of the quake – incredibly fast.
The video is obviously incredibly rough (handheld camera? sticky notes on a giant map? talk about low production value…)…
…and incredibly effective. Over 1 million views, and an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Also note the embedded donate link at the 12sec mark.
This is not to say all successful online videos should be this roughly shot, or over 5 minutes long. If anything, this points out there aren’t hard and fast rules about what makes a successful video – it really is dependent on the situation at hand.
Check out another video put up just a few days ago by the Red Cross – also a good example of the right use of video for the circumstances.
“…in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it” – Herb Simon, 1971 [emphasis added]
Talk about poverty of attention! There are hardly even words to describe the sheer “wealth of information” that exists in 2010 compared to the information available when Simon wrote this in 1971.
Think about your own life. How much information do you consume today compared with even five years ago? How many emails, tweets, blogs, videos, pictures, news feeds, radio shows, TiVo’d television shows, magazines, and books do you consume. It’s mind-bending – and headache-inducing!
Recognize that attention is precious. The first step is to acknowledge the importance of your constituents’ attention. There is a reason we use the phrase “pay attention.”
Demonstrate relevance. Consumers today demand relevance in every communication they receive from companies. In turn these same consumers are your constituents, and they won’t stand for irrelevant messaging from you.
Integrate messaging. It has been shown that in the presence of a multitude of options, people will gravitate towards the message repeated most often (in addition to seeking peer input). This is just one of many reasons to ensure that your messaging is integrated.
Offer choice. If attention is precious, recognize that not every message you have or channel you communicate in is something every person cares about. Allow constituents to choose the types and frequency of communication they receive.
Engage in conversation. Social media has enabled organizations to engage in conversation with constituents at a deeper level than ever before. Seek opportunities to engage meaningfully with constituents.
What else do you think is important to do in an attention economy?
As you’ve no doubt seen and heard, the American Red Cross has raised over $20 million in their mobile campaign in support of Haiti. This represents over 2 million $10 donations, a truly unprecedented feat in mobile fundraising.
Today, the House of Representatives unanimously a bill that allows individuals who make donations to victims of the earthquake in Haiti to claim an itemized charitable deduction on their 2009 tax return instead of having to wait until next year to claim these deductions on their 2010 tax return.
Most people know they’re not like their older brother, Gen X, but beyond that Gen Y can be pretty elusive. The members of Gen Y are between 13 and 33 years old this year (1977-1997). Here are a few of the things research is revealing about Gen Y as it relates to fundraising:
The velocity of media consumption in our world increases every day. My blog reader proves the point. I subscribe to over 100 blogs and “thumb through” literally thousands of articles and posts each month. You may not read very many blogs, but how many magazines, TV shows, websites, social networks, do you look to each day? For most of us, just comparing the way we consumed media two years ago versus today would show just how much more we’re exposed to.
The Web has revolutionized how we communicate. Here are a few ways that nonprofits need to adapt to today’s rapidly media-consuming culture:
Nonprofits must become compelling storytellers. No amount of reducing and simplifying content will engage constituents, WITHOUT a compelling story behind it. The former is important in today’s culture, but the latter is critical.
Nonprofits must use multiple channels in concert with one another. Donors are in the driver’s seat more than ever – they decide just when and where they want to interact with you. So make sure you’re giving them choices – direct mail, newsletters, email, Facebook updates, blog posts, YouTube videos, and so on.
Nonprofits must learn to get to the point. If you haven’t read Made to Stick, read it. I’m particularly thinking of the section about simplicity, and finding the core . Content must cater to our constituent’s rapid pace of consumption, but it’s not just about shortening copy. It’s about finding the core of the message, and stripping everything else away.
You wouldn’t expect a spam filter to have such strong emotions, but some faulty code in the popular server side spam filter Spam Assassin caused that filter to mark any email sent in 2010 as spam. Good old Waxy was the first report I saw of this.
But I’d like to call out two predictions in particular that nonprofit fundraisers should be on the lookout for:
Facebook Gets into…Payments
…Leveraging Facebook Connect, it’s conceivable that Facebook will launch a PayPal competitor, providing e-commerce sites with not just an easy way to accept payments, but also rich data about who their customers are based on their profiles and connections.
Facebook, with more than 350 million active users worldwide, has been a Siren to nonprofit fundraisers. The problem is that with the possible exception of events-based fundraising, it just hasn’t worked. But the closer Facebook integrates e-commerce to the Facebook experience, the more likely it will be that fundraisers will find success on the social network.
If Facebook does indeed launch a payments system, it will be something for fundraisers to watch very closely.
Now for that second prediction:
Live Video Goes Mainstream and Becomes Immensely Profitable
We’ve recently highlighted some of the huge numbers that live web video broadcasts are generating. Much of that has to do with live video evolving from people turning on a webcam in their bedroom to professionally produced programming with celebrity talent, as highlighted by the recent Ashton Kutcher Katalyst HQ broadcast. In 2010, I expect this narrative to move from “wow, huge numbers” to “wow, it’s a real business” as top live video broadcasters are able to turn their programming into mini-media outfits with the help of sponsors.
Online video continues to dominate in it’s importance as a relatively new channel to fundraisers and nonprofit marketers. But 2010 will be the year when livestreaming will become mainstream. Tools such as USTREAM, Livestream and Qik are making the process of web streaming live video very easy. How can you engage your constituents using livestreaming in 2010?
Mashable is one of the best social media/new media blogs out there. You should check it out if you’re at all interested in this space.
