4 Keys to Raise Money in Today’s Attention-Sucking Nonprofit Jungle

Photo of 4 keys

Wondering where fundraising is heading in our highly networked, overly saturated, noisy-as-all-get-out post-digital revolution world? A world that’s really a jungle, with so much competition for attention — for-profits, other nonprofits, socially conscious businesses, political campaigns, friends, and family?

Your mantra can no longer simply be about “creating awareness.”

Alas, attention is increasingly ephemeral.

The new nonprofit currency is not creating attention. It’s building loyalty.

You simply can’t afford to keep losing 8 out of 10 new donors. Which means it’s time to reframe how you do fundraising. It can’t be primarily about going after money. It has to be about giving, and receiving, love. If you do it the right way, money will follow as a natural outgrowth. [I’m going to talk about this more in an article focusing on “connection” next week.]

Today, I want to explore 4 keys to raising money in our revolutionized technological zeitgeist.

Of course, sometimes it’s easier said than done.

Bad News/Good News:

The fundraising environment is altered. Mostly due to technology.

Lots and lots of technology.

AI fuels both predictive models and automation. Software enables multiple, simultaneous email campaigns. New tools allow easy sharing and engagement on social media. High quality photography and video can be made with the ease of a smart phone. Multiple new places regularly emerge to find and connect with potential constituents.  And on and on and on… If you feel you’re being hit almost daily with a firehose of new technologies, you’re not alone.

Technology has made it possible to do things never before imaginable.

But… possible and probable are not the same thing.

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cat in tree

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Useful Life Advice for Nonprofit Fundraisers

Some years ago I happened on an article in the New York Times where the author, David Pogue, asked readers for their very best ‘life advice.’  There was so much great stuff in there!  If you happen to have a NYT subscription, I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading the full article. For those who don’t (and really for everyone), I decided to share some of my favorite pieces of wisdom with you.  Particularly those that apply to your nonprofit work. And, especially, those that apply to your work/life balance.

Let’s begin!

1. Worrying about a cat stuck in a tree?

cat in treeNot every problem needs to be addressed immediately. Some will work themselves out.

You’ve never seen a cat skeleton in a tree, have you?” When Alexandra Aulisi’s cat couldn’t get down from a tree, her grandmother reassured her with those words, predicting (correctly) that the cat would come down on his own. “This advice made me realize that, sometimes, you need to shift your perception of a problem to see a solution,” Ms. Aulisi noted.

David Pogue, NYT

While it’s tempting to drop everything (e.g., whenever a new email appears in your inbox, especially if it’s someone asking for help), it’s important to assess if this situation actually requires a rapid response. If not, you have options.

ADVICE/OPTIONS:

1. Lil’ Bo Peep: “Leave it alone and it will come home.”

Ever been on vacation and noticed a flurry of emails, back and forth, forth and back, from members on your team?  Often, by the time you’ve returned, the ‘problem’ – as urgent as it may have seemed at the time based on all the email hyperbole – seems to have evaporated. I’m not suggesting you ignore legitimate, pressing problems; just use common sense and exercise judicious restraint.

2. Could someone else handle this?

I’ll never forget some excellent advice I received (actually from one of the donors I worked with during the years I was a young parent).  While I was stressing about potty training, she told me: “Have you ever seen anyone at college who still wears diapers?  If you don’t potty train your son now, never fear.  His college girlfriend will!”  It was silly, yet made a whole lot of sense. I didn’t need to oversee and micro-manage every little thing. Sometimes things happen on their own time frame. This was a reminder that patience can be a virtue.

2. Having trouble getting started?

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Three San Francisco Hearts: Butterfly Heart. SF Love. I LUV SF.

Surprisingly Simple Strategy to Magically Transform How You Work

Three San Francisco Hearts: Butterfly Heart. SF Love. I LUV SF.The single most important lesson I ever learned.

Begin with the why.

Always.

If you don’t, you’re likely to work very hard and not achieve much of value.

Why?

Because you didn’t begin your endeavor by asking yourself:

“What’s the value in this work upon which I’m about to embark?” 

“Why am I doing this?”

This may be the most powerful strategy in your entire toolbox.

So simple. So basic. So fundamental.

Yet it’s a step we tend to overlook.

Why?

The often-overlooked steps.

Humans are funny creatures.

Monkey see, monkey do.

Monkey be told what to do, monkey do.

We’re driven instinctually, by biology, to survive.

Don’t eat the berries no one else is eating. We take what appears to be the safest course.

It generally works in the short term. There must be a reason.

Sometimes, however, there is no reason.

There’s just habit.

Or the reason isn’t a good one.

Answering the why question requires two elements: knowing what and who something is for. Let’s begin with the what.

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Three San Francisco Hearts: Blooming Heartree; Love of-Dahlieas; Seeds of Peace

Do You Know How to Use AI for Your Nonprofit?

Three San Francisco Hearts: Blooming Heartree; Love of-Dahlieas; Seeds of PeaceHave you been struggling with whether – and how – to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (AI; ChatGPT) into your work? Or perhaps you’ve been worrying your job will soon be obsolete?

You’re not alone.

Honestly, the whole AI thing scares the you-know-what out of me on most days.  But, let’s consider the encouraging present rather than worry so much about the possibility of a bleak future (as in destruction of humanity?!).

You can’t control everything.

You can control some things. So, I thought I’d take a quick minute to send you some tips I’ve curated from others to help stimulate your thinking and planning for ways ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) and other AI-driven chatbots have potential to free up your time and revolutionize how you communicate with donors.

You can ignore all of this if you choose. But, it won’t make it go away. Nor will it stop your peers from figuring out how to get a leg up through use of these new tools.  Remember, at first some of us were slow to adopt use of computers, the internet and social media (who, me?).

So let’s lead from curiosity, not fear.

I begin with

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