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The single most important asset of any non-profit organization is its relationships with its volunteers, donors, and other stakeholders. If you treat these relationships like sacred data collections instead of an engaged community, you are at risk of becoming irrelevant.
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I spend a good portion of my time traveling across the country to attend conferences and meet with clients and prospective clients. Even in this digital era, the custom of exchanging printed business cards is alive and well. As you can see from the photo to the right, I have quite the collection.
But don’t confuse that collection of cards for a robust network of strong relationships. Getting the card is just like adding a new person to your organization’s database. If you do nothing to build the relationship, that business card becomes an artifact proving very little other than that you once had contact with the person.
The Historical Role of the Database
Common wisdom says that you can measure an organization by the number of people who are in its database. Historically, a central staff maintained this database and treated it like a sacred collection of artifacts. In an era when information didn’t flow so easily and it was very difficult to connect with people you’d never met, protecting that collection of records at all costs was a self-evident truth. After all, these records had taken a great deal of work to assemble and represented the lifeblood of your organization.
Childhood hunger is a very real problem in America.
Throughout the year, one out of six children in America worries about when their next meal will come. That’s more than 12 million children at risk of hunger, reports Share Our Strength, a national organization that works hard to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.
Today, as the recession deepens and unemployment rises, more American families are facing hunger for the first time. A record 30 million Americans are on food stamps, and food banks face unprecedented demand.
The Pledge to End Hunger web site challenges visitors to help spread the word about childhood hunger in America, find ways to get involved with a food bank in their area, and donate money to Share Our Strength. The site encourages also a deeper dialogue about the issue with a blog focused on this initiative and ways to collaboratively solve the roots of this problem.
#1 Thing You Need to Know about This Post
You need a clear plan to help you connect your compelling story to the people who can help you change the world.
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If you are like most non-profit leaders, you understand that your website can’t just be a digital brochure. Your donors and volunteers expect a lot more out of you when it comes to the online experience you provide the world. What can you do to make it better even in this challenging economy? more
The #1 Thing You Need to Know about this Post:
You can use social media to raise more awareness, more resources, and keep people better informed, but we’re still working on how to use these tools to fix the actual social problems.
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For anyone who doubts we have entered a new era when it comes to charity, you can return to the salt mines. For the rest of you reading this, let’s reflect back on the last fourteen days:
Two weeks ago, I’m willing to wager that you (except for a select few) didn’t know about Daniela and her three kids. Heck, you might not had even known about David Armano;
The Two Things You Need to Know from This Post:
1. The Armano family showed great compassion for Daniela and her children by rallying the support of their neighbors.
2. We need to continue this conversation in earnest to help reframe our understanding of charity and realign it with the realities of the new era.
The More Detailed Explanation:
With over 1 billion people on the Internet and over 3.3 billion owning mobile phones, we have entered the Interconnected Age. You have a more global view of the world, ideas spread instantaneously, self-organized swarms mobilize out of nowhere, and transformational events happen faster than before. These components of the Interconnected Age are redefining all aspects of your life, including your charitable acts.
A Well Considered Risk
When I decided to write I Gave $10 to David Armano to Help Daniela and Now I Regret It, I realized I was doing something akin to approaching a gasoline-soaked bee hive holding a lit match in one hand and a can of hairspray in the other. Those of us steeped in social media can attest to the hive’s propensity to defend itself against perceived challenges. Add to that the fact that raising money as fast as the Armano family did requires a highly emotional situation (e.g. 9/11, Katrina, and the Tsunami). more
One thing I have come to understand with technology and media is that everything new is nothing new at all; they’re just new ways of looking at things. How we communicate and connect today can be traced back to how people have always communicated and connected. Digital and social media are not that much different in their nature than to what we’re already accustomed.
This point was made clear to me on a recent trip San Francisco when I visited the epicurean delight called the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Held every Tuesday and Saturday mornings at the historic Ferry Plaza building, amazing selections of produce, meats, cheeses, chocolates, and other food stuff abound. (I recommend making it your whole Saturday morning.) The site is a beautifully restored public building with cafes and food shops open every day of the week, but they are joined on Farmers Market days by perhaps a hundred vendor stalls that ring the building.
As I walked around the market enjoying the different aromas and flavors, I captured the scenes with my iPhone’s camera and began to realize how similar it was to the world of digital and social media.
The Farmers Market is a space where large corporate entities intermingle with small Mom & Pop operations on equal footing. While the large entities had shiny, polished stalls inside the main building and were doing steady business, the real action was outside in the modest tent stalls.
Unlike the sterile supermarket (broadcast media), the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (social and digital media) was alive. There was a noticeable sense of excitement and buzz caused by the higher level of interaction between consumer and producer. People brought empty tote bags and roller carts and were leaving with bounties of goods to take home.
Most of the produce and food stalls had a plethora of samples that enticed you to experience the flavors for yourself. At one booth, a sign read, “Sampling Is Mandatory! (we are watching)”. Most people running a booth had a certain range of produce or food stuffs they offered and were eager to tell you lots about it.
For those who wanted more than just the raw materials, you could choose from a variety of prepared meals cooked fresh and made to order for. There were even non-profit organizations who had their own stalls to promote their causes – one in particular,La Cocina, provides commercial kitchens and business advice for low income micro entrepreneurs who want help taking their food product to market.
Inserted in this bountiful selection was an unassuming stall that was an enclosed shipping truck. Inside was one of the most coveted service at the market – knife sharpening. By 10am, this guy had already taken on all his orders for the day.
As I sat down with an amazing melange of sourdough, smoked fish, capers, and fresh cream cheese, I came across one of the best musicians not on the Internet – Flat Cut F. He was a nice guy who was sitting on a chair near some tables with his hat out. Like the handful of musicians around the market, he just showed up and started playing. I’m glad he did.
Inside the permanent structure, I met Karim and Polly with CleanFish and visited with them at length. Their company has created a sustainable approach to commercial fishing that stretches from the fisherman to the distributors to the restaurants to the consumers themselves. Everything they do is focused on making sure we have enough seafood to eat without harming the ecosystems they come from.
As I was making one final pass of the market, I noticed one stall had a line of about 45 people long. It was the Blue Bottle Coffee Co. I figured if that many people were waiting in line for their coffee (with a Starbucks across the street), it had to be worth the wait in line. When it came time for my order, I asked for their best drink and got the Gibraltar, a short cappuccino served in a glass tumbler.
Enjoying my Gibraltar, I couldn’t resist starting a conversation with Jack Gold who was wearing a t-shirt that implored, “Protect Me From What I Want“, which it turns out was a saying that he came across at an art installation while he was executive director of the Providence Preservation Society. He is now the executive director of the San Francisco Architectural Heritage.
Before I left, I noticed there was a cooking demonstration being held encouraging the use of various produce at the peak of their season. Right next to it were political supporters of the Democratic Party voicing their support for Obama and one who was collecting signatures to name the sewage plant after our current president. Not too far away was a nice man from Oklahoma with a show cat and a sign asking for money to help enter a cat competition. How often do you see those three side-by-side at the supermarket?
In reflecting on my experience, here are a few of similarities of social media and the farmers market:
Both encourage a stronger sense of community – letting consumers meet the producers directly
Large corporate entities and smaller entities can compete side-by-side
It’s not the fancy stall and slick marketing operations but the quality and authenticity of the product that is most important
The more interaction, the better: people want the opportunity to share their views and opinions
Even low tech companies can thrive here
What are your thoughts? What similarities and differences do you see?
On my first day as executive director of a small, aspiring foundation office, I sat at my desk and surveyed the situation. For the four years previous to that I was part of a 70-person university foundation operation that completed a $770 million capital campaign. Those rich, heady times were gone and so were all the resources.
Now, I was the chief executive, major gift officer, planned giving expert, research department, communication department, annual giving guru, and, often, the administrative assistant. My only employee was a part-time bookkeeper, who helped take care of the gift processing and donor acknowledgements. Armed with my freshly inked MBA and an entreprenurial mindset, I rolled up my sleeves and went to work.
I don’t think the challenges I faced were much different than what most non-profits still face today. We were doing great things with our donors’ gifts, but we were frustrated with how little most of our prospective donors knew about it. It certainly wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
After spending weeks writing and editing our quarterly magazines or putting the final polishes on the fall mail campaign, I often wondered how many of our prospective donors were even reading the well crafted messages we so diligently prepared. Did they realize how much blood, sweat, and tears we invested?
My main feedback was the gift envelopes that came back, letters containing updates from our alumni, and the personal visits and phone calls we made as we travelled to different areas of the country to meet with donors and prospects. In all, those contacts represented feedback from less than 2% of the alumni base. Even so, we quadrupled our annual income after three years.
We had a basic website and used a monthly e-newsletter, but for the most part relied on our magazines and mailings to communicate our message. Sound fairly similar to what you’re doing? Unfortunately, that’s not too far off from the majority of higher education and non-profit group’s current communication strategy. So why is that cause for concern?
In economic terms – opportunity cost. Yes, we’re raising money but we’re doing it in a way that costs more and raises less than if we take a different approach. This is even more relevant as digital media’s cost goes down and more people are using digital media in more aspects of their lives.
Let me put it in very simple terms. We are cooking a pasta dinner one noodle at time, instead of inviting our guests to help us cook pots full of pasta.
The world is shifting. More and more, we are moving away from the one-way communication approach. Your organization is no longer on stage deciding what will be announced over the loudspeakers. Instead, your donors and constituents want to be invited to a cocktail party, where they can contribute their thoughts and mingle with other supporters.
Digital media is that party. As the host, you can roam from conversation to conversation adding your thoughts and hearing what others have to say (good and bad). You can also, from time-to-time, clink your glass and make an announcement to the whole crowd.
I know this – my biggest accomplishments have come when I was able to gather a group of key prospects in the same room and get them to rally around a vision for the future. They took ownership of the idea and made it better with their insight and ideas. I wasn’t the genius locked in a room making decisions in a vacuum. I was the party host, who posed the question, listened intently, and then asked for their support to bring their ideas to fruition.
Do you think one-way communication creates lost opportunities? How are you using digital media to raise awareness and increase support?
I spend a good portion of my time traveling across the country to attend conferences and meet with clients and prospective clients. Even in this digital era, the custom of exchanging printed business cards is alive and well. As you can see from the photo to the right, I have quite the collection.
Let me put it in very simple terms. We are cooking a pasta dinner one noodle at time, instead of inviting our guests to help us cook pots full of pasta.