Ronn Torossian has a question for you. Are you one of them? Week in and week out he talks to charities looking for advice on how to amp up their non profit PR, to get better and more immediate results from their messaging. They admit that their fundraising isn’t getting them the results they are looking for, but they keep doing things the same way … you know how the rest of that story goes.
Is that you … even a little bit? Look, if you are doing things the same way you did last year, you might be keeping the bills paid, but there is no doubt you are leaving money on the table. Your cause may not be “suffering,” but it certainly could be better. Even if you would categorize your fundraising efforts as “good,” they could be better: more impactful, efficient, and generating a better return.
You already know the world is changing. You are aware that people do not get information the same way they did before, but do you realize the extent of this change? You know that there is a new generation coming up that looks at the world very differently, but do you know what those differences are, and how to speak their language?
Maybe you are happy with the status quo, but what will you do when that status quo changes? Because it will. Here’s the thing, changes to the status quo are almost always telegraphed. They actually happen far before the general public realizes it. In fact, by the time most folks begin to notice the changes, things have already been functionally different for a while, and the seed of yet another evolution has already been planted.
It happened twice in the past five years, and most people didn’t even see it coming. First, social media completely changed how people communicate, how they interact, and more and more lately, how they think. Then, smartphone proliferation completely altered the marketplace of ideas. People literally interact with information differently. They experience reality differently, and process information differently. And all that happened in this decade.
So here’s the question Torossian has for you: How have you changed your approach to marketing in the past five years? From your PR to your website to your fundraising campaigns … any differences? Or are you still doing it the same ol’ way?