We are beginning to think about engagement in terms of is it
social or is it mobile? If our nonprofit goes social and mobile, we believe we
will connect with the new generations of constituents. It must be true since
that is all that we hear about.
It takes much more than the latest technology flavor of the
year to reach Generation X or Y or Baby Boomers for that matter. It takes a
passion to understand and be empathetic. We all long to be known, remembered
and served. That said, a number of your constituents influence others and are
influence in ways that we don’t quite understand. Constituents are connecting
and sharing in ways that allow them to learn, discover, share and make
decisions that are different than anything we have seen before.
So why wouldn’t being on Facebook and Twitter along with having
a mobile application clinch your future relevance for your mission? The answer
lies in seeing the constituent journey as an ecosystem not a specific
isolated channel. We need, and our constituents want, a holistic experience
where all the pieces play nice together. What good does it do to have a bad
donation experience because my credit card was charged twice to be helped by a
pleasant call center representative? One bad experience and then a good one but I don’t
hear from you for a year when you want me to donate again. Really?
What is different now is that the whole generational range (Boomers,
Gen X, Gen Y, etc.) of constituents are connected. In our previous example, the
frustrated donor posted a comment on Facebook when their credit card got
charged twice. That is what their friends saw and remembered. All the devices
they are on are more than just devices, they are becoming an extension of who they
are. While this is data from 2011, 48% of 18 to 34 year olds checked Facebook
when they got up and 28% did so before they got out of bed.
What is important is that the ecosystem is held together by
the connected constituent who needs it to be consistent. While there
generational differences the commonality is the constant connectivity across
multiple devices. This is bigger than a demographic as so many are embracing a
digital lifestyle. This transcends age, income, ethnicity, and education. The connected
constituent does not surf the web like other constituents. They live in a
totally social world (online) and use all of their devices as a window to how
they live. They do not learn like their non-digital counterparts. They fully
embrace many communities which cut across demographics.
The generation of connected constituents is vastly different
than any segment you have addressed in the past. What you know about “direct
response” will not help you here. “Open rates” may mean nothing any longer. What
you think the connected constituent may want and what they really value are
probably worlds apart. They are always on and to reach them takes a different
approach all together.
We tend to think about size of a market differently than
think about connected constituents that cut across traditional markets. We tend
to think about how to reach Baby Boomers or how to reach Gen Y’s or how to
reach Millennials. What does it mean when you layer in how to engage connected
constituents who cut across all those generations? The unconnected constituent segment
(across all generations) is shrinking and the connected constituent is rapidly
growing.
Since markets are shifting, think about your strategies. Are
they being refreshed fast enough? Are you investing in small, fast tests to engage
in new ways with the connected constituent? On a daily basis, nonprofit leaders
need to place more emphasis on the connected constituent. This includes leading
the charge to learn new skills, structure staff differently, and invest more in
marketing technology. Which side of the changing demographics do you want to
on? The shrinking or the growing?
Wow, oh oh, here we go...another one that i have weird stuff to throw at you about :-))!
ReplyDeleteEverything you are saying about the constituents, be they GenX or GenY or what have you, be they the $5 donor or the Millionaire/Billionaire donor rings true.
Personally i have tried to appeal to all of them via our website......but not hard enough.
Here is the reason why. I do not know if it is a good reason or a bad reason, but i do know many people will have thoughts about it.
Our small nonprofit is currently on hold because we do not have funds to operate. I believe that is most likely my fault.
Why? Because of how we do what we do and why.
We do what we do, not because we are a business. Not because we are a nonprofit. The why in all this is, we do what we do because of Jesus Christ and the calling he instilled in me personally. That is where the bulk of our concentration is on. Primarily because without His calling us, we would not be doing what we do.
Have we suffered as an org because of that? Yep.
But He did say we would suffer in His name. And we most definitely use His name in what we do.
My point i guess is we have concentrated on Jesus' commands for the direction of our organization, not that of the constituent. That for me is a very harsh, difficult and frustrating position as a person operating a nonprofit in need of funding.
The choice is, we, our organization must take our main constituent first. The rest will fall into place as per His Fathers will.
So even though we know we need the monetary support of mankind as constituents, we have to stand on the side of waiting on Jesus to make His move.
You see, when it comes to our specific organization, if we concentrate on everyone else when it comes to building constituents, then i believe it will take us further from Jesus' direction and then further from receiving and focusing on His life saving assistance when helping those in need.
That cannot be sacrificed for anything.
It is not always easy or pleasant as a person or founder of our nonprofit.
:-(