Relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is

The constituent journey is evolving (albeit very, very fast). That shouldn’t surprise you but it is good news. You haven’t been left behind completely. Your constituents are changing though. Their experience of you and your mission may not be what any of us would want. In this case, relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is. Passion for the mission is contingent on amazing experiences.

How you personally decide to react or lead is up to you. It, of course, is not about technology. What is the journey of getting closer to constituents and staying relevant really about? Here are some ideas:

• Creating a culture built around the constituent and their experience being the focus of all you do.


• Empowering employees to do what it takes to create amazing experiences.


• Opening up the floodgates of innovation.

Saying we want to get closer to constituent won’t get senior management on board. While a constituent revolution is at the C-Suite doors, someone (meaning you) needs to convince the top that change is imperative. Without that we will fail.

You know that most executives don’t use social networks personally. While they have smartphones the primarily utilization is for email and looking at the calendar to know where to go to next. The reality is that most won’t read this. Trying to make a case that this is about technology will be a losing battle.

What is the future of nonprofits built on? It isn’t about how Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, tablets or real time-time geolocation check-ins evolve. The future of nonprofits does depend on relevance and the ability to at least understand technology to be able to make decisions about new opportunities. It does require the ability to strategically adapt to the new opportunities to create a competitive advantage.

So much of this is about change. There is a technology revolution occurring. Other nonprofits (and for-profits that you compete with) understand this. But it is also about a whole series of real-world revolutions that are seizing how our constituents live which impacts their experience with us. Expectations are moving fast. We can’t afford to get left behind. The kind of change we are talking about involves three things:

1. Listening


2. Learning


3. Adapting