July 2009 - Posts
I'll say it again, life is about following your passions. We are told over and over in life (parents, friends, peers, colleagues, etc) that if you do follow your passion, the money will follow. To that end, I wanted to share some thoughts on risks and following your passion by asking everyone to watch this great video of Steve Jobs giving the commencement speech at Stanford University. Steve Jobs is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios (recently acquired by Disney). You either love him or hate him. However, no one can say that Steve has not been one of the most influential individuals in technology ever! Yes, I am a fan!
If you embark upon this journey you will hear about a young college student who was attending one of the top liberal arts programs in the nation, Reed College, but instead of being excited by that opportunity he decided it would be better to follow his passions around graphic design, kerning, fonts, etc. He stopped attending his necessary classes for graduation and began "dropping in" on classes that he enjoyed, loved, looked forward to and actually did homework for. He continued to research, read, create appointments with individuals / companies who shared this passion with him. Most of you know the story that he dropped out entirely, started Apple and let's just say he is doing just fine.
What does all this mean? Well let's start with any campaign or fundraiser you might have going on right now. Why are you doing it? Can you find some small (or large) way that this campaign impacts your life personally? Can you draw upon that energy to connect with others to drive you to success? What creative step are you going to take right now to bring you one step closer to your fundraising goal? To share a personal passion. I love endurance events, mainly running. However, I recently started doing triathlons as well. The connection is that I have done a couple Team in Training events which combines endurance athletics and fundraising for a fantastic cause. So I ask you how can you bring one of your personal life passions to help your fundraising goals?
As always, if you have any product suggestions or simply want to share a great story about online fundraising please do not hesitate to email me at kirk.sadler@blackbaud.com.
Happy Fundraising!
I just re-watched one of those "Did You Know " videos on YouTube it continues to utterly amaze me with some of the stats inside it. That said, if you have not seen it it take six minutes and you will be amazed. Not convinced, here are few amazing stats for you to ponder:
1. Did you know that one out of every four employees, according to the Department of Labor, has only worked for the current employer for less than one year! Translation, if you only have the email or physical address of your supporters at their workplace how often do you ask them to give you an updated version? Hopefully, more than once a year.
2. Did you know that one out of every eight couples that married last year in the US met ONLINE. Translation, how are you trying to foster a viral network so more supporters can find you ONLINE?
3. Did you know the number of text messages that are sent each day exceeds the population of the planet. Translation, are you communicating with your supporters in more than one way? Maybe email, phone, text is not their number one choice? BlackbaudNow can store what their mailing preference is with a note.
4. Did you know the amount of new technical information is doubling every two years. Translation, while you may not think of yourself as technical how are you remaining relevant to your supporters with all this information being thrown at them?
5. ....
I hope this spurred some thought about how fast things are happening and the need to remain relevant. I know I too have some work to do myself. As always, if you have any product suggestions or simply want to share a great story about online fundraising please do not hesitate to email me at kirk.sadler@blackbaud.com.
Happy Fundraising!
I just read an great article from the Nonprofit Times called, Youth Movement Critical for Boards. It is almost incomprehensible to read that we need an average of 26 million new board members each year just to keep the nonprofit world we love running. Of which only 2% is staffed with individuals under 30 and 30% are staffed with individuals between 30 - 49. That means nearly 70% are staffed with Baby Boomers. In fact, the retirement of so many Baby Boomers could affect the future growth of the nonprofit sector.
OK, so what does that all mean for me. As a young, grass roots or small nonprofit you may not even have a board yet or perhaps you just recruited your first board member or two. If you are not a nonprofit, but a personal fundraiser raising money on behalf of a cause, be that a charity or one more personal to you or your family, you too will certainly not have a board --- so why I am writing this post.
I am writing this post as we all must engage each generation not just the ones we are familiar. I am "classified" as Generation X (born between 1965 - 1979) and must admit that most of my life is spent with people similar in age, with similar social, economic and family patterns. Birds of a feather --- well they flock together. So when recruiting your next board member or planning your next campaign (or fundraiser) make sure your outreach includes all generations to volunteer, donate, and serve. Each generation will have different ideas, different networks, different ways of communicating, etc. Tapping into those ideas, networks and communication streams will prove invaluable as they will bring your cause to places you could not do alone if you stayed within your comfort zone.
Think about it for just a minute. When someone hears Facebook, they think of Generation Y (born between 1980 - 2000). However, did you know the fastest growing segment of Facebook is Women over 55? That said, are you asking your baby boomer supporters to inform Generation Y about you --- since they are both on Facebook? Also, did you know that Generation Y is the first generation to be more aware of world challenges --- thanks to the Internet? In fact, 81% of 1800 youth (ages 13 - 25) individuals surveyed said they volunteered last year. Again, how are you tapping into this desire to make the world a better place?
As always, if you have any product suggestions or simply want to share a great story about online fundraising please do not hesitate to email me at kirk.sadler@blackbaud.com.
Happy Fundraising!