As I enter into the non-profit development field, I am particularly interested in non-sales selling in the sphere of fundraising. Here are 5 rising trends in that field from the Non-Profit Times:
1. Conversion Optimization: Organizations will begin to think about how to better convert existing website visitors versus simply attracting new visitors.
2. Millennial Engagement: According to The Brookings Institute, Millennials will make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. As Millennials enter the workforce and have money to spend, organizations will need to put strategies in place to best engage this demographic.
3. Donor Loyalty and Lifetime Value: Tracking donor engagement will be crucial. Organizations will spend more time analyzing characteristics and behaviors of all of their constituents — not just major donors — to better understand what drives their giving behavior.
4. Online and Mobile: Online and mobile have played an increasingly key role for organizations the past few years, and that will continue in 2015. Social will play a key role in the “attention economy,” and responsive design will be necessary to allow supporters to access an organization’s website at any time from any device. According to Pew Research Center, more than 90 percent of all Americans own a cell phone
5. Storytelling Becomes Visual: Creating a narrative and sharing a story has always been important for nonprofits to successfully engage donors, but doing so in a visual way is becoming essential. Organizations will have to find creative and innovative ways to engage supporters in a world full of distractions, and visual components are key.
I found this to be super-helpful as I educate myself for this next step and I hope it was useful for you as well!
Ethan David
It is so interesting to think that we as Millennials we are going to populate the workforce and take over the economy. That being said it is crazy to think that we are a whole different market that the world has never seen before.The older I get, the more I realize that I have some differences in my purchases, in terms of mission/story, from my parents. Price is not the name of the game anymore. We are looking for all these aspects in our trusted companies. It si interesting to see how businesses will respond and sell to this rising market.
I found this article very interesting because I have had the opportunity to work for a non-profit organization while at my internship. I had to cold call companies to see if they would donate to our fundraiser. Being that the organization was a hospice organization, there weren’t many millennials being contacted for donations. What I can say is really helpful is point #5. Telling a story connects right with the pain and makes it more likely they will donate. It will only help donations by making the story more visual.