80. Some Personal News
First Mover Advantage and Attracting the Next Gen of donors
Exciting times. It’s EOY/NYE on an SPN publishing day! So I’ve kept today’s content light and hopefully just as interesting.
A very warm welcome to all the new subscribers. I’m thrilled to have you as readers and truly appreciate your feedback and support.
In Today’s SPN
Change is the only constant
Attracting the Next Gen of donors
The first mover advantage for Org’s willing to test and be constantly learning
Why Vision Pro will get eyeballs
🎁 A Holiday gift! Your free watch link to the film “UnCharitable”🎁
Let’s dig in.
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Change
Everyone and their Grandmother is sharing 2024 predictions in the digital marketing, technology and fundraising world right now.
A few will be right but most of them will be wrong.
I have no idea what will happen in the marketing world next year - except that there will be change.
This change will be a massive advantage for some nonprofits, while for others, it’ll mean a significant setback. It all depends on how you respond to it.
Reflecting on the digital marketing and fundraising landscape from over a decade ago:
- Less than 50% of American’s owned a smartphone.
- Content really meant “blog”.
- TikTok was non-existent.
- Instagram was just a feed of photos.
- GDPR/CCPA - Donor data was collected and stored very differently.
- Chatbots? Unheard of.
Marketing tactics, playbooks, available technologies, and the entire landscape are in a constant state of flux.
The brand and fundraising playbook you’re running this year will be filled with gaps in a year or two if it doesn’t evolve. I hope SPN can be a source of inspiration and information to you.
This also means there’ll be tons of first mover advantages for Org’s willing to try new channels, test and who are constantly learning. Therein lies the opportunity.
On the flip side - Org’s struggling with growth today are victims of this change, still running a playbook that was relevant in 2020.
Refusing to evolve or push past the way things have always been done isn’t a strong plan for sustainable growth.
Operating channel-first, putting up barriers in the donation process, not investing in building a brand organically through storytelling that differentiates, positions, educates and engages, etc…
The winning Org’s over the next few years will be those who are making big bets now, pushing into new channels and tactics that aren’t yet saturated with every other Org.
Take a look at your strategies and ask yourself what camp you’ll be in over the next two years. It should be pretty obvious.
But for as much as things change, they also stay the same.
Success in any new channel or with any new technology still hinges on the foundational principles of smart marketing: evidence-based, experiment-led, understanding of donor behavior, mastery of storytelling and the art of persuasion.
Bring on 2024!
🎁 Your Link to Watch “UnCharitable”🎁
With many thanks to a well connected SPN reader, Fundraise Up and the Producers of UnCharitable for their permission to share.
First Mover Advantage
I talked about Big Bets above, and pushing into new channels and tactics that aren’t yet saturated with every other Org. Much has been said about AI’s profound future impact on marketing and fundraising.
Putting my money where my mouth is - Apple’s Vision Pro feels like it’s going to become an incredibly useful tool for advertising and a significant source of fundraising dollars. And I think it’s where we’ll find the Next Gen of donors and Supporters.
I’ve kept it light but here’s why and how I’m going to toe dip into prepping for its adoption.
Apple has an extraordinary ecosystem
Apple has defined tech consumption patterns across various age groups for decades. They’ve built the most integrated, 360-like view of the consumer, unavailable anywhere else. Their seamless connectivity between devices like iPhones, iPads, Macs, and the Watch, ensures that any new product like Vision Pro will easily integrate into the daily lives of users. They’ve got a track record!
Sure, the price point needs to be lowered for quick, massive adoption – but that will happen, as it did with the Mac and iPhone. And once it happens, a new generation of donors will become available for targeting in new, unique ways.
Double click into your curiosity
Nonprofits can either choose to be there with their donors, exploring and evolving their brand and how it tells its stories, or let the opportunity pass them by. Experimentation is the unlock.
Interestingly, the drama with X (Twitter) this year seems to have made us all more open to experimenting with more up-and-coming platforms. I’ve seen plenty of testing approaches to things that don’t necessarily have an “established way of being” for fundraising and brand-building. When there are no “good practices,” there is room for being “better.”
The foundations of donor engagement won’t change
The Next Gen of Donors’ – Gen Z or Gen Alpha – adoption of Vision Pro will create new touch points to leverage as a part of omnichannel, omni-medium marketing.
Vision Pro is just a tool. And while it’s new and undiscovered, its use cases aren’t. It’ll offer new asset types and put state-of-the-art VR/AR on the map, but it won’t change the foundations of donor engagement – meaning it already applies to your Org.
Video will continue to be the most important type of content
Playing with “brave” ways of doing video now and experimenting with formats at scale will be “table stakes” soon. Plus you’ll reap the benefits today too. Vision Pro will create a digital version of Times Square, with multiple brands competing for attention. Old-school, long-form videos won’t cut it – they don’t already. Org’s need to sharpen their short-form video skills across shooting, production, and distribution, allowing for quick experimentation.
AR/VR devices will require content to be on point, accelerating the evolution
Only one nonprofit will be first to equip its face-to-face fundraisers with Vision Pro’s to put donors at the center of the action in a refugee camp as a part of the conversion experience. You can start experimenting with immersive, interactive experiences now and folding them into your donor journey’s. Testing it early will undoubtedly allow for much quicker adoption when Vision Pro becomes a reality, and it will also improve results today.
Thousands more data points will become available
I’m most intrigued by the eye-tracking technology that feels like website heat maps on steroids – truly highlighting what donors care about and look at versus what’s on the periphery, enabling better personalization across all channels. Community building through interactive learning experiences, augmented get togethers and events, and immersive entertainment and virtual experiences, all feel like vast opportunities worth exploring too.
Ethical practices balance innovation
Apple will have to make this new way of advertising as ethical as possible. By leveraging their closed ecosystem, they have a shot at balancing innovative, unseen levels of personalization with strict data collection, processing, and sharing practices – leading to much less fraud and waste. But that will require Org’s to be part of the ecosystem – Apple isn’t known for sharing data with outside players. I’m tempted to start running AppStore ads to familiarize myself with its intricacies.
Wrapping Up
Donors are looking for a continued and unique connection to any Org they donate to. Perhaps Vision Pro could be that catalyst for you and your team in thinking through how and where to build your Next Gen pipeline. And as I said earlier, the good news is that a change in mediums doesn’t change the principles of smart marketing.
And now onto the fun stuff!
Thank You
I’m enormously grateful that you’re a reader of SPN and thank you for being on this journey with me trying to make SPN the best resource for nonprofit operators.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024.
I’ll see you in the New Year. Cheers!
Interesting Reads of My Week
Apple, Its Control Over the iPhone, and The Internet
Is Creative Innovation the Key to Audience Attention & Memorability?
YouTube are trialling a play something button - pulling up random videos.
CreativeX founder Anastasia Leng talks in this podcast on The Measurability behind the Magic of Creativity
Google AdSense Moving to Per-Impression Payments in 2024
Sharp US Hiring Slowdown Signals Cooling Economy Ahead
Digital fashion is alive and well for Gen Z
And, Google DeepMind are transforming the future of music creation