Sometimes I wonder if we sufficiently realize that various things are quite different. What happens when we don’t realize that these various things are indeed different? I suspect we don’t invest sufficient time and the right resources. I suspect we don’t engage the right people in the right way for the right end.
For example:
- Event, program, or movement: Is that thing you are doing a one-off event, a longer-term program…Or have you started a movement?
- Program or organization: Is your mission (and very existence) really an organization or a program that belongs inside another organization? I see too many organizations struggling to be independent nonprofit organizations, when they are really only a program (albeit a great program) that should be part of another organization.
- Status quo or change: Are you embracing the status quo – unknowingly or intentionally – instead of exploring change? Are you most comfortable with the status quo? Or can you commit to change?
- Invite or ask: Is there a difference between “inviting” and “asking?” Is the difference only in my mind? Or is there some subtle but important distinction in the experience you offer me as a donor or volunteer or customer? Are you inviting me…or just asking?
- Buyers or givers: When I think about fundraising events, my mind goes to buying. People are buying a product. I just read some research (but don’t remember where!) about people attending fundraising events. Many of those purchasers don’t care about the nonprofit – and don’t even remember which nonprofit it is. Many are buying a ticket to an event because they like the event or want to hang out with friends or… Do you want buyers or givers?
- Features and benefits. Activities or impact: There is a difference between features and benefits. It’s a fundamental and critically important difference in communications. Another angle is activities or impact. Good fundraising and good sales focus on benefits, not features. Top-notch organizations – nonprofits or for-profits – describe impact and results, not activities.
- Recognize or understand: Do you want me to recognize why you matter? Or do you want me to understand? Recognition seems more limited, more surface. Understanding, well that’s different. With understanding, I might become part of the tribe. With understanding, I could join the fight to make change.
So… What do you think?
