Chicken Little, it seems, is alive and well at MSNBC, with an article titled Donor drain: As mistrust grows, loyalty goes. See what I mean:
Raising money for a cause these days has become much like trying to walk up a "down" escalator while it is accelerating. It's getting tougher just to break even and much easier to fall behind.
Alarmism aside, there is something afoot, and fundraising is getting harder to do in many ways. And I think I know the two main causes:
- The number of nonprofits is exploding. The number of potential competitors grows by thousands every year. Many of them are you direct competitors -- with the huge advantage that they're small, nimble, and have a tight focus.
- We're seeing the beginning of a dramatic demographic shift -- with the current generation of donors being "replaced" by Boomers. Boomers, who are generally less responsive to direct mail, more cynical, and more demanding. The basic assumptions about what motivate people to give are changing.
But I'm not worried. Not very much, anyway.
- The organizations I work with will be able to make the leap from the old to the new style of fundraising. They're smart (hey, they hired us, didn't they?), disciplined, and determined. They'll innovate, test, and learn their way to success in the changing environment.
- The fat part of the Boomer bulge is still a few years away from donor age. When those born in the mid 50s mature into their donors years, we're going to have the largest population of donors in history. And those who know how to reach them (see above) will reap unbelievable benefits.
Technorati Tags: demographics, boomers
NWF is a Merkle client. :)
Posted by: Anne Senft | 09 January 2008 at 20:43