Photo courtesy of Vicious Bits.
Recent philanthropy news seems to have revealed a trend. Musicians, and Nashville residents, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill organized a benefit concert, which has raised about $2 million for Nashville flood relief. Artist Damien Hirst rallied 98 of his colleagues to produce an art auction that raised $38 million for the (RED) campaign's efforts to fight AIDS in Africa. Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and New York Knicks player Tracy "T-Mac" McGrady are leaning on NBA players to raise funds to build schools for Darfuri refugee camps through the Darfur Dream Team.
It seems obvious to have artists paint, to have musicians sing and to have NBA players call on their teammates in support of a cause - but what your supporters have in common with these fundraising celebrities is that they too can and should be leveraged in a way that makes the most of their skills and network. Unfortunately, more often than not nonprofits fail to ask their partners to do what makes the most sense.
Unique Skills...
Instead of looking at the skills and extended networks their existing advocates have to offer, they ask lawyers to paint murals and they ask teachers to stuff envelopes. Yes, all of these activities may move the ball forward bit by bit. The nonprofit needs the mural painted and the envelopes stuffed, and the lawyer and the teacher may even have had fun working on those projects. But they aren't the most strategic asks that could be made of these supporters - people who could probably contribute much more value and have a more fulfilling volunteer experience if they were asked to do something more in line with their skill set and interests. The Taproot Foundation is great at matching volunteers' professional skills with projects that nonprofits badly need. While not every nonprofit is ready for a large-scale project like a Taproot grant, this principle can be applied to how they engage their networks every day.
And Unique Networks...
If there's not a task or project that matches the skills of the supporters you have, you can also be strategic about leveraging their networks in appropriate ways. While you might not have the star power available that some of these multi-million dollar campaigns tapped into, your supporters can be surprisingly influential in their networks - whether that be a sorority, a rec league softball team, a book club or a network of bloggers. Everyone has a group of people they can turn to and say (as Damien Hirst said to his artist friends) "If you do this for me, some day, when you need to call on me, I will reciprocate for you."
And That Goes for Social Media Too...
Now that nonprofits are convinced of the power of social media to fundraise and friend raise, we are going overboard at times by asking even social media resistant supporters to join certain platforms SO they can support us through those platforms. You don't need to bring all your supporters to Facebook so they can "like" your organization, join your cause and start receiving your Facebook messages. That would be like asking your supporters to become pastry chefs so you can have a great bake sale. It's a good idea for nonprofits to create a presence on social media because that's where many of their supporters already spend time and have access to a network, but it's an even better idea to be strategic about how they invest their time on social media.
While it's true that social citizens might be the perfect supporters to champion your cause online, Millennials (and other generations) have other creative ideas, talents and networks that shouldn't be overlooked or undervalued. For more tips on engaging Millennial volunteers, see Kari's recent post. At the end of the day, the real goal is to empower volunteers and supporters where they already have a presence and expertise, whether that's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or (gasp) not online at all.