In 1954 the unthinkable happened: television advertising dollars surpassed radio advertising dollars. Radio was no longer king, and television become America’s dominate form of information and entertainment.
Is that so unthinkable? It seems obvious to us now, but back then there were many people who had assumed radio would always be primary.
Today non-profit leaders are struggling with just the same type of shift.
Here’s just a few things that are dominate now in the non-profit world, but shortly won’t be:
Direct Mail. With the rising cost of mail, coupled with the Post Office cutting days of delivery, direct mail is going to be a premium service before long and not for the average donor/supporter. Get started thinking how you’ll raise support for your valuable work when printing isn’t feasible.
Attention. One of the big things that is changed in the last four years is the flood of information from twitter/facebook. It is functionally changing how much attention people have to give your charity. Being part of the clutter isn’t going to work, you’ll have to think of how to do such great work that it is indispensible.
Offices. With operation margins so tight, non-profits are going to have to be on the cutting edge of creating the office of the future. This means setting yourself free from rent, and putting your maximum amount of money into direct support. What are you doing to experiment with moving your agency to the office of the future?
These are just a few ideas. What would you add to this list? What do you disagree with on my list? Let me know.
David Curry
