4. A Shift from Long-Term to Short-Term Partnerships
Projects and ventures have measurable goals and tangible outcomes. It also allows the donor to experience a higher degree of satisfaction funding a project that has immediate results. While long-term partnerships will be as important as ever, they cannot be the entry point for cultivating new donors.
Kickstarter has seen significant growth in both the number of projects launched and the number of projects completed between 2010 and 2011, according to a recent infographic featured in Mashable.
5. A Shift from Funding Generalists to Financing Specialists
“Since 1960, services have dominated U.S. employment. Today’s services sector makes up about 80 percent of the U.S. economy. Services are integrated into everything we buy and use. Nine of every 10 companies with fewer than 20 employees are in services.” –Dave Gray, Everything is a Service
As jobs become increasingly specialized our culture will naturally support and value specialized services. Nonprofits that can offer customized experiences will raise more money and empower more volunteers than those that maintain a one-size-fits-all approach.
Consider Skillcloud, a digital application conceived during Frog and LRN’s Reinvent Business Hackathon, which is “a social network-like platform that allows employees to broadcast all their interests, abilities and hobbies outside of the office to their workplace. Once companies know there is a passionate group of musicians or artists in their midst, they could build teams that generate fresh ideas.” –source
Nonprofits have the potential to build or leverage digital applications to understand their volunteers or donor’s skills and connect them with people or opportunities that have a need.
6. A Shift from High Hierarchical Organizations to Widely Distributed Networks
Digital media provides unprecedented access to experts, thought-leaders and like-minded individuals from around the world. The nonprofits that utilize digital media to build and grow the informal but powerful relational networks that people use every day to work and play will thrive in this new era.
“A social business creates intimacy at scale by democratising roles and responsibilities and encouraging employees to build their own brand.” –Dachis Group, The Evolution of Business
Many nonprofits have built vast networks from their fundraising efforts and by recruiting volunteers. Digital tools offer the opportunity to coordinate and unite these networks in ways that will increase their capacity to execute their mission.
