Post-Bush Fundraising
There was a Michael Crichton book that came out a couple of years ago that spoke of the need for nonprofits to scare the public to drive donations. The theory was that fear and anger were great motivators to rally support for a cause. This theory often led charities to spin issues irresponsibly to maximize donations.
Last week, I met a friend who currently works at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). As has become the norm when two nonprofit professionals meet these days, we both inquired about the financial health of our respective organizations.
He shared that the downturn was hard but the bigger challenge has been the loss of their biggest donor--George W. Bush. Having arrived on a red-eye flight that night, the joke didn't register with me right away. It took about 15 seconds.
Then it did. Their fundraising for the last eight years has been about scaring Americans about the impact of Bush on the environment. Now with Obama in DC, who needs the NRDC? All of our bad environmental policies will be reversed and the EPA will finally have teeth. In the past they might have directed their campaigns at large corporations, but now even companies are signing the green song.
They lost their villains.
From a distance, it seems like they have three options. They could decide to scale back their efforts, ceding efforts to the EPA. They could find a new enemy (much like James Bond who went from fighting communists to capitalists to terrorists in order to keep up with the times). Or, they could take on the challenge of shifting their message to be: yes we can.
I would vote for a combination of the latter two options. The message would be: now is the time. It shares a sense of hope and the need for urgent action today while making it clear that this is a window of opportunity. We need to make sure we don't waste a minute as this window will close again when politics swing back to the right. Hope and fear.
The NRDC is not unique in this challenge. Many nonprofits made millions from rallying people against Bush.
This will be a defining moment for the sector. Can we convert the negativity and scare tactics into a voice that can be equally successful selling hope and optimism?
I think we can. It is a natural transition from Boomer leadership to Generation X leadership. We are going from 'fight the power' to 'be the power' and our generation tends to already be of this new mindset and ready for the challenge.
Last week, I met a friend who currently works at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). As has become the norm when two nonprofit professionals meet these days, we both inquired about the financial health of our respective organizations.
He shared that the downturn was hard but the bigger challenge has been the loss of their biggest donor--George W. Bush. Having arrived on a red-eye flight that night, the joke didn't register with me right away. It took about 15 seconds.
Then it did. Their fundraising for the last eight years has been about scaring Americans about the impact of Bush on the environment. Now with Obama in DC, who needs the NRDC? All of our bad environmental policies will be reversed and the EPA will finally have teeth. In the past they might have directed their campaigns at large corporations, but now even companies are signing the green song.
They lost their villains.
From a distance, it seems like they have three options. They could decide to scale back their efforts, ceding efforts to the EPA. They could find a new enemy (much like James Bond who went from fighting communists to capitalists to terrorists in order to keep up with the times). Or, they could take on the challenge of shifting their message to be: yes we can.
I would vote for a combination of the latter two options. The message would be: now is the time. It shares a sense of hope and the need for urgent action today while making it clear that this is a window of opportunity. We need to make sure we don't waste a minute as this window will close again when politics swing back to the right. Hope and fear.
The NRDC is not unique in this challenge. Many nonprofits made millions from rallying people against Bush.
This will be a defining moment for the sector. Can we convert the negativity and scare tactics into a voice that can be equally successful selling hope and optimism?
I think we can. It is a natural transition from Boomer leadership to Generation X leadership. We are going from 'fight the power' to 'be the power' and our generation tends to already be of this new mindset and ready for the challenge.
Couldn't agree more!
On a related note - I was a little sad to see an article last week in the Science section of the NY Times that mentioned several very good things Bush had done for the environment that were not well reported because they didn't go along with the common story about him as environmental villain.
After reading the article I realized that I had been so negative in the past year when it came to what could be done to improve our country that I had stopped bothering to get the real story and had nearly given up on doing something about issues I care about.
Now that people all over the country have renewed hope in what is possible, I think we in the nonprofit sector should lead the charge to educate and organize all of these motivated citizens. We can encourage each other to take individual responsibility for doing our part to fix the underlying causes of our country's problems rather than bellyaching about those who could've or should've acted on them already.
This is the March of Dimes issue, right? Once you cure polio, what do you do? Do you become irrelevant?
In the case of organizations with less specific missions, I would add a fourth option to Aaron's list of what NRDC could do now. Option 4: find a few villain. If it's true that non-profits can motivate donations most effectively by leveraging anger, frustration, and other "negative" emotions, then why not set out in search of tomorrow's problem, and re-purpose all of your assets and expertise in becoming the first-mover on that problem? It's the challenge of NRDC and other similarly situated organizations to have the foresight and wisdom to identify the issue that doesn't exist yet, and then drive contributions by raising the public's consciousness about it.
Aaron, never fear - NRDC is not lacking for things to do, even with George Bush out of the White House. As far as ceding to the EPA, NRDC's professional staff, legal and policy experts, have been serving in an advisory capacity to Hill leadership for decades, and they're more critical in that capacity now than ever before. There is no shortage of adversaries out there either....the effort to institute federal carbon policy and invest in alternative energy generation and energy efficiency technologies is encountering much resistance from entrenched industries. Finally, NRDC's (and E2's) foremost message is a very positive one - the best environmental policy is also the best economic policy for this country. Turning our economy around by investing in a new, low carbon, clean energy future offers Americans the best path toward energy independence, job creation and mitigation of the worst impacts of global warming.
I need a pro bono fund raiser formy US Senate campaign...if anyone is listening....Business901@aol.com
no jokes or crooks please