221 | What if technology could shift our focus from initial to subsequent gifts?

221 | What if technology could shift our focus from initial to subsequent gifts?

The Fundraising Talent Podcast, a production of Responsive Fundraising

Bill is an idea guy who’s not going to pass up the opportunity to banter about what’s on his mind. Having worked in places like the United Way, American Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity, he believes technology still has more to offer fundraising. While I tend to agree, I would like to see an aggressive shift away from the initial gift which generally delivers on expectations for volume and efficiency and to the subsequent gift which enables us to focus on more qualitative and long-term indicators of performance.

A close cousin to this predicament is the tendency for technology to put too much information in front of us too early in the process, before we’ve assured ourselves that the donor is receptive to more meaningful engagement - a sort of data deluge in fundraising. Bill and I discussed how we might design technology that shields the development officer from too much information when they are merely trying to secure the initial gift and that, only after that gift has been received, enlightens them of what’s possible in the future. In my mind, the only way this is going to work is if decision-makers grasp for themselves what these two gifts signify and how to distinguish between the two.

As always, we are grateful to CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.