Should nonprofits care about community? Or is it all about the money?
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Jul 01, 2009 @ 07:41 AM
Got a call last night from one of my favorite nonprofits: Environment Massachusetts. The woman who called was very polite and enthusiastic, and said she wanted to thank me for my support and to update me on the important work EM has been doing. She talked for a few minutes about EM's recent accomplishments, and then she asked me to increase my monthly donation. I asked her why EM doesn't do more to build community, such as calling with the purpose of thanking me and telling me what my donor dollars help EM do, and NOT fundraising. Every phone call makes me cringe, I said, because the punch line is always the same: can you give more?
This launched her into an impassioned speech about how important the environment is (I agree) and how much work there is to do (again, no argument here). This is what we do, she said. We don't have the resources to do anything but fundraise and then use that money to save the planet. We'd love to be able to community-build, but that's for other organizations. We can't do everything. But we do build our power through people by asking them to donate a lot of money so we can make policy so they have a green and healthy world.
But, I said, what if you weren't always asking for donations, and I wasn't always feeling pressured to give more? What if, instead, you called to tell me that you had a Facebook page so I could become a fan, and not only get updates on what you do but connect with other EM donors? You could post videos, you could post important information, you could make our relationship two-way. So I would feel like I was more than a credit card. And once I felt connected, once I felt that you were giving and not just taking, I would in all likelihood want to give even more. I would have even more loyalty. I would want to tell my friends about you, so they could become fans, and join, and see the great work you do, and maybe start donating too.
Hmmm, she said, doubtfully. I hear what you're saying, and I'll mention it to my supervisor, but really, every cent we raise has to be spent on the environment, because that's our mission. That's what we do. Community would be nice, but we just don't have the resources.
Pulling back from EM, the larger question is whether it's enough for nonprofits that do great work to only contact donors to ask for money. Or, in this world of ever-increasing causes and ever-shrinking resources, if more is needed. So I'd like to ask you: what nonprofits do you give to and why, and have they found a way to do more than just ask, ask, ask? Or do you think it's enough for organizations that do work you passionately believe in to only reach out when they're asking for more?
(...and it turns out that EM does have a Facebook page with 111 fans, but little activity. And there's an EM Facebook group with 31 members, but again, little activity)