On April 1^st Jeff Brooks alerted us to the next game-changer in fundraising with his glorious post, The Wah Generation.

On April 2^nd Tom weighed in with a post titled Haunting Fundraising Questions, wondering about the future. His post was liberally salted with points by Pamela Barden zeroing in some key questions we all should be asking, but also pointing out that there are some pretty stupid paths being explored on the path to the future.

On this April 3^rd, prodded by the insights of Jeff, Pamela and Tom, I want to reinforce the observation that too many in this trade are too quick to abandon basics and set out in search of a future that will surely be delivered by some next, new thing.

Whether it’s a magical new group of donors identified by Jeff as the new generation of super donors born since 2013 … the exponentially growing social media channels noted by Tom where we can ‘like’ our way into a safe and secure future … or the magic, silver-bullet consultant who surely can save our skin if we just issue 30 RFPs, as Pamela so suitably spotlighted.

All of this wishful, ‘if only’ thinking focuses mainly on acquisition and is a sure fire way of avoiding the difficult task of holding on to and making the most of today’s donors.

I term this ‘if only’ process ‘chasing the unicorn’ and it is one of the 5 greatest barriers to donor retention and commitment because it siphons off funds, time and energy in pursuit of the largely imaginary.

Too many organizations are obsessed with chasing the types of donor they don’t have. Almost always the younger, more engaged, wealthy and active variety. Anything but what they image their current donors to be — staid, not-with-it, 50 to 70-year-olds.

Sometimes this fixation on the unicorn serves as the rationale for seeking out a brand expert. He or she will help figure out what look, feel, message will best appeal to this imaginary group and how best to reach them via social media.

Sometimes this fixation leads to the confusing of channels — online, offline, phone line — with the content of communication. And so we end up with the idiocy of the ‘direct mail is dead’ observation, even though 20-somethings, or 30-somethings in the long haul respond to direct mail in much the same way as 60 or 70-year-olds do.

So, beware of chasing the unicorn in your own organization. Beware of taking your eggs out of a proven basket and putting them in the basket of the next new thing.

Why? Because, as this video succinctly demonstrates, sooner or later you’ll have to rely on basics.

Roger