Do I Have Your Attention?
In a recent post, marketing maven Seth Godin makes this observation:
“Attention is a bit like real estate, in that they’re not making any more of it. Unlike real estate, though, it keeps going up in value.”
Of course he’s not the only commentator to stress the point that ‘attention’ is the scarcest and most precious of commodities for most people. Individuals are spreading their mind share wider and wider, often effectively against their will. So when they do have the chance to say ‘no more’ or ‘not interested’ … they do so with vigor!
The fundraising implication? What happens when they say NO MORE! to you and your nonprofit?!
How carefully do you use the access you have been given by your donors? Are the contacts you make with your donors in fact designed to stir further interest, building ‘attention capital’ in your account with them? Or do those contacts merely chip away at the very modest attention budget your organization was awarded when it first captured their interest?
Do you even think in those terms as you map out your communications strategy for your donors? Especially given the ease and perceived non-expense of online contacts, it’s easy to forget that what’s ‘cheap’ from your organizational perspective might be very costly from the perspective of the donor.
Don’t read this necessarily as an admonition to communicate less, or ask less, but rather take it as a suggestion that you weigh each communication carefully as a demand for the donor’s attention. And be certain that your demand is worthy of that attention.
I don’t know about you, but much of what I receive from organizations in my in-box, including from those I regard as friendlies, doesn’t deserve my attention. It’s too formulaic, not especially relevant or targeted, repetitive, boring.
Bottomline: don’t squander the attention you’ve been granted by your donors. If you treat it as having the special value it does, you might even see your donors become more responsive. You might even retain more of them.
Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
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