Last week, talking about FaceBook’s cave-in (as some pundits see it) to two million of its users, I raised the issue of when should nonprofits listen to their donors.

I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but Jeff Brooks over at donor-centric Donor Power Blog would probably say "Always!" Personally, I’m all for listening to the customer, but I’m not entirely ready to hand over the car keys.

Today, our colleague Greg Schneiders weighs in as our Guest Commentator. Greg, a veteran of more than 30 years in research, marketing, communications, politics, and public affairs, is a principal in DonorTrends and and a partner in PrimeGroup, the Washington, D.C branding and marketing consultancy. Says Greg …

"Agitator’s comments on the Facebook (non) redesign raises two related but distinct issues about the appropriate use of customer (or donor) research. The first is how to get it right and the second is, once you have it right, what do you do with it?

To start with, Facebook’s experience really had little to do with customer research … in fact, it was not research at all.  And, it is a good lesson in the limitations of social media as a means of learning the views of any audience. 

The fact that they heard from only two million out of 175 million total users is not the problem.  If they heard from only 1,000 of their users, they would have been better off if they knew they were hearing from a representative 1000.  The problem with the two million “sample” is that it was self-selecting.  There is no way to know if the two million who chose to comment reflect the views of the 173 million who chose not to comment. 

Maybe those who loved the redesign or couldn’t care less about it were not motivated to comment, ceding the microphone to the small minority who hated it.  No way to know with a self-selected sample. 

In other words, if you want to give customers or donors an opportunity to vent or “have input,” go for it, but never mistake it for valid research … and don’t base any important decisions on the results. 

The second issue raised in Agitator’s comments on the Facebook experience is how to use information from customers/donors, even if it results from valid, well-designed research. 

This issue is raised all the time in politics, as in, “all these politicians do is follow the polls.”  But, shouldn’t political leaders pay attention to the views of those they represent?  Don’t we require members of the House of Representatives to run for reelection every two years precisely because we want them on a short leash and very responsive to their constituents’ needs and views?  

Likewise, if Facebook exists to serve a community, shouldn’t it be responsive to that community’s collective will?  This is not a research question but a philosophical one.  And the answer is “yes and no.” 

Responsive to your constituents/customers/donors, yes.  A slave to their views, no. 

John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage was all about politicians willing to be tossed out of office for doing precisely what their constituents didn’t want them to do, because their constituents were wrong and they were committed to doing what was right.  If Facebook were an office holder it would have failed the Profiles in Courage test. 

Sometimes the right use of a poll is to show you just how much education and communication will be required to lead your constituents or customers or donors to where they need to be.  If political/commercial/non-profit leaders are not willing to do that, they should just hook the decision-making machine up to the people meter and take the rest of their lives off."

No dispute at all with Greg over what constitutes feedback versus valid research. But that still leads us back to the question: When do I lead, and when do I follow?! Greg sounds like he’s more inclined to something we might call "attentive leadership."

Marketing maven Seth Godin complicates it a bit more. In a post titled Ignore your critics,  he argues that what matters is who you listen to — not your fans (interesting, why not), not your critics, he says. Rather your "sneezers" — that’s Godinian for the people who tell the most people about you. Says Godin: "Listen to the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow."

That feels right in my gut. But maybe I should research it.

Tom