Agitator readers in the U.S. who took last Monday off to celebrate Presidents’ Day missed a real gem.

So first thing today, go back and read Tom’s post, Become a Youtility, based on Claire Axelrad’s brilliant piece in NonProfit Pro.

In a nutshell that post and the links embedded in it covers everything The Agitator’s been preaching for years about retention and donor experience. The essential, fundamental, absolute bedrock principles that will determine your organization’s future.

If I see yet another email, blog or conference presentation by fundraisers and their consultants claiming to be ‘donor-centric’ I’ll throw up.

As Grandma Craver said, “Enough is enough; too much will make a dog sick.”

It’s way past time for those who claim donor-centricity to walk the talk — and actually put into practice what they preach.

Why? Because, like it or not, the current model practiced by the overwhelming majority of organizations is being transformed. Transformed not by organizations, but by donors.

Most nonprofits are failing donors because at the heart their ‘mail more, raise more’ mentality is a culture that believes it is at war. Just look at the terminology: ‘Retention’. ‘Recapture’. ‘Acquisition’. ‘Conversion’. And on and on. [See our post Fundraising Myths and Dark Legends] A constant campaign to win new donors. And once won, the donors are treated as conquered subjects, bounty open to torture by solicitation after solicitation.

No wonder the media, politicians and regulators are so easily roused.

The nonprofit sector isn’t the only laggard. Lots of commercial folks continue to perpetuate the failed model as well.

In a recent study the office equipment maker Ricoh noted: “Irrelevant communications, both online and paper-based, are a huge bug-bear for more than two-thirds of consumers in Europe, who consider a quarter of what they receive to be junk. Six-in-ten consumers even see junk mail as more frustrating than their commute to work.”

Of course, the printers, list brokers and behind-the-times direct response consultants have never had it so good. That’s because as the burn and churn tactics of the past lose effectiveness, the spending goes up just to maintain things at the same level.

But that can’t keep going. At a certain point, the old-model will collapse. Fortunately, most of those in charge of the status quo will be mercifully retired.

For those who really look to the future (happily, although Tom’s getting up there, he continues to look forward) the reality of social media and the online world looms large. Donors are increasingly unlikely to recommend nonprofits that abuse them, make giving less convenient than buying on Amazon, and continue bombarding them with incessant appeal after appeal.

There’s still time to fix all this.

And as you’re thinking about it, I hope you’ll keep Clair Axelrad’s admonition in mind: “This does go beyond donor-centered ‘fundraising’ strategy. It takes the concept of being of service into the very fibers of the organization. Donors are part of our mission. We exist to serve them, so they can be the change they want to see in the world.”

What are you doing about the future?

Roger

P.S. For starters, again I suggest you check out the indomitable Simone Joyaux’s free Learning Center and its downloadable resources here.