Major gift fundraising is all about connection. Commitment is important, but it has to be the kind of commitment that leads to connection. In Seth Godin’s blog he talks about a different kind of commitment, but the same kind of connection that we are looking for. From Seth’s blog:
De-escalation
Marketers want commitment. They want the big finish, the closed sale, the new customer. Buy Now!
The goal then is to create tension, to escalate need, to amplify conflict until action is taken. Escalation causes us to commit to our original need, by reinforcing it.
It goes beyond the retail store, of course… it’s deep within our culture. Noir novels show the hero goading the guy in the bar until a small dispute escalates into a beat down. Movies create drama (and entertainment) by escalating the small-time heist into the next world war. And commercials, retailers and demagogues take every opportunity to find the smallest thread of disclocation and amplify it into real commitment to action.
But what happens when we do the opposite? If we think about connection instead of power, if we think about abundance instead of scarcity, we can turn this on its head. …