In Seth Godin’s classic book, “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable,” he mentions two key points:

•    “Tastes like chicken” isn’t a compliment.

•    “Something remarkable is worth talking about.  Worth noticing.  Exceptional.  New.  Interesting.  It’s a Purple Cow.  Boring stuff is invisible.  It’s a brown cow.

Richard, Jeff, our team, and I have a challenge for you: 

It’s amazing to us how many organizations can’t even get a simple receipt to their donors until two or more weeks pass by, how they don’t tell donors how their gift made a difference, and how they just treat donors like ATM machines instead of building true relationships.  It’s no wonder donors decide to stop supporting those causes that can’t get it right.

Consider how you can apply these thoughts from Seth to be remarkable to your donors each day:

“Imagine how much fun it must have been to be the first person to market aspirin.  Here was a product that just about every person on earth needed and wanted.  A product that was inexpensive, easy to try, and immediately beneficial.  Obviously, it was a big hit.

“Today, a quick visit to the drugstore turns up:  Advil, Aleve, Alka-Seltzer Morning Relief, Anacin, Ascriptin, Aspergum, Bayer, Bayer Children’s, Bayer Regimen, Bayer Women’s, BC, Bufferin, Cope, Ecotrin, Excederin Extra Strength, Goody’s, Motrin, Nuprin, St. Joseph, Tylenol, and of course, Vanquish.  Within each of these brands, there are variations, sizes, and generics, adding up to more than a hundred products to choose from.  

“Think it’s still easy to be an aspirin marketer?  If you developed a new kind of pain reliver, even one that was a bit better than all of those, what would you do?”

With 1.6 million non-profit organizations today all vying for donors to support their causes (and many that overlap with the same programs and services that your organization provides), what are you doing to stand out?  Are you being remarkable and building authentic donor relationships?

The current pandemic is looking like it’s not going to end anytime soon.  In fact, the number of cases of people testing positive is starting to rapidly increase and there are already states closing down again to try and get it back under control.  What this is going to mean to you as mid, major, and planned giving officers is that you’re going to continue working in this virtual environment.  And trying to connect with donors in meaningful ways is going to be critically important.  

So, our challenge to you is this:  How are you going to be remarkable to your donors?

Are you being sure you clearly understand their passions and interests and are being relevant to what those are with both your touchpoints and asks?  Or, are you just treating all of your donors the same because it’s the most efficient thing to do?

We guarantee if you are remarkable to your donors, stand out from all the other non-profits, and build authentic donor relationships, you WILL be successful.  We see it happen all the time.  And, ultimately, by raising more money, you’ll be helping to change the world.

Carter