Category: content authenticity

Will privacy laws impact digital fundraising?

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

Digital fundraising is catching up fast, thanks to donors not picking up phones or totally ignoring direct mail. Email marketing, crowdfunding and Giving Days are engaging more people digitally, especially alumni in higher education. Will this trend last?

The proposed federal regulations to protect consumer privacy in the US will have an impact on online fundraising. If I can’t trust private companies with my data, will I really give online?

I believe that face to face fundraising will be the number one revenue generator for nonprofits seeking charitable gifts. A conversation with a fellow human being about their philanthropic intent has its own value. However, a 2018 survey done by the consultancy firm, Bentz Whaley Flessner, predicts a bright future for digital fundraisers. People are finding it more easy to connect online than through the phone.

Charitable organizations are using social media, promoted advertisements and influencers to raise awareness and seek donations. And, digital fundraisers with special skills in SEO marketing, online display advertisements and Facebook paid social advertisements will have huge demand.

Companies will have to drive human connection and build a sustainable, long-term funding option using digital fundraising. The only way is to build trust online with constituents so that they feel secure, confident, and are not being manipulated.

I am worried. Recently, Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook wrote in Time: “Google and Facebook are artificially profitable because they do not pay for the damage they cause.” Hope we don’t cause any damage to the trust that donors give us.

Soledad and the power of storytelling

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

American television personality, Soledad O”Brien offers us consolation in a world of us versus them. Our infinite power to tell stories will help us learn more about each other.

Soledad grew up as a biracial kid in a mostly White town in New York . Here, she understood why race was not a social construct. Race is real in America.  We are very much connected to ethnic origins, privilege, poverty, social standing and accomplishments.

Her parents were immigrants.  Her dad was Australian and her mom came from Cuba and it was tough for them to get get married and raise a family in the America of the 50s and the 60s.

In television, Soledad learned why producers had pre-conceived notions of stories even before they were aired. Stories of poor people almost always led with negative connotations of where they came from, unemployment in their communities, drugs and violence. Very rarely did producers take notice of the individual human being, their successes, their accomplishments. The personality of the poor gets sadly forgotten in American television, especially if you are black or latino. Soledad was delivering the Elizabeth D. Rockwell lecture at the University of Houston recently.

Today’s television relies on talking heads, who get an annual payment and claim to be so-called experts on specific subjects. Armchair journalists never got real stories from the field and I learned that in journalism school.

In-depth, incisive, deliberate reporting  is costly. Real reporting requires hard work, patience and the courage to ask hard questions. We have to be vulnerable and learn and understand the context of the subjects we are interviewing.

Sadly, our evening news revolves around shootings, the cat that got lost in the alley or an angry parent who found that the school bus was late.

I will leave you with a profound quote from Soledad: “I’ve learned that fear limits you and your vision. It serves as blinders to what may be just a few steps down the road for you. The journey is valuable, but believing in your talents, your abilities, and your self-worth can empower you to walk down an even brighter path. Transforming fear into freedom-how great is that?”