One Thing Your Organization is Missing (And It’ll Surprise You)

You’ve been hearing that practice makes perfect since your childhood days (OK, you were right, mom and dad). And we admit, practice with your social media marketing and fundraising tactics will make you better. But there’s something else that you’re missing—and it’s important.

In his session at the AFP International Conference on fundraising, Tom Latchford pushed nonprofit professionals to think outside of their comfort zones. He asked them to come up with a completely out-of-the-box idea that might not ever work with social media and fundraising. But what participants found was that their far-fetched ideas weren’t really all that far-fetched at all.

See what Latchford says is missing from your organization’s social media presence in the video below.

Transcript:

My crazy idea for today was really just nothing that crazy at all. It was getting people to use their imagination and exercise it. And it’s something that’s not built into the cultures of nonprofit organizations that I’ve experienced in the UK enough. People need to find time for imaginative potential. People need to have a culture that accepts that—where failing is fine. Because actually failing is part of learning and learning is part of being able to eventually succeed.

But you need to be able to fail fast, learn from those mistakes and execute based on that. And ultimately the other thing from the failing and playing was the idea of being in an uncertain space. And kind of just allowing your mind to have a blank canvas to think of crazy ideas that probably aren’t that crazy. And the craziest ones are always the ones that succeed on social media, anyway. So it’s allowing yourself to have that space, that canvas, that 15 minutes in the day. Whatever it takes to be playful and childlike.

Lyndsey Hrabik

Lyndsey is a former editor for Nonprofit Hub and Nonprofit Hub Magazine. She now serves as a guest contributor, writing on topics such as social media, technology, marketing and starting a nonprofit.

May 6, 2014

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