Community IT Innovators. Established 1993. Serving social mission organizations with integrated technology services you can trust.

In Seth Godin’s blog today  a post on a good email relationship – the casebook kind you are supposed to do, over time, developing value, with information relevant and interesting to subscribers – and it does seem that as the economic cart topples over, the emails I’m getting are verging from just desperate to absolutely panicked fundraising intrusions from out of the blue.  It feels like strangers shouting at me from my inbox. To be fair, when three colleagues just got laid off so you have their work on top of your own while you try to perform in a way to keep your own job, you can think any quick easy and cheap campaign, if it turns up even just one donor,  seems like something you should try.  But I think Seth’s point in this economic situation holds even truer – your constituents and clients are having a hard time too.  Everyone’s desperate.  When you are desperate, you turn to comfort food, you regroup, you consolidate, you go with what you know will work.  So your communication needs to convey the value you bring to your established relationships – how we will all get through this together.  People considering building a relationship with you need to be reassured that you will not waste their time, since they haven’t got enough time to meet the new challenges this fundraising environment brings.