What can a portobello mushroom as president in 2079 teach fundraisers in 2024?

Last week, I spent a great couple of days in Copenhagen with Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies , Hyper Island and an amazing group of international participants, practising futures thinking and creativity.

One of the tasks which got us all thinking creatively was to produce a piece of media from 2079, thinking specifically about a future where power was back in the hands of mother nature.

Thinking so far ahead forces us to think about a world that’s very different from today. We imagined ourselves into a world where not only can we communicate with other organisms, but where those organisms have equal rights to us humans. Indeed, in this world, us humans would potentially have to relinquish our power - although admittedly probably not to a portobello mushroom!

On reflection though, we also realised that we were making lots of assumptions about what wouldn’t change: for example, in our version of 2079, democracy was still the overarching political system, we still elected a party led by a singular leader, and the US was still the main centre of global power.

But whilst it’s lots of fun to hypothesise about a world that’s very different from today, what’s the benefit for working in the here and now?

1.????? Bring people together

Thinking about the long-term future enabled us to be playful and silly together, and although we started as a group of strangers, we bonded quickly as a team. We probably don’t get to do enough of that amidst the stresses of working through the omni-crisis our sector faces, but in and of itself, it’s a great exercise.

2.????? Surface assumptions about the way things are today – and will be in the future

Strategic planning tends to start from the assumption that the future will be broadly the same as the now. But, as the last few years have taught us, things can change very quickly. By understanding our assumptions about the ways things will be, we can begin to question them and to explore alternatives.

3.????? Tap into creativity

Thinking about a long-term future, rather than just thinking three or five years ahead, forces us to think differently and taps into our natural creativity. Thinking about different futures enables us to think about different fundraising approaches, and potentially, to come up with ideas that are completely new, as opposed to making incremental changes to what we have already. ?

4.????? Help us intentionally create the futures we want to see

At its core, our sector is about making the world a better place. However, when you’re working with constrained resources, the future can seem like something that is going to happen to you rather than something you have any control over. Exercises like this, working alongside the people we support, and the donors who support us, can stimulate conversation around, and eventually action to create, a new and better future. And isn’t that why we all do what we do?