Are you truly listening to your donors?

I'm writing this from the Eaton DC, a beautiful hotel on K Street in Washington DC. I'm surrounded by intentionally chosen "little touches" like having a record player in the room with artists like The Temptations and books about Bob Marley's attempted assassination.

These are design elements that are there to evoke a feeling, a sense of belonging that will always be hindered by the fact that it was done not in the context of being someone's home but always as a temporary living space. This isn't "mine" but I'm borrowing it.

I'm here because the National Council of Nonprofits is holding its annual Confab, a gathering of state associations that features a lobby day, sessions on grantmaking initiatives, membership benefits, and policy updates.

Vendors and speakers need to be invited to attend and Neon One has been partners with the Council for years, so I've seen the event evolve and grow.

Yet, one of my favorite parts of the event is its explicit focus on listening.

Many times when we hear discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion it is the default American setting to immediately assume we're talking about race. There's an automatic othering that occurs if the context isn't applied, where folks may tune out because they think the discussion is about giving someone else something.

However, if they were really listening then they'd hear something different.

Identity is a fluid and ever-changing concept. Who you are with your family is not who you are at work yet at the same time, it is you. Different lenses and shades of experience will color the way we all see the world, yet there are many more things that bring us together than divide us.

I think what has been fascinating about the last week is with all the pomp and circumstance of Disney World and the fun things that I've been talking about, there's been this increasingly beating heart of going to bed and waking up and immediately missing my family.

Right before the fireworks at Disney World, my friend William was talking about the emotional resonance that the show has for him. He said that it is going to be impossible not to cry. My immediate reaction was "What the hell is he talking about, it's a fireworks show."

Yet, I wasn't listening.

As soon as the show started, a brilliant tapestry of lights and sounds began to tell a story that featured any major Disney character you can think of. As children yelled out their favorite characters appearing on screen (oh yes, Olaf got big cheers), I sat in awe of the technical wizardry happening.

And then out of nowhere, there was a glimpse of the father from Inside Out tossing his child in the air. It was a brief moment that caught my eye and I started to immediately tear up.

I missed my children. I wish they were there. And I immediately understood what William was talking about.

When I talk about connection with donors, this is what I mean. You as a fundraiser cannot never anticipate the feelings and emotions your donors may have. But you can be intentional about what you hope they can feel. You can design an experience through images and sounds and smells and words that evoke something.

The point is to move people. Move them to feel something. Move them to act.

And yes, move them to donate to you.

But in order to do that, you need to listen to what they want and in turn, you need to create an environment where they are ready to listen to your message.

In the coming weeks, I'm going to start to outline in a public way how I've begun to organize my thoughts about how this can be strategically applied toward empowering nonprofits with the technology and resources necessary to make this happen.

There's time for theory and wandering thoughts like these, but I hope you'll be ready to not just listen but act alongside me and begin to build that world where the most effective identity activators aren't corporate media conglomerates but nonprofits.

Special Community Webinar

Have you joined the Connected Fundraising Community yet? If not, I have a special event so you can see the types of benefits we're trying to offer fundraisers like you. On June 20, I'll be going over the insights from the upcoming Giving USA report. You'll be able to ask me questions about the largest analysis of generosity that comes out each year, so this is one you don't want to miss.