Wanting To Be Heard!

No matter which side of the health care debate you fall it was obvious that people in both camps were feeling desperate to have their voice heard.

The generation of today is drawn to technology like a mosquito is to a bug zapper! Be it Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube your proud teen is happy to develop carpal tunnel syndrome by achieving new heights in daily texting a minimum of twenty minutes per day. People are buzzing like bees with no unified direction or focus in this grand “social networking” experiment that is tantamount to nothing more than glorified self absorption.

This fevered pitch cannot be maintained forever yet it is not surprising that this frustration is easily carried over to how many nonprofits feel trying to rise above everyday life’s noise to reach their respective donor.

It is hard to get a donor’s attention especially if they are worried about being able to keep their job in this economic slow down or because they are constantly answering their BlackBerry.

Regardless, while nonprofits bemoan this fact it is also quite ironic that nonprofits themselves often times forget that part of their responsibility to the donor is to also listen!

When was the last time you let your donor speak?

I’m not talking about asking them to fill out a survey or questionnaire to see if they think it is a good time for you to raise money for your upcoming capital campaign. What I am talking about is really focusing “one on one” to try to discern how the donor feels about your organization and what you are doing.

We all need to be reminded at times that we are given two ears and only one mouth for a reason!

So, as frustrated as you might feel, realize in this age of technology with all the applications and madness allowing the individual to say whatever they want. More than just a few of your donors might seem a little frustrated because they feel like for whatever reason real or imagined their voice is not being heard or enough attention has not been given to them.

Only you can change the outcome of this scenario. The question remains, will you act on what you have heard or just ignore it like the rest?