Dorothy and Samson

Dorothy could barely believe her ears. I'd interviewed her just the day before, and now our small team had returned to her home in rural Zambia with pages of prayers and encouragement from people across the United States. People she would never meet mentioned Dorothy and her children by name and referred to the specific fears and hopes she'd expressed during the interview.

Dorothy's son, Samson, was mentioned often. We'd posted a picture of him joyfully proclaiming his pride in how he managed the family's goats. He'd been dubbed "The Goat Whisperer.”

As I handed her the pages, Dorothy said, “I will hang these on my wall and look at them every day as a reminder of the blessings I’ve received from the United States.”

Dorothy, her arms and back scarred from pulling her kids from a burning home as it collapsed around them, and Samson, her 12-year old goat whisperer, were amazed that people in the US knew their story and cared enough to respond. They'd already received life-changing donations of goats and agricultural help. But the heartfelt messages of love and hope were a very special gift for two people who had lived very hard lives—lives plagued with life-threatening malaria and a crippling lack of food.

The people who had posted those prayers shared in this joy as they heard their words being read to Dorothy and saw her reaction via video just a couple of days later. It was a moving example that would play out again and again over the course of a month-long voyage.

a social media experiment

It was 2009, and we’d embarked on a social media experiment called The Spirit of Christmas Tour. The Tour featured a month-long journey around the world that allowed an unprecedented depth of interaction between thousands of donors and the people we were helping in several countries, including Dorothy and Samson.

Our goal was to go beyond simply telling stories. We wanted to provide an emotional experience for donors. Not only could donors see the impact of donations—they could ask questions and participate in the unfolding story.

This experiment wasn't easy. In fact, it was exhausting, but the effort appeared to pay off, correlating with a 24% increase in retention rate during a period of enormous economic crises.

Years later, we're still just in the beginning phases of seeing how the trends that enabled that experiment in 2009 will transform the way nonprofits connect with donors. 

louis c.k. was right

The comedian Louis C.K. does a remarkable bit about how people take the wonders of our world for granted, particularly plane travel. 

Louis reminds us how amazing it is that we get to “fly through the air..like a bird” every time we get on a plane. Isn't it equally incredible that for just a small donation, we can completely change the course of someone’s life, either in the US or across oceans?

The way we communicate the extraordinary, life-changing nature of this experience for both recipients and donors should quicken pulses, open minds, and inspire hearts. 

apple has nothing on us

Apple celebrates people buying phones in their stores with more enthusiasm and emotion than nonprofits typically celebrate donors for changing lives. It's a common image - a person smiling broadly, clutching their new iPhone as Apple employees cheer them on. 

Apple may give people tools to be more productive and creative, but nonprofits give people tools to change lives, share their values with their loved ones, and express their innate drive to help others. Steve Jobs talked about computers as being bicycles for the mind; nonprofits are jet planes for the soul. We need to create experiences that communicate that to donors. 

THE intimacy era

The Spirit of Christmas Tour was a response to three key emerging trends: the democratization of media creation; the rapid, global spread of communications technology; and the rise of social media. 

This emerging landscape provided an opportunity to confront two enormous barriers for the humanitarian sector: the lack of trust in nonprofits, and the difficulty establishing empathy for people who live in different circumstances, often oceans away. 

Most organizations saw these trends as a call to be "social" and “interactive" with a primary goal of acquiring more donors. Technology without the right intention and artistry serves no real purpose, however. 

Driven by short-term metrics, the result can often be a flood of "content," and trendy gimmicks that do little to diminish the lingering doubt many donors have about what’s being done with their donation dollars or establish a true sense of connection to the people being served.  

Building trust and empathy takes much more than just churning out stories and content. It requires reorienting the core product experience around creating intimacy. Donors will come to demand it. 

The economist Jeffery Sachs has said that this is the first time in history we have the means to end extreme poverty. A radical shift in intimacy leading to trust could bring millions of people into partnership to get that done. Imagine what we could see in our lifetime if that were true. 

RIPE FOR DISRUPTION

In other parts of their lives, donors are experiencing an increase in intimacy through brands like Airbnb, Uber, Kickstarter, and Snapchat. Rather than seeking incremental gains by using technology to supplement the status quo, each of these companies has taken the risk of reimagining the prevailing model.

Meanwhile, the core experience with most nonprofits is fundamentally the same as it was ten years ago. People have an innate, powerful drive to help others that the current generation of nonprofits are largely failing to connect with. 

Our industry is ripe for disruption in much the same way as communications, lodging, transportation, and even politics are being disrupted now. Organizations will innovate or find themselves on the sidelines as the next generation of nonprofits engages with a newly energized universe of donors to literally change the world. 

A WORLD-CHANGING OPPORTUNITY

Having intimacy as our North Star implies a long-term view requiring trust and empathy nurtured by transparency, immediacy, and authenticity. It’s a strategy based on deep relationships that result in loyalty. And in this era, loyal, impassioned donors are the engine of acquisition and growth. 

The Intimacy Era brings an extraordinary opportunity for innovative, risk-taking nonprofits to inspire and nourish people in world-changing ways.  To succeed in this era will take a great deal of experimentation and a new set of skills. 

That’s why I founded MOYO. I’ve glimpsed the amazing connection created when donors and people like Dorothy and Samson are brought into relationship in creative ways. I can't think of a more exciting challenge than helping to unleash the full potential of all the other "goat whisperers" of the world and furthering the ideal that we are better defined by what we share than what we have. 

 - Devin Hermanson, Founder, MOYO Media Lab