The thing about new media not being new - it's at least 10 years young in the UK charity sector - is that those of us who deal in it know that, but we still have to use 'ear candy' to get it noticed. Frankly, that's what i think is most frustrating about how charities still work; it's a bureacracy to have to label things in a way that gets them noticed. And arguably, calling it New Media and setting it apart by team structure and whatever else could be what prevents it from going mainstream. Perhaps..
When I recently chaired the Institute of Fundraising New Media Conference, I looked out for the job titles in the room. Yes, there was even an e-media person out there, something you wouldn't have seen a couple of years ago. And some other variations too. And it was striking when someone with the profile and experience of Amanda Horton-Mastin, New Media Director at Comic Relief, mentioned in her presentation that she still has to force herself into meetings when marketing campaigns first get discussed.
So, 10 years-or-so on, when is new media going to stop being the last-minute option or the after thought? And what should we really be calling it? Comments welcome!
Comments
Many trustees / senior managers don't understand these issues and will subsequently write them off- much in the same way as DM then F2F used to be fundraising's grey areas. The latter have now benefited from years of supporting stats and research. Though I chuck most DM in the bin and avoid chuggers like a plague, I still invest in it as I know I'll see good return and I can easily demonstrate this to decision makers. Charities have failed to properly business case New (or old) Media for some reason- though it is probably the most measurable of all the channels. Do we support invesments with case study rationale, such as Oxfam selling £1.32m in virtual goats or 80% of MSF UK's Direct Debits coming via the website? I think this can be attributed to the disassociation of New Media from the Fundraising team in all but the Top NFPs- most organisations having the ubiquitous 'IT Guy'that usually knows little about marketing / fundraising. Candidates or consultants with combined marketing savvy and sound technical expertise (like Howard & Sarah- free plug) should find themselves in increasing demand. This has already played out in the US.The US has also been considerably more proactive in quantifying donor uptake of the online mediums, largely due to major NFP-centric providers supporting their products. This has lead to supporting detail and further investment. Subsequently, major online players such as IFAW, Lance Armstrong Foundation and Heifer (the latter received a Fast Company Award, particularly noting their web marketing success in taking over 12% of their £85m annual income online) are now on par with their commercial counterparts.
The UK doesn't has some main players too- NSPCC, Oxfam- but have generally preferred to duplicate rather than innovate. Just look at the saturation of the virtual gifts market in just a couple of years, making for short-lived investments / product life-cycles. There are a few shining stars though, such as CancerBacup and Youthnet providing core mission delivery via the net.
When UK nonprofits start to sync fundraising and IT, cater online innovation to their donorbase (not just be a lemming) and substantiate the reach / ROI of New Media to decison-makers with sound research, we should see more positive response.
Is it always an afterthought? I'm not so sure. I see some very innovative stuff coming from UK charities that is led online - it just doesn't get noticed by the people who have been labelled as the 'experts' by the non-profit media and industry associations (perhaps because it might expose their own failings?).That said, you raise an important point that in my experience is not limited to the charity sector. Commercial organisations have gone through the same issues, and some are still going through them.
My advice to charities is to stop worrying about 'old'new media like websites and email marketing - that's just a prerequisite these days. If you really want to innovate you need to jump ahead and start engaging with social media, which allows you to faciliate and participate in meaningful conversations about things that your supporters actually care about (which, by the way, is not the stuff you want them to care about). If you haven't already, take a look at what is being done in the US by the likes of March of Dimes.
Against this background, what you call it is the least important consideration.
Perhaps also when someone with (commercial?) new media experience becomes a director of fundraising. Current directors of fundraising will all have some other silo expertise - direct marketing, big gift, events etc - but I'd be surprised if any have new media experience, beyond assuming that responsibility in their current fundraising role (or having it thrust upon them-).
Howard Lake @howardlake www.fundraising.co.uk