Creating Our Future with Organizations by Design

I know it’s happened to you. You’re in conversation – about something controversial or not – and someone responds with a statement of their opinion, which they state as fact but in reality is not true. Whether it’s about the vaccine, politics, or how much nonprofit leaders are paid, they know the truth. As you try to continue the conversation, they repeat the same statement in response. No matter what you say. Frustrating for sure, and hard to move forward in a conversation. Unfortunately, what your conversation partner has learned is that repeating a statement somehow seems to make it true, even if it’s not.  The  illusory truth effect , also known as the illusion of truth, describes how, when we hear the same false information repeated again and again, we often come to believe it is true. Troublingly, this even happens when people should know better—that is, when people initially know that the misinformation is false. With the prevalence of social media, it’s incredib...

  During a meeting of a cherished Development Committee I work with, the topic of the ‘Spring Ask Letter’ came up.  The meeting leader shared that they were thinking of writing an update of what has happened over the past few months and what was planned for the future. It became clear to me that my colleagues had forgotten that when they were cultivating  donors, they should cultivate. When they’re briefing donors, they should share information. And when they are asking , they should ask .   Let’s review. Here’s the cycle: Cultivation is the period of time following donor qualification (ensuring that they are interested in what your organization does and determining that they might be interested in providing support) where you find out your donors’ passions, motivation and goals for philanthropy. To cultivate, you might offer the donor a variety of engagement opportunities: Inviting donors to connect/ follow the Social Media channels related to the campaig...