Retire the donor pyramid? Replace it with a vortex? What’s a fundraiser to do?

I urge you to read The Permanent Disruption of Social Media, in the Winter 2013 edition of Stanford Social Innovation Review.

The authors’ premise is that in a world of social media, the old pyramid or ladder metaphor of donor engagement isn’t relevant any more. (If it ever worked at all.) But the old model implied a somewhat orderly process of communications and solicitations tied to giving frequency and levels. The bigger your gift, the more valuable you are, the more worthy of personalized attention.

The authors accuse this approach of being a one way street, from organization to donor, that ignores the new reality of influence.

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