The Value of Focus… for Charities
fo·cus (noun), a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity.
Do you think nonprofits or charities suffer from a lack of focus? I do. Not in lacking what they ultimately do (help the homeless, eradicate poverty, etc.) but in how they attempt to get there namely through raising the support necessary (also known as that dirty word… fundraising).
I’ve stated my belief before that charities always try to do too much and that comes from both a burning passion to achieve their mission and a definitive lack of focus. A campaign that is focused on donor acquisition soon becomes about brand profile raising and keeping current donors and attracting monthly support while reporting back to major donors… and awareness. Sound familiar? The end result is often very weak campaigns and what started out so promising has now been diluted by lack of focus it is impossible to achieve the original objective like you’d hoped.
Enter focus. Focus can apply to the macro-strategy or a micro-campaign. In either or any case focus must be present. Focus, or another word that carries more connotations “vision”, is what provides the lens by which you can make decisions. We want to raise our brand profile. Okay, doing the same things you’ve always done is not the answer then. We want to engage people in our work. Okay, not asking them for money right way would be a good step. Without that vision or focus you have very little grounds on which to make guided, strategic decisions.
Similar to what I’ve suggested before, asking yourself “What is the ONE THING…” can help with focus. For example, what is the ONE THING you want to accomplish or achieve with that campaign? You’ll pick up some additional benefits but focus in on ONE THING and find ways to measure your success. Making a video? What is the ONE THING you want the viewer to think? Building a website? What is the ONE THING you are asking people to do on your site?
You might be thinking, the value of focus is obvious and you’ve already thought about it. Well I’d encourage you to re-think about it because it is imperative that you/we have focus in our roles and professions. In a recent Mitch Joel post “The Value of Focus” (which spawned the idea for this post) he lays out three ways to re-think about focus. They are (summarizing and paraphrasing here, do read the whole post):
- Urgent. Feeling like you are constantly on a deadline without the unhealthy side effects.
- Empathy. So focused on what you are responsible for you don’t get sucked into others’ mess.
- Future. Placing the work first, before whatever may come of it in the future.
You want to end homelessness in your city. That is a fantastic macro vision to go on your website and materials. What is your functional vision on making that happen? Without a relevant functional vision for your organization we will continue to sporadically chase the macro vision in unfocused, unproductive and ultimately unsuccessful ways. Re-think focus. There’s huge value in it.
Pingback: What made #Kony2012 go from “great” to “awesome”? | re: charity