The sector’s losing relevance
Let’s call a spade, a spade. The sector has a problem. We’re losing relevance among the UK public and fewer people are giving.
I’ve felt it first-hand
I felt that problem in my bones when I got my first sector gig in the Individual Giving Team at WaterAid, some 15 years ago now.
We were churning out campaigns, appeals and products, but I often questioned the true value they were creating for our supporters. If I wasn’t feeling it, were our supporters feeling equally disconnected?
Making money or meaning?
The question of whether my job was really about making money for the organisation or meaning for supporters became all consuming. And I didn’t like the answer I was finding.
You see, I’ve always believed that the role of all fundraisers and change-makers is to give people who support your cause what I like to call an ‘emotional return’.
It’s about people feeling reaffirmed of who they are, of what they stand for, and a sense of being part of something bigger in this hyper-individualised society.
But the reality is, charities are so focused on getting people to open their wallets, we’ve been sucked into believing it’s channels and shiny new products that matter, not the people behind them.
We’ve stopped listening
Too many decisions in our sector are being made with minimal consideration for the audience. Back at WaterAid, I certainly wasn’t immune.
But it’s also why I’m the person to lead the change on this. I understand why decisions are driven by an organisation’s needs over our audiences’. And that means I know what it takes to change it.
My very personal mission
It’s time for the sector to become audience-led. To connect into what people really want and need when they engage with charities. More impact. More meaning.
And I’ve made my personal mission to codify how exactly to become audience-led (because I couldn’t find anyone or anywhere who broke it down into the simple steps anyone can follow) and help as many charity people as possible strengthen their audience-led decision-making muscle.
It starts with people
After over 15 years working in the sector, I’ve learnt a lot about becoming audience-led. But there’s one thing that’s stuck above all else.
To become audience-led, you’ve got to start with getting under the skin of real people. You’ve got to go way beyond those superficial pen portraits of the ‘benevolent Boomer’ (did you know Boomers are the most discerning generation of all?) and the ‘digital native’ (for me, defining someone by a channel is inherently dehumanising).
This is about slowing down. Actively listening. Respecting people. Breaking stereotypes. Believing they have agency to decide which charities they support - rather than have the wool pulled over their eyes with jeopardy and urgency tactics that fail to distract from the fact that the message lacks authenticity.
You're vital too
But to make this change happen, there’s a second, critical dimension. And that’s you. Because it’s only when you can bring your audience to mind in an instant that doing things differently really happens.
You can have all the audience tools you want (like complex segmentations and mountains of research) but if you can’t see through the eyes of your audience, it won’t be worth the PowerPoint it’s written on.
Let’s do this
If you want to attract new supporters at scale, if you want to re-engage existing at scale - and to do so sustainable – then being audience-led is the only way to have an approach that is unique to your charity. That can’t be copied. That will build the foundations of slow and steady growth for many years to come.
I hope you’ll come on this journey with me.
Do get in touch if you’d like to talk.
Chloe x
