When you hear the word “innovation,” does it spark excitement? Or does it send you into a cold sweat? We’ve seen it cause both among our friends who are running fundraising programs for nonprofits.
And we get it. When you’re managing the day-to-day complexities of a direct response program, it can be stressful to think about trying anything new and different from how things are currently being done.
Why Innovation Feels Challenging for Nonprofits
On the surface, innovation seems to be at odds with the nature of most traditional nonprofits: it’s fast-paced, bold, transformative, and forward-thinking, while most organizations are methodical, cautious, resource-constrained, and risk-averse. And then you add being beholden to both their boards and the evaluations of watchdog organizations—it all explains the hesitation to get more innovative with plans.
While this gap presents challenges to us as a strategic partner of nonprofits, we’ve been happy to observe a shift for many organizations over the last five years. Increasingly, nonprofit leaders are recognizing a greater need to adjust the way their programs have been running.
It’s evident in Requests for Proposals (RFPs). More and more, agencies are tapped to explore what’s possible when the organization is flexible in how they align their direct response program with the larger goal(s) of the nonprofit. This shows they are moving toward managing for future potential, not around current limitations, and we’re energized by this change!
Exploring new approaches more aggressively and intentionally is critical when performance has plateaued or is lagging…especially as the world continues to evolve and change the dynamic with supporters.
Investing in Innovation: Budgeting and Testing Strategies
The speed of innovation and the related potential it can unlock correlates directly with the level of investment an organization is willing to make. When executing plans takes so much focus, testing or trying something unproven falls lower on the list of priorities. But allocating testing budgets allows for more significant exploration within campaigns. And annual budgeting can be the perfect time to seek innovative ways of lining up to growth objectives with plans that will extend through the year.
At Concord Direct, we’re no stranger to our clients’ struggles with taking more innovative approaches, and we meet those challenges head-on. Reallocating spend between channels…testing new channels…trying out unique offers… We craft our most innovative annual plans using these approaches and more. When doing so, we make our best data-informed decisions, but there’s always an ongoing period of try-and-learn—and that’s okay!
True innovation in the nonprofit world isn’t about chasing every new idea. It’s about creating a mindset of curiosity and courage. And it doesn’t have to feel out of reach, especially with the right partner. When we adopt what works, adapt what shows promise, and gracefully abandon what doesn’t, we build a culture of faster progress. The more we treat innovation as a shared practice rather than a single project, the more positive impact we can create—together.