Did you know? A look at our shifting world.

By Paul Weber
As appeared the Jeffrey Byrne & Associates, Inc. Newsletter

At Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado there is a teacher with a tremendous ability to capture information and then our attention in a meaningful, yet simple way. Karl Fisch was making a technology presentation to administrators when he struck a nerve with his PowerPoint show titled “Did You Know.”(www.thefiscchbowl.blogspot.com).

Consider these excerpts from Fisch’s presentation, “Did You Know”:

• If you’re one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you. In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.
• China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world.
• During the course of his 8 minute PowerPoint presentation . . .
  • 60 babies will be born in the U.S.
  • 244 babies will be born in China.
  • 351 babies will be born in India
• The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs . . .by the age of 38.
• 1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by for less than one year.
• The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
• We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . . Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . . In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

Name this country . . .

• Richest in the World
• Largest Military
• Center of world business and finance
• Strongest education system
• World center of innovation and invention
• Currency the world standard of value
• Highest standard of living
  The country? England in 1900.
   
• 1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
• There are over 100 million registered users of MySpace.
• There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month. To whom were these questions addressed before Google?
• The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population of the planet.

Fisch ends the presentation with the phrase “Shift Happens,” a popular expression adapted to show us that the world is moving – more quickly than we could have imagined.

So what does this mean to nonprofits, organizations, businesses and institutions alike? Strategic planning, the way we’ve known it, may be inadequate.

Marketers understand that to stay contemporary with customers you can’t just react to change, you must anticipate change. Strategic plans in most organizations tend to be myopic; seen from the inside-out rather than from the outside-in.

Take any strategic plan and review the 3 - 5 year projections. To what extent does the plan consider the changing culture, environment and marketplace that surround the organization?

A typical strategic goal of an organization might be to double the programs and constituents served in a 3 year time frame. At the pace of change we face today, it is appropriate to ask questions like:

• Will our programs still be fresh, viable and of interest in 3 years?
• Will our population want or need these programs in 3 years?
• Will there be a cure found in 3 years?
• Can we imagine the unimaginable, if only to build a better plan?

If these dramatic shifts in the marketplace necessitate a change in our strategic planning process, they also require us to look at our donors in a new light.

Marketers are extremely in-tune with generational differences as we move from Baby-boomers to Generation X, Y and now to a new generation of “Millennials.” As we evaluate our strategic plans it is critical to assess how our shifting constituents will affect our message and our work.

Today more than ever, being a good steward of gifts means recognizing the entire family, not just the donor.

Did you know that “Millennials” are showing to be a much more altruistic and philanthropic generation? Perhaps it is time to develop a marketing communication plan that acknowledges your top donors, their children and their grandchildren. And do so while recognizing the distinct difference between the generations.

As Frisch said, “shift happens.” But the more you know, the better you will anticipate and adapt to meet the needs of your constituents today and in the future.
 

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