the web game

Thanks for nudging me, Phil. It's hard to believe that nearly two months have gone by since the last posting. Perhaps there is a blog topic right in there. But I'm going to leave that for another day.

Just a quick reminder that the Canadian Marketing Association's National Convention is happening in May (12,13,14). For a direct link to Barefoot's seminar go to http://www.the-cma.org/convention/?WCE=C=47|K=228049#GayleGoossen

We're focusing our session on one of the most challenging aspect of marketing and fund raising -- developing a web site that is more than a digital brochure. True engagement is pretty obvious for sites like Amazon and e-Bay. But how do we truly engage our donors to come back and visit our site?

Web sites are an ideal environment to allow donors to "create their own adventure." But too often there is no real adventure -- no experience. I am continuously challenged to think of new ways of looking at digital technology.

If I buy the Enchanted DVD I can watch the movie -- but more than that, I can take digital forays into the magical world of princesses. Disney, synonymous with imagination, gets it. The DVD creates an extended experience that engages the audience in more ways than one.

What keeps fund raisers from creating an adventure for our donors?

Let me suggest a few things:
1. dollars.... it takes time, testing and tenacity
2. skepticism... will it raise funds
3. creativity... let's not beat around the bush... fund raisers are not known for their creativity.
4. experience... there are very few (are there any?) models we can learn from

As I prepare for this seminar, I am opening my mind once more to ideas... I'm not expecting a huge break through, but I know that it all starts with one step forward.