We were having beers with a colleague who does design for a traditional ad agency that works primarily for nonprofits. They do a lot of beautiful communication materials--ads, websites, annual reports, membership materials, etc.

Deyden and I were explaining our philosophy on engagement strategies and how different it is from the traditional marketing that our colleague is so good at. At one point, we were talking specifically about membership programs and materials, how many established organizations know their membership is graying, and how desperately they want to attract younger members.

From our perspective of engagement, the new model of membership cannot be that of the card-carrying member that gives their annual donation and self-identifies as a Sierra Club (or other organization) member. We've written at length here and elsewhere about changes in how young people engage in the world that make most membership programs look ridiculously outdated.

At the same time, we understand that organizations rely on individual membership dues to support the important work they are doing. In fact, relying on thousands of individual donations of $20-100 is the sign of an economically healthy organization whose programs aren't dictated by major donors and foundations. So individual, small donations to nonprofits are imperative to maintain and even to increase.

But we need to find ways that membership can provide new types of value + benefit exchanges (what the members get in exchange for their donation or membership), while still providing the organization with vital resources. We think that in doing so nonprofits will deepen their relationship with their support community. And when this happens, the community is likely to increase its support.

One of our ideas for how to do this is to focus membership benefits and earned income strategies around providing supporters with experiences. Events of all sorts can be once-in-a-lifetime experiences for participants, can raise money, can nurture community, and can be an introduction to new supporters. Retreats seem to be extremely successful in engaging and growing communities of support, as has been employed by evangelical churches and others. Storefronts like that of 826 Valencia also provide opportunity for unique experiences for would-be and existing supporters. (Remind us to post our interview with Dave Eggers on the benefits of having a storefront from a few years back.)

Of course, there are ways to produce these experiences that will encourage and satisfy a new type of membership for nonprofits, and there are ways to totally botch them. We'll put try to put more thought into some of the criteria for success for this soon. But in the meantime, feel free to post your thoughts.

Some thought-provoking quotes we've dug out of our archives recently for a project we're working on...We thought it might be of interest to others.

Communities are sticky in ways that mass media never was, it requires a very different approach to what we create, how we create it and how we market it.

Yochai Benkler, Wealth of Networks

Far more than was true for today’s older generation, most Millenials desire—many even require—a direct interaction with their culture.

From Millenials and Pop Culture: Strategies for a New Generation of Consumer

Culture is concerned with the development of coherent viewpoints which bring a cumulative effect to otherwise isolated experiences of a group, making them feel special yet allowing others to have a parallel experience.

Kim H. Veltman, “Computers and the Importance of Culture,” International Institute of Communications Conference, Sydney, September 1997

I came across this interesting research conducted by MSN + MTV, and found this paragraph (and particularly the sentence I've highlighted) to be very intriguing:

How are Social Networks used?
From flirting to ‘checking people out’, networks tend to be relatively small. Globally, social networks allow young people to ‘feel connected’ to their existing friends rather than to meet strangers. The idea of social networks being ‘open to everyone’ has less appeal than the idea of smaller communities among people they know. While they use technology such as IM to arrange their social life, the sites are forums to share and relive experiences.

Another report by the same company talks about how the mass appeal in user-generated content is to connect with others.

A report by the Annenberg Center for Digital Future published a report that showed a dramatic increase in the number of social networkers who are participating in causes online.

Three-quarters of online community members said they use the Internet to
participate in communities related to social causes, with 40 percent saying that they use the Internet at least
monthly to participate in such communities. Eighty-seven percent of online community members are
participating in social causes that are new to them since their involvement in online communities began.

Wow. We are living in a time when people are actively trying to connect and engage, and where an obscene amount of money is being generated from this pursuit. How will nonprofits leverage these tools that seem to be made for our needs?

Just read this article, How to Use Social Media for Social Change, that a friend sent us. It outlines how users are leveraging social networks and tools to get the word out about a variety of causes and issues. From raising funds with Twitter to using the Cause application on Facebook - we are seeing how people continue to connect the causes they care about to their identities and everyday routines. These tools allow users to go beyond the message T-shirt, the Live Strong bracelet and even that ol' dependable Free Tibet bumper sticker and find a way to wear the causes they care most about on their virtual sleeve. The "experts" continue to debate how effective these tactics are in achieving meaningful social change but having witnessed the nail biting results of Facebook's Giving Challenge and the incredible protest photos and news that made it out of restricted Tibet and Burma it's hard not to get excited about the power these tools lend the average user.