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Strategic Intangibles Are Everywhere

Any strategy for a campaign, such as an annual development campaign, must have clear goals, methods and measurements, along with intelligent and efficient use of resources. Sometimes elements that aren’t always easily defined or measured are important, too.
Sometimes those elements can’t even be anticipated and are only recognized as they arise.
They are the intangibles and they are everywhere.
Speaking during the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Fundraising Day In New York 2016, marketing specialist Guy Kawasaki said that the intangibles play a big part in ensuring success. They might be overlooked during the planning process, because they are difficult to define, but they can make a big difference.
Kawasaki detailed some of those intangibles:

  • Willingness to take risks and to make change;
  • Monitoring progress. Related to this is celebrating successes, honestly embracing failures, making adjustments where and when necessary and seizing opportunities where and when they arise;
  • Bold commitment that leads to bold action;
  • Viewing asking for money as extending an invitation to be part of something meaningful, instead of just asking for money; and,
  • Strategic volunteer recruitment: inviting members who can either strengthen the organization’s existing networks or create new ones for the organization.