Fundraising During COVID — A Blue Ocean Strategic View

Fundraising during COVID is presenting tremendous challenges. It’s appropriate to share as Blue Ocean strategic view.

As a refresher, Blue Ocean Strategy’s premise is that new customers/donors/constituents are found in an organization’s current non-customers. The product or service offering must be a value innovation. Value innovation implies the costs of the offering has come down while the value of the offering has simultaneously risen.
A negative impact
“Most fundraisers expect to see some negative impact into 2021, with close to 72% anticipating that giving next year will continue to be lower than in a typical year. Approximately 16% believe giving will be about the same, while 12% think giving will increase in 2021.”

“We expected to see a significant drop in giving as a result of COVID-19, and our data shows that it will be a difficult time for fundraising for 2020 and well into 2021,” said Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, president and CEO of AFP. “However, it’s clear that at this point, giving continues as organizations are adjusting and continuing to hear from donors. In addition, the impact hasn’t been the same across all organizations — human service organizations are, by far, the most optimistic subsector, and larger charities seem to be doing a bit better as well.” From AFPGlobal.org

For fundraising in 2020, the traditional “event” is gone. The Gala or big annual fundraiser has been supplanted by virtual offerings that aren’t carrying the same weight.