Flipping the Funnel: 5 Questions To Think About

I read an eBook awhile back by Seth Godin called “Fliping the Funnel” that has been a great guide for me in my fundraising and charity career. Peer-to-peer fundraising sties, crowd-fundraising and leveraging social media for causes are all examples of the flipping the funnel concept. This is gaining momentum and as technology continues to evolve the cost and barriers to entry are becoming less of an issue and more charities will employ this strategy moving forward. But should they? Here are 5 things you need to think about before dedicating to flipping the funnel.

1. Is your brand somewhat established?

If so, then great. If not, be careful. It is great that people who love you will be willing to shout your praises from the virtual mountaintops but unless those they are shouting too can make an immediate connection to who you are and what you do your advocates shouts may be just noise.

2. Are you ready to give up some of your brand control?

Building off #1, when you have untrained people talking about your organization, mission and vision and even method be ready for some screw ups. Hijacked logos, misspeaks and outdated information will be commonplace. You need to be okay with that and view the trade off as a net plus for you and your organization.

3. Can you support your advocates properly?

So you want to help an organization, great. Do they want to help you? If you cannot provide adequate support (materials, basic training, advice, occasional consultation, etc.) think twice. If you have 10 people willing to advocate for you, 1 or 2 will be self-starters and the other 8–9 will require some time. There is value there to be sure but there is also a cost.

4. Are your constituents asking to get more involved with you?

Are you telling your constiuents to advocate for you or are they asking you to let them? Big difference. If there is pent up human capital at your disposal, embracing that as an asset to your organization and strategically finding ways to leverage that is great. If you are trying to drum up interest you are facing a long tough road.

5. Can you generate enough interest and motivation outside of this strategy?

Finding ways to flip the funnel (hosting dinner parties, online fundraising pages, etc.) are great at capitalizing on interest and motivation of people and in theory can give it to others but it is diffuse. Think of wireless Internet connection; the closer you are to the router the better the connection and the faster you can move. The farther away you are the weaker the connection and the slower you’ll move. Same with advocates. Your initial advocates will be fired up and ready to go whereas their recruits will be a bit further out, not quite as connected and will need more time and energy.