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Dunbar's Number and the Jetson Fallacy How Engagement in Nonprofts Is Different, Yet Similar

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theoretcally write a single instance of a product and re-sell the engagement eforts as we see when we add additonal people in our • To the overall organizaton to ensure staf members and • sharing success stories about how the nonproft has made
sofware over and over with limited if any customizaton. email systems. volunteers understand the mission and goals, where they ft an impact in the community or changed lives; positve

IT ISN’T WORKING But engagement doesn’t scale well. within the organizaton, what is expected of them and how contributons made by employees, volunteers and donors
best to accomplish their mission-focused goals.
Now, I’m oversimplifying this because a) I’m not that smart, and b) It doesn’t scale because at it’s not a technology issue. • To the nonproft’s consumers and stakeholders (e.g., donors, • mentoring or “buddy” programs (employee-and-employee,
there are various favors of SaaS, each with its own specifcatons, and It’s a human issue. And I think humans have built-in roadblocks referral sources, community advocates) so employees and volunteer-and-volunteer, or employee-and-volunteer) to
those diference don’t impact the point I’m trying to make. And that to scalability. volunteers know who is important to the organizaton, what bridge organizatonal silos
point is that we’ve invested a lot of tme and treasure into creatng
scalable systems to impact engagement. And it isn’t working. ‘THE JETSON FALLACY’ is important to them and how best to serve them. Finally, remember that workplace engagement draws more
Remember Dunbar’s Number? That is a big roadblock. If we can only • To fellow employees and volunteers to ensure they intenton than acton. It’s easy to understand this in a nonproft
It isn’t working because scaling a process, or product, is a play truly and personally connect with roughly 150 people at a tme, then setng, as managers are challenged to meet growing needs with
for efciency. We want to increase the ability to engage – without more scale isn’t the answer. Sometmes more isn’t beter. It’s just understand their collectve impact on the mission and how scarce resources and increased competton for donors and volunteers.
they can efectvely work together.
a corresponding increase in cost. We want the same benefts in our These challenges can’t be met without the invaluable support of
more. And if you look at engagement (and this
applies to customers, vendor and suppliers, as SOME SIMPLE TOOLS employees and volunteers – which is why nonproft managers need to
well as employees) through a lens of “human Here are a few examples of the tools used to connect employees and proactvely engage the people behind the mission.
relatonships” instead of bits and bytes and volunteers to a nonproft organizaton, its consumers and stakeholders, Sybil F. Stershic, President of Quality Service Marketing, has
systems, it means diferent thinking is needed. and to fellow employees and volunteers: extensive experience helping service-based organizations
Marketing Innovators creates emplyoyee Example: An artcle I recently read in • orientaton for new staf members and volunteers strengthen relationships with employees and customers. She
engagement solutions that connect people; Slate called “The Jetson Fallacy” talked about • ongoing communicaton via face-to-face meetngs and is the author of the award-winning Share of Mind, Share of
Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits, Taking
how to scale care for our elderly. As our world internal newsleters to share organizatonal updates and the
and align behaviors, actions and activities gets progressively older due to advances in ratonale behind management directves Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-
Customer Care and the Quality Service Marketing blog. For more
with organizational values and goals. medicine and health, the need to take care information, go to www.qualityservicemarketing.com. ESM
of more and more people becomes a priority. • training on the organizaton’s programs and services
And like engagement, some folks looked to the
process and looked for ways to scale support.
Scan with your But according to the author, scaling healthcare
mobile device
services for our elderly isn’t a simple soluton:
“…here’s the thing about caregiving: It doesn’t
get more efcient with tme. Unlike computer
technology, human caregiving doesn’t double
in processing power every two years. It remains
slow and labor-intensive. How we experience
life as we [age] depends on the technology we
create and our access to that technology, but it
also depends on our access to people we love
and who love us back”
Think about engagement. Think about MOTIVATE AND APPRECIATE
good management. They don’t scale either.
True engagement doesn’t get more efcient as
you add people to the “network.” It gets worse. Zip Launch Quick Rewards by Travel and Transport
That’s because engagement – like eldercare and A fast and easy way to reward someone now!
childcare – is labor intensive. It requires one- • new and top customers • employee recognition • inactive customer campaigns
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Engagement is human intensive. Humans
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