Virtual Donors |
Dec 10, 2009 |
It was recently reported on the Internet that a Japanese man married a computer character. The virtual bride's name is Nene Anegasaki. The groom, known online as Sal9000, is the first to officially pledge love to a video game character. He travelled to Guam for the ceremony, joined by dozen of computer game fans and officiated by a priest, though the wedding was not official or legally binding.
It might have been a joke, but it caught my attention. Virtual reality keeps expanding. We started with online match-making and online dating. Now we have online marriage to virtual people.
Sadly, this reminds me of a lot of ministry-donor relationships. Instead of any kind of relationship, most ministries share virtual transactions with donors. These ministry leaders think they have a relationship with these donors, but they are more twitter-pated than sharing a relationship.
When we ask donors if they have a good relationship with a ministry, they usually respond,
- I like the programs they do.
- We feel our gifts are well used.
- We like the leader and the staff.
I also hear a lot of frustration from donors. They say things like,
- I like the ministry, but I don't know if they're using my gifts well.
- They are nice people, but they don't know how to run a ministry or a business.
- I am frustrated because we don't see any results from our giving.
Do these sound like people in a deep relationship to you? It sounds more like a virtual relationship based on the perceptions of the donor/ATM. We cannot settle for twitter-pation when God requires fellowship and transformation.
Dec 10, 2009 at 12:02 PM A good question to ask nonprofit leaders is, "How do you resolve conflicts with your donors?" Most won't have any response, because they never form relationships of enough substance to even experience conflict, let alone work to resolve it. Once one side is disappointed, they move on to someone else, which is what poor Sal9000 may have to do.