"Behavioral Economics: Everything You Know About Your Donors' Decision-Making is Wrong"
AFP Indiana Chapter and CGP Indiana are teaming up again this year to provide an outstanding education and networking opportunity.
Session Overview:
In the same month, the cover stories of the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Harvard Business Review have both centered on the science of decision making. This work has previously been explored in depth by Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his book Thinking Fast and Slow. This session explores how behavioral economics and neuroscience can transform our approach to fundraising in revolutionary ways.
The session takes Kahneman's work and combines it with the practical marketing insights from Nudge and Predictably Irrational to show how we can influence donors in ways of which they are not consciously aware. We'll explore commercial and nonprofit examples of this approach and consider the ethical challenges this methodology creates.
Workshop Goals:
Behavorial economics and neuroscience have transformed commercial marketing in the last decade as we now understand how to weave them into decision architecture. However, it's only recently that these powerful disciplines have begun to have real impact and traction in fundraising. This workshop is designed to do three things:
- Share the latest thinking in reseearch on what we know about donor decision making,
- Explore how behavorial economics and neuroscience can transform our approach to fundraising, and
- Share practical nonprofit applications of what's worked in the USA, UK, Mexico, Egypt and wider.
Presenter: Alan Hutson, The Monument Group
For the past 17 years, Alan Hutson's consulting work has focused on converting people's passions and good ideas into viable programs within well-run organizations. Whether he is revamping annual fund structures or managing capital campaigns, Alan's recommendations include staff and volunteer involved, in a sustained way, in the fundraising process. Alan's work has resulted in nonprofit organizations raising over $150M (US based clients).
In his role as Managing Partner of The Monument Group and as Senior Partner Consultant of the Management Centre (=mc) international network, Alan lives by the philosophy of Margaret Mead: " A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Alan uses his background in economics to help nonprofit organizations understand the implications that behavioral economics and neuroscience can have on fundraising. His US-based fundraising expertise has supported =mc's consulting with international organizations such as Adeso (African Development Solutions), International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and UNICEF to plan for their future. Likewise, Alan has been able to use his international learning working with clients closer to home. Regardless of size of the client or the scope of the project, Alan brings cutting-edge ideas into refining fundraising strategy.