Have you ever heard about “thought leadership”? Most organizations haven’t, though it does not mean that you don’t use it in your activity. Thought leadership basically goes back to visibility and outreach, how to position your organization as an expert entity in your field of expertise. Let’s discover more and find out how does this relates to fundraising.
What is thought leadership?
If we look at its definition, thought leadership is a person or an organization that prospects, clients, referral sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognize as one of the foremost authorities in selected areas of specialization, resulting in it being the go-to individual or organization for said expertise.
This means that thought leadership is a strategic investment in both fundraising and impact. It enables your organisation to influence the conversation around your cause area, and it raises your profile among audiences that matter to you. With thought leadership, you will take an opinion or stance on something, usually for purposes of influencing.
What are the types of thought leadership?
Now, you understand that thought leadership relates to visibility and outreach. You have different types of thought leadership that you can explore:
- Blogs in response to current events or on broader topics
- Articles and opinion pieces in external media publications
- Organizing your own events, conferences or webinars
- Being a featured speaker or panelist at someone else’s event or conference
- Being interviewed on the radio or on podcasts (or even starting your own show!)
- Joining networks on specific topics to contribute to broader discussions
However, you will have to think strategically about what are the best options for you and where you should invest your efforts. This usually takes time to look for good opportunities, create content and organize or participate in events. Prioritize according to:
- the audience: who might participate in this event? who might be interested by the produced content?
- the feasibility: do you have the resources and time to invest?
- the relevance: does it have an interest for fundraising, impact or to build your credibility?
Who is a thought leader within your organization?
Anyone! The most efficient way to use thought leadership as a tool to reinforce your image, credibility and expertise, is to engage your whole team around it. Share the responsibility of creating content, most of your team members will have interesting perspectives and opinions on the topics your organization is covering.
You can have different types of leaders as well:
- Field experts: team members who work close to the ground, close to your beneficiaries. They usually witness all the challenges your organization is trying to solve.
- Visionary leaders: they are usually part of the top management of your organization as they are defining the vision of what they want to accomplish.
- Reporting experts or researchers: they have the capacity to analyse and synthesize all the information, data and impact of your organization.
Why is thought leadership important to raise funds?
Fundraising lies at the intersection of all the departments of your organization. To efficiently raise funds, you don’t only need a strong fundraising strategy. You also need strong activities and projects to sell, expertise to create impact, visibility and a network. Thought leadership will help positioning your organization as an expert entity which could open doors to potential funders. This is also a great cultivation tool to invite your prospects or donors to participate in one of your event, to share content with them and to communicate on your outreach activities.
Are you ready to become a thought leader?
Do you need expertise and support for your organization? Let’s talk about it!
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