We need to talk about the Avolatte. Avocados are having (and have been having) a moment. First, hipsters discovered their love for avocado toast, then the rest of millennials realized how great it was to Instagram and now we all know that "guac is extra". Now last week, an Australian millionaire claimed that millennials can’t afford to buy their own homes because of the astonishing price they'll pay for this smashed superfruit.
Last week in a clapback to this claim, a cafe in Austraila developed the avocado latte. What was created actually as a cheeky response to the aforementioned statement towards millennials has, ironically, taken off with millennials and is now taking us to (hopefully) peak-avocado craze.
But the insta-fame for avocados actually creates underlying issues. “In the 1990s, the average American ate about 1.5 pounds; in 2012, he ate 5 pounds,” according to an article in the Atlantic. This food craze is taking a bigger toll on the environment than anticipated. With sky-rocketing demand and global warming, “the surging American appetite for avocados has been linked to deforestation in Mexico” writes Adam Chandler in the Atlantic. So, in creating crazy things like the avolattes, the industry is getting a short-term sale while hurting the system overall.
Nonprofit donors can inadvertently be your organization’s avolatte problem. They often make high demands of the fundraising staff and have you running in so many directions to secure their gift that you’re wasting a lot of time and energy overall. How many processes or event add-ons do you have because a donor suggested it and year after year you keep doing it because you’re afraid, if you stop, so will their donations?
Here's our advice: Just like restaurants focusing on their millennial customer so much that they hurt the system overall, don’t focus so much on your donor’s needs that you take away the focus from your mission and daily operations of your nonprofit. Quick wins in fundraising, like bending for a sponsor, are great short-term, but end up hurting you down the road. Maybe in year 1 of a sponsorship proposal you wined and dined them a little too much and can't walk those perks back each subsequent year. Knowing when to push a quick win and when to take a little more time to explain your mission can be key in creating lasting partnerships that are based on realationships and not perks.
So, what’s your nonprofit's avolatte? Is it an event that takes up so much staff time and barely breaks even because it’s “volunteer driven”? Is it having t-shirts at an event because one volunteer demands you do, even when you know you’ll lose money in the end? We challenge you to look at ways you are bending too much to the needs of your donors if it’s causing you more pain than gain. If your relationship with your donor is truly mission-based and not perk-based, they'll stick with you no matter what, because even though guac is extra - peple always pay for it.
