That's the title of a panel I wanted to be part of at this years NTC, but the voters have spoken and that panel will not be. But I want to explore the concept.

My basic premise is that most fundraising we do now depends on scale. In other words, until you your direct mail list is big, like thousands, a custom direct mail program is going to cost more than it brings in, in revnue. Of course once you go over that magic number, direct mail can be like printing money. Although that printing press is spitting out smaller and smaller bills.

When I think about the future of communication, it is my belief that no one way to communicate is going to reach enough people to have any scale. Ask yourself, what's the best way to get your attention? For me its a tweet @j8ke. For others it's a Facebook message and for many it is still a piece of nonprofit mail.

Now of course you can get my attention with a USPS two-day envolope as well, but that gets pricey ... at scale.

Right now most groups are at a place where the default is to say the same thing everywhere you can and hope that you get people's attention. That will work for a while but isn't cost effecient and won't be effecive as the vocabulary of different channels continues to diverage.

So now it's a question, what fundraising methods are you using that don't need scale to succeed? Are you willing to spill?