Is neophilia holding back your fundraising?

Do you know anyone who’s hiding from the hard work of raising funds by spending all their time on exciting new possibilities?

Seth Godin has a good word for that: Neophilia as a form of hiding.

It’s a significant problem in many quarters of our industry:

… what works is significantly more important than what’s new. Racing to build your organization around the latest social network tool or graphics-rendering technology permits you to spend a lot of time learning the new system and skiing in the fresh powder of the unproven, but it might just distract you from the difficult work of telling the truth, looking people in the eye and making a difference.

Get the basics nailed down, and you’ll be much more likely to succeed in the exciting new media.

Better yet, here’s the cool part: When you focus on the basics and really know what works and what doesn’t, you’ll be much smarter about the new opportunities that come before you. The snake oil will be obvious. The promising will look promising.

If you flit from one Next Big Thing to the next like a butterfly, you’ll never develop discernment. Every over-heated claim (“It’s the next Facebook!!!!”) is equally believable.