I’m really excited about writing regularly here on the subject of innovation. Innovation means different things to different people, so before I we go too far down the path, I want to be clear up front what I mean by innovation.

You can have the best ideas, but unless you do something with them they are absolutely useless. Innovation is about making good ideas happen, whether it is a change to an existing product or service or developing new ones, it could a different approach to a process, a small tweak or a big disruptive change. In principle if it is new to you or your organisation, involves change and it helps you to achieve your mission it counts as innovation.

Because I specialise in innovation, a common question I am asked is ‘what is the next big thing?’ - I seriously wish I knew. None of us can really predict the future.

For example: I spent a considerable amount of time in my first job out of University faxing things. I remember saying that I didn’t need a mobile phone and then being persuaded to have one that I would only use in emergencies. I remember when you told someone you would tweet them, it meant chirping at them like a sparrow.

I remember when email was first invented, early websites, then Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.

A young person recently asked me what a ‘desktop’ was and I explained it was before we had tablets, laptops and smartphones when people had to sit at a desk to be connected to the internet. They laughed.

I dare say that I am showing my age as I write this, but if you don’t remember before the 1990s when the internet was (and still is in my opinion) the next big thing, just think back to two years ago. If I had told you the next big thing in fundraising was throwing a bucket of iced water over yourself you might have laughed too.

The hard truth is that anything new is likely to be met with scepticism and can feel risky because it hasn’t been proven to work. Yet the world is changing and so if we do not change when the world around us is, we fail by default because of our inaction.

A good place to start your innovation is to develop ideas by focusing on the changes that are happening in the world right now as well as identifying emerging trends.

Here are some tips that will help you.   

Everything is connected. No ideas or emerging trends operate in isolation. Keep up with social, economic and environmental trends. What is happening today in different sectors and industries will have an impact on your fundraising.

Look for emerging trends that could affect you. For example what would the impact be if you knew that people could only donate via their mobile? What would that mean for how you develop your fundraising asks?

What does your data tell you? What patterns, trends and associations can you make from analyzing the data you have already?

Make testing a habit. When you spot an opportunity, just test it on a small scale, for example with a small sample of people, in a defined geographical area for low cost. Then learn and adapt.  

None of us can predict the future, but we can look for clues from what is happening in the world today and the trends that are emerging. By testing ideas quickly we can manage risk and better decide where to focus our innovation efforts to make a bigger difference to the causes we fundraise for.

Lucy Gower is a trainer and coach specialising in innovation. She led the first innovation team at UK children’s charity NSPCC and it was there that Lucy realized that you can have the best ideas, processes and technology, but if you don’t have the right people working together then even the best ideas will fail. Since leaving the NSPCC in 2012 Lucy has worked with over 50 organisations including Amnesty, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Nesta, The Children’s Society and Greenpeace.

Lucy is also author of The Innovation Workout, a blogger and conference speaker, and is often seen on Twitter @lucyinnovation