Monthly Archives: September 2010

What I Learned This Week

Posted on by
Reply

What’s especially nice about the nonprofit community is how generous everyone is in sharing their knowledge.  This week I attended the Westchester Chapter meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, listened to webinars on Using Online Tools for Year End Fundraising, Rethinking Your eNewsletter Strategy, a session based on the recently released Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide and Engaging Donors through Social Media .  Here’s a sampling of what I learned:

  • why it’s critical to have a strong case for support to present to constituents, and to make sure all staff understand it (not just development)
  • the importance of integrating fundraising with an organization’s overall planning process
  • use social media for stewardship;  use email, direct mail and telemarketing to deliver a strong ask
  • figure out your main objectives before starting a Facebook presence – is your main goal to:
    • encourage feedback / discussion
    • drive traffic to website
    • build email list
    • attract event attendees
  • plan to spend at least two hours / week  per channel on social media, but you will need to devote more time in the getting started phase
  • Facebook will soon be making available more functionality within tabs, so visitors may have less reason to go to main organization web site
  • when communicating with constituents:
    • send fewer words more often
    • talk about the future, not mainly about past events
    • write more about them, less about your nonprofit

I also raised this issue during the AFP event: how can an organization find a balance between aggressively pursuing its mission with the hope of ‘putting itself out of business’ within a specified time, e.g. Michael J. Fox Foundation, versus long term nonprofits which has been seeking a cure for a disease for a very long time, but still have much ground to cover?   My suggestion: keep reminding donors what their help has allowed your organization to accomplish, relating specific examples of how you’ve been able to help your target audience.  And keep saying ‘thank you’ – not just when you are seeking another contribution.

Please vote on which sessions you’d like to see at  Nten’s 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference and pick your favorite slogan in the Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards.

For an example of how powerful video can be in communications, watch this incredibly touching one minute video by ALS Society of Canada.

Report from NYC 501 Tech Club Meeting on Brandraising

Posted on by
1

At this week’s monthly NYC 501 Tech Club meeting, Sarah Durham of Big Duck offered highlights from her recently published Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications.  Here’s a few tidbits to encourage you to buy the book and to attend the upcoming Nten webinar series which begins next week:

  • Nonprofits communicate for fundraising, programs and advocacy
  • Positioning is the differentiating idea you strive to get across to target audiences
  • Personality is the feeling you want people to associate with your organization
  • Big Duck’s Brandraising strategy suggests a consistent approach to developing materials, strategies and campaigns for your organization  (best done after you have completed a strategic planning initiative)

What’s the best way to get management buy-in (for this and other types of projects)?   Take small steps, don’t push your agenda, and show how your organization’s competitors are already implementing the strategies you are advocating.

Does a Brandraising campaign would stifle staff who are accustomed to doing things in their own way?   According to Sarah, making available templates and consistent communications materials actually makes it easier for staff to do their job since they don’t have to keep recreating the basics and can apply their creativity in other ways.

How can an organization devise an approach to appeal to many diverse audiences?  Sarah recommended that a nonprofit must be willing to differentiate itself;  an approach that tries to appeal to all will ultimately fail (similar to why it’s so important to use segmentation when developing email marketing campaigns).

How can you tell when a Brandraising strategy has been successful?  When an organization’s messaging is more cohesive and staff can more easily communicate key ideas to new and existing constituents.

My favorite remark from the evening: how consultants often repeat what staff have told management all along, but the organization only pays attention when the recommendations come from a consultant.  I’ve been on both sides of the fence, and have had this experience.  The lesson for nonprofit management – ask your own people for advice before you spend money on an outside resource.   Not only will you save money, but you’ll show your staff that you value their opinions.

Getting the Most from Virtual Meetings

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve often found myself in the position of managing conference call meetings with participants from many different locations, many of which I have never met face to face.  Beaconfire Consulting‘s recent post Tips for More Effective Virtual Meetings provides great advice, such as:

  • provide a detailed agenda ahead of time
  • find ways to get everyone to contribute, for example by asking questions of specific participants
  • using screen sharing to demonstrate what you are discussing
  • keeping meetings short and focused on agenda

Some additional tips from my experience:

  • Send out detailed minutes within a day of meeting, encouraging participants to correct any inaccuracies and to inform those who were unable to attend
  • Make time for one on one conversations with those who are reluctant to contribute during the call
  • Consider carefully which stakeholders to invite to meeting;  most of us are already overburdened by meetings and may not welcome another addition
  • Repeat major points made during call and ask for confirmation that you’ve received the information correctly

On Tue, Sep. 14, 2010, I attended the PMI Westchester Chapter Meeting, featuring Tom Mattus talking about Managing Virtual Project Teams.  Here’s some additional pointers that came up during group discussion:

  • Make sure there’s a place online to post project documents: agendas of upcoming meetings, minutes of past meetings etc.
  • Use a brief daily call to keep everyone up to date and in touch
  • If possible, arrange for a face to face kickoff meeting rather than simply having a phone / conference call
  • Create opportunities for two way dialog – combine meetings with social events, such as group meals
  • Use different types of communication for different team members (everyone has their own working styles / preferences)
  • Get to know ‘electronic body language’ – watch for lack of responses, speed of response, tone of voice used

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Posted on by
Reply

Social media expert Beth Kanter updated her list of listening, monitoring, engaging and management tools.  It’s not easy to measure the results of social networking, but it’s important to pick at least some of these programs, most which are free, to evaluate your efforts.   Here’s some questions to help evaluate your social media initiatives.   (Thanks also to Harish Rao for highlighting this topic for GrassrootsCamp at a live event this week in NYC.)

Network for Good‘s Katya Andresen explains why you can’t just focus on older donors, even though they have traditionally been the most reliable givers.   Older constituents are also getting more active in social media , per reviews in The Agitator.net and the Chronicle of Philanthropy of a recent Pew Internet report.

It’s challenging to change the name of a major event, but the March of Dimes used a variety of strategies to rebrand its major fundraising event (not all which worked well).

Courtesy of Big Duck’s blog, use these tips to revitalize your email subject lines.  (Sorry, email is still a valuable way to reach constituents, despite the rising role of social media.)

Finally, TechSoup asks what does your organization look like from the outside, reminding us of the importance of clear, consistent messaging across our online (and offline) communications.

Have a safe and restful Labor Day weekend.