Category Archives: communications

Have You Seen These Recent ‘Top 10′ Lists for Nonprofits?

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Apparently, like many of us start off a new year by making resolutions, so should nonprofits.  Recently I’ve noticed many top ten lists, focusing on online fundraising, communications and technology.  Kivi Leroux Miller’s offered 10 Changes to Make in 2012, Network for Good published 10 Resolutions to Make (and Keep) for Online Fundraising and Marketing Success in 2012, and Convio provided 10 Ways to Kick Start 2012 Fundraising.

My favorite takeaways (mentioned in many of these lists):

  • Examine how your website and email communications read on mobile phones and tablets.  This is how more of your constituents are accessing your content now
  • You don’t have to recreate the wheel.  Our nonprofit colleagues are incredibly generous with their knowledge.  Learn from other people (like Beth Kanter or Nancy Schwartz) and organizations (like Nten and Idealware) that offer multiple resources to help your nonprofit succeed online (and off)
  • Learn more about your supporters by analyzing information you probably already have: website statistics, email analytics, registration forms, polls / surveys – then use this data to better segment your communications

But as Kivi said during her webinar that described her recommendations in detail, it’s not enough to just read or listen to these suggestions.  What will you do this month to apply these ideas at your organization?

Reviewing 5 Years at Nonprofit Bridge

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Next month will mark my fifth year since beginning my blog at Nonprofit Bridge.  Since my first post on Jan 23, 2007, I’ve expanded my focus well beyond technology and providing a place for ‘positive thoughts.’  Below is part 1 of my favorite posts (to be continued next week):

More highlights from past posts next week.  Meanwhile, thank you for reading my thoughts for the past five years.  I wish you a wonderful 2012!

Are You Working Between the Holidays?

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I’ll be in the office next week, as I suspect many of you will be (especially if you are wrapping up your year-end fundraising campaign).  Here’s some ideas to contemplate for for 2012:

  1. Ask some friends (who aren’t familiar with your organization) to critique your nonprofit’s website.  Are they able to quickly understand what you do?  Is it easy to donate or sign up for your email list?
  2. Analyze your website analytics, Facebook insights data so you know what’s working best with your constituents.  And don’t forget to segment your audience.  Debra Askanase explains more
  3. Go back to the basics – find new ways to build your email list (via Idealware)
  4. Encourage your staff’s professional development by supporting their participation in organizations such as Nten, which will have its annual conference in April and sponsors informational webinars and live 501 Tech meetings throughout the US throughout the year.
  5. Saying thank you to donors is always an good idea, but it’s also crucial to make sure your staff and volunteers feel appreciated for their hard work.  As my friend Shana Masterson recently tweeted, “You might not be in a position to reward someone (financially), but u can always acknowledge the work they’ve done.”
  6. To make your meetings your effective, make sure an agenda goes out to participants in advance and a summary is sent shortly afterwards – it’s a simple project management technique that can insure that everyone’s on the same page
  7. Help someone who is in transition.  While unemployment figures seem to be dropping a bit, there are still many people who are struggling.  Reach out to colleagues who need encouragement and support.

Have a healthy and peaceful holiday and a wonderful new year.

How To Make Your Nonprofit Multi-Channel

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Why is it so difficult for nonprofits to implement a multi-channel communications / fundraising strategy, even though integrated campaigns have been proven to outperform single channel approaches?  In the Agitator, Roger Craver says the main problem is silos, where departments operate separately from each other – even though this is directly opposite from how most constituents view an organization.

This point was driven home a few days later during a webinar by Convio and HJC on How Nonprofits Become Integrated Fundraising Organizations, which offered these tips on how a nonprofit learn to take advantage of the benefits of a multi-channel approach?

  1. Getting buy-in from senior management
  2. Planning / investing in systems and process to encourage departments to cooperate instead of compete
  3. Remove silos from teams and departments so they naturally collaborate towards mutually developed goals
When I asked why this going multi-channel is so difficult, HJC’s Mike Johnston replied ‘inertia – nonprofits are used to doing things the way they always have.’  Interestingly, smaller organizations may find it easier to create a culture where integration takes place.

My take: start by using an integrated editorial calendar which includes upcoming direct mail solicitations, email marketing campaigns, website updates, social media etc. Beth Kanter offers this way to get started (thanks to Lightbox Collaborative)  This will at least avoid the embarrassment of saying different things in different channels.  Then, make sure results are measured for an overall campaign instead of by department or by type of outreach.  Constituents use many ways to communicate;  it’s about time we did the same.

For a great primer on how to effectively use different communication channels together, view slides from Idealware’s recent webinar.

How to Be Thankful To Your Supporters

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With Thanksgiving arriving next week in the US, it’s a great time to think about gratitude, especially to constituents who are long term supporters of your nonprofit.  Here’s some easy actions you can take now:

  1. Do something special for those who have supported your organization for many years, even if their gifts aren’t considered ‘major.’  In my view, regularity of donations is as important as larger contributions which arrive less frequently.  Make sure you segment out these loyal donors so you can customize your messaging communications.
  2. Say thank you without necessarily asking for another donation.  Describe a recent accomplishment that has been made possible by the constituent’s gift.
  3. Ask supporters in what channels and how often they want to be communicated with – and then respect these preferences.  Sometimes I get so many solicitations from organizations I support that after a while, I stop paying attention – especially if they all come through direct mail (I prefer online)
  4. Make it personal – ask board members or staff to acknowledge and thank contributors through recognition at events, brief phone calls or personalized emails / letters
  5. Review auto replies that are sent when an online donation is received – and then send additional thanks through other channels (even a well written auto reply is still an auto reply)

And don’t forget to thank your nonprofit staff, who probably earn less money for more hours than if they worked in the for profit sector, and your board members, who are giving their valuable time (and money) to help your cause.  Expressing appreciation costs nothing, so why not make it a practice year-round – not just at Thanksgiving.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

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If you’ve been wondering when you can build your nonprofit page on Google+, now’s the time.  Heather Mansfield offers help on How to Create a Google+ Page For Your Nonprofit. Also view this video by John Haydon.  Here’s Beth Kanter’s take.  But the jury is still out on whether Google+ pages will prove to be as popular as Facebook pages.

Frustrated trying to keep up to date with Facebook?  Get help in John’s Tactical Guide to Recent Facebook Changes and sign up for next month’s bi-monthly Facebook features update from Common Knowledge.

Planning to roll out a new website with Drupal?  Have you already launched, but finding it difficult to manage how to manage content edits and approvals?  Join Michelle Misner and I on Nov. 29 to learn How the NYPL Successfully Project Managed a New Drupal Website.  (It’s free if you’re a Nten member!).

Speaking of Nten, I’ve just signed up for next spring’s annual Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco.  Please register now to lock in the lowest rate.  It’s always the premier event of the year for the #nptech community.

It’s year-end fundraising season again.  Get a jump start by reviewing Farra Trompeter’s online fundraising tips, Convio’s How to Get Your Holiday Appeals Opened and Jeff Brooks’ reminder to Avoid Common Fundraising Mistakes, e.g. remembering that you are not your donor.  And of course, don’t forget to plan a multi-channel campaign.

If you’re in NYC, join us at next week’s 501 Tech NYC event;  this month we’ll chat about Google for Nonprofits.  Also if you manage a nonprofit website, sign up for the next quarterly gathering of the Not-for-Profit Webmaster Round Table, planned for mid-December.

Updated Social Media Decision Guide Now Available from Idealware

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While many of my colleagues in the nonprofit community often share their knowledge and expertise, I’ve found Laura Quinn’s Idealware site especially helpful over the years in providing impartial and comprehensive evaluations of nonprofit software.   The just released Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide provides a systematic approach to determine how to best use social media at your organization.

Probably the most important takeaway is the recommendation to first decide what you want to accomplish and who you want to reach.  Without taking the time to establish your goals, it’s impossible later to evaluate whether social media is a worthwhile use of your staff’s time.  Idealware’s report offers several examples of how social media can help to achieve a nonprofit’s typical objectives: fundraising (although social media should NOT be primarily be used for this purpose), advocacy, recruiting / engaging volunteers, supporting events (both before and during) and outreach.

As I’ve said in the past when discussing multi-channel campaigns, social media works best when integrated with other channels.  But messaging content and frequency need to be appropriate for each channel;  don’t just post the same information everywhere.

If you take the time to apply the ideas from this wonderful resource, you will be able to measure the effectiveness of your social media campaign. Thanks to Idealware, and Balance Interactive, Trellon and New Signature for their support in helping make this report available to our community at no charge.

Why You Should Design for Mobile Now

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For a long time, I resisted getting a laptop, saying that I preferred the more comfortable keyboard and larger monitor with a desktop.  Similarly, I waited until late 2010 to get my first smart phone, not wanting to pay a premium to navigate the web on such a small screen.

I still spend most of my time online on my desktop either at home or at work, but I do use my smart phone, mostly to stay up to date with Facebook and Twitter.  But everywhere I look, smart phones are everywhere.  So if I was to assume that nonprofit constituents feel the way I do, I would be losing out on an opportunity to connect with supporters on their preferred platform – mobile.

Recently I attended a Convio webinar on mobile strategies for nonprofits.  While I encourage you to download their free guide A Guide to the Mobile Web: Best Practices for Nonprofits, I found these points by presenter Misty McLaughlin especially interesting:

  1. There are many approaches to mobile, such as a ‘mini site’ which highlights your highest value content or a ‘mobile optimized site’ – unless your organization is primarily providing information as your mission, it is usually not necessary to replicate full website content on your mobile site
  2. A good rule of thumb – when mobile visits in your web stats exceed 5% of your overall traffic, it’s time to have a definite strategy to communicate with mobile users
  3. For most nonprofits, it is usually better to focus on a mobile version of your website and not rush to create an app.  In addition to the expense of having to handle multiple platforms (iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc.), there is a much higher barrier to entry since constituents have to find the app, download it, and then remember to use it.
  4. If you’re currently redesigning your website, creating your mobile presence first will help you to provide a richer, more focused and integrated online presence
  5. Although tablets are the rage these days, it is usually not necessary to create a separate ‘tablet’ site since most desktop websites convert well to a tablet screen.
  6. Scrolling on mobile pages is more acceptable than while browsing on a desktop, but you should still limit scrolling on your home page (OK on secondary pages)
  7. If you’re CMS shopping, pick a product that will allow you to:
    • create content once for multiple platforms by separating presentation from content
    • provide auto device detection (so mobile users get the mobile site)
    • allow device-specific tailored displays

Key takeaway – mobile forces us to be smart about our content.  What are the most important actions we want constituents to take?  What is our key message – is it succinct, understandable and repeatable?  We only have our supporters’ attention for a short time, so it’s more important than ever to use that time wisely.

For examples of great nonprofit mobile sites, visit the US Fund for Unicef’s main website and then view its recently designed mobile version. Also, compare the  World Wildlife Fund main website with its corresponding mobile site.   When you look at your organization’s website on your phone, can you quickly find the information you’re looking for without getting frustrated?

For more mobile tips, listen to Nten’s webinar, Mobile for Nonprofits.   And remember that however you feel about using smart phones, you are not your constituents.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

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Most nonprofits are on Facebook now, but fewer are using Twitter well.  Read these 24 Twitter best practices, and 8 nonprofit Twitter superstars who especially do it well, led by Charity:Water, which I highlighted in a recent post.  Also, don’t make these seven Twitter mistakes.

If you’re trying to figure out how to use content curation to benefit your cause, Beth Kanter offers this great primer as well as Content and Curation for Nonprofits on Scoop.It!  New tools such as Storify and Paper.li also offer interesting ways to consolidate great content.  (But make sure you take the time to digest content you are curating.)

Not hearing as much lately about Google Plus even though it’s now open to the public, yet I keep receiving connection notices from people I don’t recognize.  Strange.

There’s no magic bullet for how to succeed in the nonprofit sector, but thanks to Big Duck and the Taproot Foundation for offering these suggestions.

Were you able to attend the recent Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits or the Convio Summit?  Here’s some ways on how to live tweet from an event from M&R (but make sure you participate in the live discussion – some of my best insights are from Q&A that takes place at events)  Also, Frogloop offers these takeaways on What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know.

If you missed last week’s chat with Andy Goodman on story telling, you can still get the recording from Nten.  Unfortunately, Andy reminded us that many nonprofits are ‘great at what we do, but not good in talking about it.’

Finally, if you’re spending a bit too much time on social media, here’s an important reminder from Jocelyn Harmon – put your most important relationships first.

How the NY Public Library Successfully Rolled Out Website Content Management

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At yesterday’s quarterly meeting of the Not-for-Profit Webmaster Round Table, we shared a particularly interesting discussion on website content management.  As group founder and leader David Milner pointed out, nonprofits spend considerable time and money to update a website, but not nearly as much effort to keep site content fresh and relevant.

Although there are many great open source content management systems available, I’ve noticed that it’s still a challenge for many nonprofits to decentralize the process of updating website content at our organizations.  But at least one organization at our meeting has figured out how to do it right.  Michelle Misner, Digital Project Manager at the NY Public Library, kindly shared her experience with us yesterday in rolling out Drupal which “revolutionalized” how their website is maintained.  How did they do it?

  1. Setup extensive training both during rollout and on an ongoing basis to familiarize staff with the new software
  2. Recruited senior management to spearhead the process, including the modification of staff roles to include responsibility for website content updates
  3. Using permissions, user rights and specific Drupal content types, entrusted staff with responsibility for specific areas of the website and chose not to use an intricate approval process.  Instead, there is a staff person who monitors site updates.
  4. Encouraged in-house developer to learn Drupal to maintain the system instead of having to continue to rely on the outside firm which assisted with the implementation.

We also took a look at how to optimize web content for specific contents, such as the Boston Globe‘s impressive use of responsive design,  shared tips for getting the most from Google AdWords and debated the latest Facebook news feed updates.

Thanks to David for having kept our group active for several years and to Michelle for sharing her story about how we can better manage content for our websites.  Quoting David, paying attention to your website could make the difference between your organization receiving an online donation, attracting a volunteer – or not.