For quite awhile now, I’ve been blogging away here on Mills Communications Group. Once we launched Claxon, I had to decide where to continue with all this writing, writing, writing. Since Claxon is all about teaching nonprofiteers how to do their own marketing, it kind of just made sense for the blogging to happen over there. And so, dear followers, I hope that you’ll join me over at Claxon’s blog where I promise the posts will only get better and even more useful for those interested in marketing with cohesion, clarity and confidence. (Come on…you know that’s you.)

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!

http://claxonmarketing.com/blog/

I was talking to a fellow nonprofiteer last night who was lamenting that her organization didn’t have crisp, compelling messaging for everyone to use. Instead, they all used variations on a not very compelling theme. Let’s be honest, she is not alone.

All too often, organizations use their mission statement as their key message and they don’t have a messaging framework by target audience. This is a huge missed opportunity. Huge.

Your mission statement is important, as are your vision and values statements. (See this great article by the Community Driven Institute if you need help creating mission, vision, and values statements.) But mission statements are usually written by and for an internal audience and, therefore, don’t make external stakeholders go, “Wow, that’s an organization I want to get involved with!!” Put another way: nonprofits end up with messaging that is technical accurate but not compelling.

If your organization doesn’t have compelling messaging or if each person working their uses their own version of a compelling message, do your organization a big favor: create a messaging framework and then give everyone their very own copy.

Here is a template to help you develop a Nonprofit Messaging Framework. It’s simple, straight-forward and will make people jump for joy at the opportunity to learn more about your nonprofit.

Do you have a messaging framework you love or a tip on how to create successful messaging for mission-driven organizations?

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Many nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time on talking about how they are going to fulfill their mission. Example: We help low-income women successfully start and run businesses by providing training and access to small loans. That seems like a worthy thing to do and how the organization proposes to do it–via training and access to small loans–seems logical enough. But it doesn’t say why the organization is doing it?

Here’s the problem with how when it comes to mission-driven marketing: it is generally not compelling. It’s important but not inspiring.

Your why is compelling. Your why piques people’s interest and keeps them connected to your cause. When it comes to mission-driven organizations, people connect with your why, not your how.

In his recent book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek makes a mighty fine case for why for-profit businesses should focus more on the why. This is as important–if not more so–for nonprofits. Check out Sinek’s 2009 Puget Sound TED Talk and see if you aren’t inspired to start with your organization’s why.

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When it comes to any combination of nonprofits, the Internet and social media, it doesn’t get much better than Beth Kanter. Cases in point: her recently-released book and her recent post on nine ways that nonprofits use Slideshare. Yes, that’s right, Slideshare. While everyone is all a-twitter about Twitter, she’s keeping it real and practical. (She also has  many words of wisdom on Twitter and all manner of social media whatnot on her very awesome blog.)

Check out her presentation on, that’s right, Slideshare, to learn what the nine ways are and to get the full deal on each.

If you’ve been paying attention to the tragic BP oil spill news, you may have read this Chronicle of Philanthropy article about the controversy behind the Nature Conservancy (TNC) accepting funding from BP before the oil spill. Whatever your opinion on the matter, it raises a really good question for nonprofits: Would you be prepared to handle it if your organization was at the center of a controversy?

Engaging stakeholders is a must-do during a crisis. In order to effectively engage, you’ve got to actively monitor what is being said about your organization online and in print. According to the Chronicle article, “[Nature Conservancy] employees have been monitoring the discussion closely and responding to criticism.” Indeed they have and we can learn a thing or two from them.

Here are two examples of how the Nature Conservancy engaged really effectively with stakeholders:

1.  On their blog, they held an interview about the BP oil spill with TNC’s leadership team. Leadership answered a lot of question. A lot. Some were submitted in advance and some were taken real-time. It’s worth listening to and/or reading the transcript.

2. On Twitter, the Nature Conservancy has been reaching out to people tweeting about the issue: “@rotkapchen @lurainpenny @centregcs: For more info on #oilspill  & BP see the transcript of the live chat w/our CEO http://nature.ly/dre53k”

Last week at the Seattle NDOA conference, Debbie Marchione of the Alford Group led a conversation about the various real-life ethical dilemmas that organizations can face in the online world.  During the session, participants talked about ways their organizations manage the risks.  At the end of the day, things can go wrong and unexpected things can happen.  You could accept a donation that becomes controversial and have an explosion of negative comments and criticisms about your organization.  But more likely it’ll be something slightly less dramatic. Perhaps a disgruntled volunteer could post some negative comments on your Facebook fan page or a donor could Tweet nasty things about how much you spend on “overhead”. Yes, that would be somewhat scary and demoralizing.  Mind you, those people could say something negative to friends at the local country club and you’d be none the wiser.  You can’t control what people say; you can control how your organization responds, particularly when it comes to social media.

To get started, plan to talk about this as a team. Here’s a great tool to help you get started that offers an ethical framework for your social media efforts, and you can use it as a starting place for a broader crisis communications policy.

And, by the way, this is another great reason to setup a listening station and start dipping a toe in the social media world to find out who is talking about you.

Has anybody got a policy they’d like to share?

I’ve said it before and I’ll inevitably say it again: When it comes to marketing, retention is way less expensive than acquisition. It is easy to think that securing a new gift, or volunteer, or media story is an end. You’ve landed the deal and now you can move on, right? Not so. Savvy organizations think of that first commitment (whatever it may be) as a beginning. Because keeping a donor happy is much less expensive than convincing another one to join your ranks.

If you read Penelope Burk, you’ll know the term ‘donor-centered’. In her book ‘Donor-Centered Fundraising’, she outlines one of the hallmarks of a donor-centered approach: prompt, personal gift acknowledgement.  Sounds so simple and obvious, yet not all organizations have a system in place to support this practice.

Explorations in Math, a small, Seattle-based nonprofit that turns math into a fun, life-long adventure for elementary school students, recently put a fantastic process in place to thank their new donors. To get (and share!) the full scoop, we interviewed Megan Nordeen Wildenradt, Explorations in Math’s terrific and tireless Development & Outreach Specialist.

Me: Tell us about the process you have put in place for thanking new donors.

Megan: We send a one-page letter thanking the donor for their donation. In the letter, we include pictures and quotes from the children who benefit from their support. We include a simple response card that asks them about their interests and their preferred method of communication. (See the ‘Sample New Donor Information Card’ below.) We want to reinforce that a new donor has made the right decision in giving us a donation.  We want to show them that we care about what they want to get out of our relationship.

Me: How long have you been sending out ‘Donor Information Cards’?

Megan: We started back in January, right after our winter appeal. We sent it out to all first time donors.  We sent another batch out to new donors from Make a Move for Math, our February fundraising dinner.

Me: What have you learned?

Megan: We’ve been able to learn more about donors and how to effectively communicate with each one individually.  They tell us once and then we know for all future communications. They feel heard.

Me: Do you follow up with the donor by phone after you send the thank you letter?

Megan: We were on the fence for a bit on the phone call piece.  Our donors hear from us a lot—from thank you notes, newsletters, social media, etc. We weren’t sure if they would appreciate a call.   In the end, we decided to give them a few weeks to digest all of our info and then call just to say, “We truly want to get to know you more. We see from your card that you want to receive x, y, z from us. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about how you like to be communicated with?” It seems like the calls are appreciated.

Me: Would you recommend this process to other nonprofits?

Megan: Yes! We’re really excited that we’re making the effort to foster lasting relationships with our donors and doing our best to listen to them and engage them the way they want to be engaged.

I only have one suggestion for Explorations in Math: have a board member pick up the phone right away to thank donors and tell them that a donor information card is one the way.  According to Penelope Burk’s study of 145 donors (80% individuals), 95% of respondents said that they would be very appreciative if a member of the Board of Directors called them within a day or two of receiving their gift just to say thank you.  The thank you call could go something like this: “Hi, I am a board member of Explorations in Math and I want to let you know how thankful we all are for the gift you made this week.  You will be receiving a letter in the mail next week with a postcard so you can let us know exactly how you prefer we communicate with you in the future, but I wanted to make sure you knew right away how grateful we are for your commitment to helping elementary students succeed in math.”  Done!

 For any of you now chomping at the bit to try this process at your organization, Explorations in Math was kind enough to share exactly what they put on their card. If you’re going to do this, make sure you follow the “appoint, capture, convey” protocol (outlined in a previous post) and put all the info into your trusty database.

Big thanks to Explorations in Math for sharing their spiffy new postcard process with us!

 

Explorations in Math’s New Donor Information Card

Name

Employer

Address

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­City/State/Zip

Phone

E-mail

Would you like to receive updates on how your support is helping elementary school communities we serve build sustainable math culture?

Can we make you aware of opportunities to get more involved in the math movement? Please check all that apply.

• EIM Supporter Newsletter- distributed quarterly
• Special Events (fundraisers, MathFest, public math workshops and family math nights)
• Volunteer Opportunities with Explorations in Math
• Learning more about bringing Explorations in Math to your school
• Please check here if you do not wish to be solicited by EIM

How do you prefer that we communicate with you: postal mail, e-mail, or phone? (Circle top choice)

Comments:

 

 

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• Donors & Dentists: It’s a trust thing

A few weeks ago, I was kicked back, staring at the ceiling, thinking about nonprofit marketing and donor communications.  Nothing unusual, right?

But it was unusual.

First off, I almost never just kick back. Between my company and my two little kids, my days are action-packed and fun-filled, but they don’t allow a lot of time for relaxation and calm reflection. (Not complainin’…just sayin’.)

The reason I was “kicked back” was because I was at the dentist and they love tipping you WAY back in those chairs. And weirder still is that I was relaxed even though my dentist was drilling holes in my teeth.

This gave me pause. Why the heck was I letting this woman forage in my mouth with big, pointy implements, for crying out loud?!

The answer was simple: I trusted her.

When I really stopped to think about it, I realized that I trusted her not just because she’s a good dentist (which she is), but that the whole office instills a great deal of trust in its patients.

Here’s what I mean: When I showed up that morning, I was scheduled for two procedures. Upon arriving, I told the receptionist that I was just going to do the drilling that day. (The mouth guard could wait.)  About 23 seconds later, the dental assistant came and got me. About 37 seconds after that, the dentist came and said, “So, I hear we’re just sticking with drilling today.”

It took them one minute to get the piece of information I’d given the receptionist into their system and the information given to everyone who needed to know it. One minute.

What, you might ask, does this have to do with donor communications? Well, how many times have you heard someone say something along the lines of, “I don’t give to that organization anymore because they were sending me too many things in the mail and I asked them repeatedly to stop and they didn’t”? What they’re saying is: I didn’t trust that organization anymore because they didn’t listen to my request. And we all know that donors give to organizations they trust.

It’s not that nonprofits are trying to willfully disregard donor requests. It’s simply that getting the systems and processes in place to follow through on these requests proves more challenging than you’d think. And it’s especially hard if you’re a small, resource-constrained nonprofit.

And this is why my dentist office epiphany is so handy. They’re a small shop with a really good system so we can learn from them.

If we simply swap “donor” for “patient”, their system can work for many small nonprofits. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. Appoint. Have “collect and process donor requests” written into one position’s job description. This is different than simply assigning the task to someone currently on staff.  Associating the task with a position ensures that, regardless of who is in the position, the task gets done. This is especially important in small organizations where there tends to be high staff turn-over. (If someone else receives a donor request,  they should immediately pass it along to whoever is currently in this position.)
2. Capture. Invest in a system that contains the fields your organization needs to honor these requests. Have opt-in/opt-out fields for each of your marketing mechanisms (e.g. newsletter, annual report, event invitations, etc.). The goal is to keep this information as current as possible. Your system doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy; it needs to work.
3. Convey. Have a standing agenda item at team meetings called “Donor Love” or “Delighting Donors” or something along those lines that is all about information you have recently collected that needs to be relayed to other team members in order for your organization to honor the request. If you only meet monthly, find some other way of relaying this information (e.g. weekly email, Basecamp message, etc.). The key is to get this information out proactively and regularly.

That’s it. That’s all my dentist did. Appointed, captured and conveyed.

Your donors may not let you drill holes in their mouths, but if you follow-through on the requests they make they will trust you. And we all know that donors give to organizations they trust.

Note: This post was inspired by Seattle dentist Dr. Lina Kim and her amazing team!

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Yesterday, I attended the Washington State Nonprofit Conference, organized and flawlessly executed by Executive Alliance.  Luckily for all of us there, Dan Pallotta was the keynote speaker. If you ever have a chance to see him speak, run don’t walk!

His book, Uncharitable, challenges the nonprofit sector and those who support it to think very differently about charity.  Although this interview on Reason.tv doesn’t hold  a candle to the experience of hearing him live, it does lay out the basics of the book and is a “must watch” for anyone interested in, connected to, or working for the nonprofit sector.

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If you had to pick your Top 3 Blogs that Make the World a Better Place, what would they be?

That was the question posed to the students in the University of Washington’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

The results? The 62 students submitted a whopping 171 blogs in total. Yet, of those, only 16 were mentioned more than once. That means there was almost no overlap between the students’ lists. Clearly, “make the world a better place” is open to interpretation!

Our take-away: the blogosphere offers a dizzying array of info on making the world a better place. That can feel overwhelming, but we prefer to look at it as a sign that, despite what naysayers might have us believe, there’s a lot of people, organizations, companies and coalitions that are working hard to make the world a better place. And that’s happy-making, let’s be honest.

So here, without further adieu, are this year’s Top 16 Blogs for Making the World a Better Place. (A Big Thanks to the students in the Certificate Program for their hard work on this project and for making the world a better place in their own way, every day.)

1. http://www.frogloop.com/
2. http://gettingattention.blogs.com
3. http://beth.typepad.com
4. http://www.ctef.org/blog/
5. http://philanthropy.blogspot.com
6. http://www.asmallchange.net/
7. http://www.connectioncafe.com/
8. http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/futurefundraising/  
9. http://www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/
10. http://www.ssireview.org/opinion
11. http://www.blueavocado.org/ 
12. http://selfishgiving.com/
13. http://zenhabits.net
14. http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/
15. http://www.good.is/series/blog/
16. http://www.theagitator.net

What do you think of this list? What’s missing? What are some of your favorite blogs that are making the world a better place?

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