Vital Forgotten Emails

By; Katya Andresen

When someone signs up to receive emails from you, what’s the first thing you send?  Do you just add them to your e-newsletter distribution?  Or do you actually welcome them?

Don’t neglect the most important emails - the first ones you send! 

My colleagues Allison Schwalm and Caryn Stein have created a nifty mini-guide (free with registration) that provides all the details on how to do this right.  Read the whole guide here, and remember their advice:

A welcome series is a sequence of 2-3 simple, personal email messages (a plus if you’re able to automate them!) that a constituent receives over the course of their first few weeks on your email list, educating them about your organization, its programs, and ways to get involved and stay connected. Executed thoughtfully, a welcome series can help you give new constituent relationships the personal attention they need (before asking for donations to your organization) without a huge resource commitment.

Include:

A personal greeting from the voice of your organization:  This could be your organization’s Executive Director, a staff member that works in your development department or a celebrity spokesperson. (Quick tip: Tread lightly with your spokesperson. Constituents want to talk to someone that relates to them on an ongoing basis not just a talking head.) This email will highlight the state of your organization and with educate the new constituents about what your organization does and the people or community that you serve. Focus on educating your new constituents and reminding them what they signed up for. Reinforce benefits and set expectations about what your constituents will receive and how often.

Highlight specific ways your constituents can get involved: Have really great programs geared toward families? Looking for volunteers for your homeless ministry? Planning a gala dinner and recruiting committee members? In your second welcome message, place emphasis on educating newcomers on ways to get involved or highlighting the value of being a supporter. Mentioning upcoming events will also give new constituents a chance to meet your staff in person and will likely increase their level of involvement with your organization.

Provide other ways to engage with your organization: Tell them about the ways they can connect with your staff through Facebook or Twitter (Want to learn more about engaging donors with these tools? Check out the also free guide: Woo and Wow Your Donors with Social Media). Do you post great videos that are super sharable? Include a link to Your YouTube channel.

This is great advice for getting started.  For more, check out the full mini-guide here.  Or check out the on-demand webinar on the topic here.

The One Thing Every Homepage Needs

On your home page, you should have an image, and the best ones feature:

1. A living being (preferably just one)
2. Looking right at you
3. Evoking emotion

If you don’t have that, you’re missing out on the single most powerful element of your site.
For more on nonprofit imagery, check out a list of resources here.
Article by: Katya Andresen

What Do Your Volunteers Want?

Article by Joanne Fritz, About.com Guide

Is now the golden age of volunteerism? More people than ever want to give back to their communities, and volunteer work is encouraged, from the halls of congress to the words and images in the media. Now could be the very best time to take a look at your volunteer program and spiff it up so that your volunteers will want to come and stay.

But volunteerism has changed and volunteer expectations have evolved. Here are a few things today's volunteer has a right to expect from you - master these and you will have happy volunteers.

1. They want you to be prepared for them.

Many of us at some point have worked in the temp world. A common experience is to be sent to an office to work only to find that the office is unprepared. So you sit around trying to look busy when really you are twiddling your thumbs. Don't let this happen to your volunteers. The temp worker, after all, needs the money and will likely put up with this, but your volunteers will see you as disorganized and inconsiderate. Don't bring a volunteer in until you have everything worked out, from the job description to a place to work with proper equipment, to something to do immediately.

2. They want to feel welcomed.

David Lees/Getty Images

Act as though your volunteer is a guest in your home. Show her around. Introduce him to your staff and other volunteers, have your executive director drop by and say hello and thanks. Don't let your volunteer feel uncomfortable for a minute. Show that your organization is warm, friendly, helpful, and happy to see your volunteer.

3. They want good training.

Ableimages/Getty Images

Even if the task assigned is a simple one, take the time to explain it, demonstrate it, and mentor the volunteer through the first few hours. Provide a buddy, another volunteer who is experienced, to help the new one.

When training a group of volunteers, be sure to use adult learning techniques such as group involvement. Volunteers don't want to be lectured to. They want to participate in the training. Include in your training clear expectations for your volunteers. Let them know what the job entails and the quality measures that you will use to evaluate their work.

4. They want to do interesting work.

Siri Stafford/Getty Images

Most volunteers are willing to roll their sleeves up and do physical labor as long as it is meaningful. But grunt work is out. Do not use volunteers to do the tasks your staff doesn't want to do. Envelope licking, wheelchair pushing, and mindless filing do not appeal to modern volunteers. Think of your volunteers as extra staff who are capable of performing complex tasks that take advantage of their experience and skills. Provide leadership opportunities to those volunteers who are willing and have the time to shoulder more responsibility.

5. They want to know up front how much time the job will take.

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Everyone is busier than ever, and many volunteers may only have time for short term assignments. Project-oriented, rather than ongoing, assignments seem to work particularly well. Decide how much time your job will need and include that when you publicize your volunteer position. Will it take 6 hours a week that can be done over three days? Does it need to be done on a weekend? Do you need your volunteer for the summer, for a season? Does the volunteer need to be available from 2 to 4 p.m. during the week?

Provide lots of options so that you can appeal to a busy soccer mom as well as the retiree who has more time. Think about offering "alternative" opportunities, such as project-based family volunteeringand even microvolunteering or virtual opportunities.

6. They want to be appreciated.

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Tell your volunteers frequently that they are doing a good job. Although you will want to come up with some creative ways of formally saying thanks, don't overlook the power of a simple gesture such as taking them to lunch, providing a small gift, or sending a thank you card to their home.

7. They want you to communicate with them well and often.

Chris Strong/Getty Images

Regular communication is motivating for volunteers, while the lack of it is one of the chief reasons volunteers become dissatisfied. Volunteers like to have a particular person who looks after them. If your organization does not have a volunteer coordinator, be sure to assign someone to be the point person for your volunteers.

Be ready to listen to volunteers and respond to concerns immediately. Telephone them, have meetings, invite them to stop by your office, send info via social media, or email them regular updates or a volunteer newsletter.

8. They want to know that they are helping to make the world a better place.

Andrew Wong/Getty Images

Let your volunteers know how they are making a difference. Share success stories about your clients and programs. Bring them up-to-date on progress toward your organization's goals. Let them see your work in action through tours, presentations on the issues by your experts, and by inviting them to provide suggestions about how your work can be done even better.

9. They want to be socially connected.

David Baumber/Getty Images

Volunteering is a great way for many people to socialize, so provide the opportunity to do so. Become a matchmaker for friend making. If you think a couple of volunteers would get along famously, provide that opportunity by assigning them to do a particular job together. Provide some time for coffee or lunch. Invite them to your events and follow up to encourage them to attend or even provide help in getting there. Invite a volunteer to become an informal social director who might provide outside opportunities for volunteers to get together.

10. They want to learn something new.

Robert Frerck/Getty Images

Anyone who is willing to volunteer for an organization is likely to have a healthy curiosity and willingness to try new things. Indeed, many volunteers get involved with causes so just so they can learn new skills or about interesting topics and issues. Provide that opportunity. Turning your volunteer job into a mini-educational experience will be highly valued by potential volunteers and will likely result in some great referrals as your volunteers tell others about what a great experience they are having.

Top Nonprofit Brands

What distinguishes the best nonprofit brands? Name recognition is important, but the ability to engage supporters emotionally, inspire them to donate freely, and convincing authenticity all play a role.

In late June the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study named the "healthiest" nonprofit brands. The annual survey measured brand equity for 87 nonprofits across several categories.

The company performed the survey back in late Jan and early Feb. It then analyzed the responses of consumers to questions about how positively they thought of a particular nonprofit brand, and whether they would be likely to support or donate to it.

The organizations in the survey were measured across a number of traits such as familiarity, intent to give, emotional appeal, volunteerism, etc. The top nonprofits are those that scored above average across most of the measurements.

Here are the top nonprofit brands (I've listed only the first three in each category):

Youth

1. Girl Scouts of the USA came out first in this category. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the Girl Scouts is second only to the American Red Cross, in consumer familiarity. The organization scored very highly on the "Emotional Connection" score, according to Harris.
2. Reading is Fundamental
3. Junior Achievement

Animal Welfare

1. Best Friends Animal Society won in this category for the second year in a row. The Utah-based charity also came in with the best overall score for nonprofits in the study.
2. The Humane Society of the United States
3. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

Health

1. Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, came in first in this category partly because it had one of the strongest "Donation Intention" scores.
2. Make-A-Wish Foundation
3. American Cancer Society

Social Service

1. American Red Cross. This organization has sky-high recognition among the public and strong scores across the board in this survey.
2. Habitat for Humanity
3. Salvation Army

Disability

1. Goodwill, best known for its stores across the country, employs thousands of people with disabilities. In the Harris survey, Goodwill scored the highest across all categories for "Donation Intention."
2. Special Olympics
3. March of Dimes

International Aid

1. Food for the Poor. Even though this nonprofit is not as well known as some other international aid organizations, its strong "Quality" and "Donation Intention" scores propelled it to the top spot.
2. Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
3. Heifer International

Environmental

1. Wildlife Conservation Society. Even though this nonprofit scored highly among environmental groups, the Harris study pointed out that organizations that work on these issues scored the lowest in brand equity, suggesting that they need to improve their communications.
2. World Wildlife Fund
3. National Wildlife Federation

See this press release for more information and the complete list of nonprofits that ranked well in the Harris survey.

Article by: Joanne Fritz, About.com Guide

More Effective Messengers

10 messengers who are more effective than you By: Katya Andresen I gave a speech last week when I talked about the unprecedented level of skepticism about traditional sources of information.  People don’t put much stock in the words of marketers, politicians, government representatives, companies, or charities.  We tend instead to trust people we perceive as like us—or at least those who seem not to have selfish motives for their opinions.  That’s why you trust that random hotel reviewer from San Francisco more than the Westin website. All this means that you can have the best message in the world, but if you’re the only one saying it, that may not be enough. So who are messengers that wield more influence than you when it comes to your organization?  Whom should you tap to talk about you? Here are ten ideas. 1. People who have been helped by your organization. 2. Donors. 3. Volunteers. 4. Fans. 5. Front lines staff (as opposed to official spokespeople). 6. People with first-hand experience living with your issue. 7. Third-party rating agencies or charity watchdogs. 8. Partners. 9. Kids who care about your issue. 10. Local leaders. Make sure you’re not the only one saying your work is great!

Stories vs. Stats

It was sad to see Jamar go. Are you talking with stories or stats?

Posted by: Amy Braiterman, FriendsAskingAmy.com

Tuesday night I said good bye to Jamar.  But, I don’t think it will be for very long.  He’s a talent and I look forward to downloading his next record.  Jamar’s story was the hook, the initial draw to The Voice and even though he’s not in the finals I’ll still be tuning in next week.

I’m a fan of storytelling. I’m not a fan of public speaking, but it’s something I have to do.  To put myself at ease, I begin my presentations with a story. It’s a great way to form a connection with your audience.

I’m not the only fan of storytelling; it’s a tried and true marketing technique. I’ve been reading Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.  It’s a good book, but one chapter really spoke to me: Emotional.  In this chapter the Heath brothers discuss drawing on your audience’s emotions to achieve your desired results.

From the first sentence I was hooked and wanted more:  Mother Teresa once said “If I look at the mass, I will never act.  If I look at the one, I will.” I’m right there with Mother Teresa.  The mass is overwhelming, but helping one person is doable.
When it comes to marketing our events, most folks feel that big numbers are the way to go. Big numbers are just that big.  They’re often so big that we’re unable to relate, process, or fathom solving them.

Sixteen million people are living with XX. I have no clue what 16 million people means. It’s a big number, but the impact is lost because you can’t identify with it. It’s seems too big to solve.  Many organizations are taking the big number, making it smaller, making it digestible: 1 in 5 Americans have XX.  One in five is easier to understand, I can relate to five people.  But, it’s still a number.  Which are more impactful stats or stories?

The Heath brothers tackle this topic in their book.  They share a study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.  These researchers wanted to know if people feel the same as Mother Teresa.  Turns out most people are like Mother Teresa.  When making a charitable donation, the group given a story about an individual who needed their help gave twice as much as the group given a bunch of statistics.   Check out their book to get the full story; it’s an easy and fun read. Plus, I’m sure you will find a few ideas to improve your marketing efforts.

Marketing your programs is the key to increasing revenue.  If you want more people to fundraise and participate in our events you need to market to them.  You need to tell them about yourself.  They’re not just going to come to you.  You need to be proactive.
What do you think?  Are you talking to your audience in stories or stats?

Do Incentives Work?

Posted by: Jill Steward, Event360

People love free stuff. In fact, they love free stuff so much they’ll do just about anything to get it. In some cases, it doesn’t even matter what the stuff is — as long as it’s free.

So what does this mean to organizations that rely on people to give their time and effort — even physical endurance in some cases — to raise money and generate awareness for their missions? Can free stuff (based, of course, on attaining certain benchmarks) be the carrot that motivates people to support your cause? It depends.

For the record, we’re not denying that fundraising incentives can work — and work well. We’ve seen this approach benefit a number of our clients who’ve offered fundraisers everything from water bottles to flat-screen TVs to tiny little buttons for accomplishing clearly established goals. (The latter, surprisingly, being among the most successful.) We often find ourselves working with third-party vendors that provide excellent services to those who choose to go this route.

But here’s the rub: Keep in mind that everything you do is a means to end, and sometimes short-term “wins” may not help you down the line. There are a number of issues to consider before taking the fundraising incentive leap.

First, ask yourself if you’re doing everything possible to communicate (and communicate frequently!) the importance of your mission and the importance of the dollars that your event participants will fundraise. Are you arming participants with fundraising tools and case messaging that they need to approach their potential donors? In our experience, we’ve found that most participants fundraise (or fundraise more) not because they were offered a prize, but because 1) they were asked to fundraise, and/or 2) they were given the tools to help them do the asking. Thus, prizes are no substitute for frequent, compelling mission messaging and fundraising tips and tools. If the messaging around your mission doesn’t resonate with your participants and volunteers to begin with, address that first. Adding or leading with “more compelling” messages about prizes will, at best, only return short-term results.  You might see a spike in participation and fundraising from a fundraising incentive program, but will these people stay committed to your cause and continue their efforts long-term? Not likely.

Also, make sure you ask yourself how a fundraising incentive program will promote and support your mission — or, will it distract from and overshadow it? Sometimes, giveaways can develop a life and power of their own, with participants focusing more on the stuff and less on your cause. Think about the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. We all know about the multi-million dollar giveaways — but do you know what Publishers Clearing House does? Me neither. You don’t want people losing sight of your mission.

Finally, don’t forget to take a hard look at your resources and infrastructure to determine whether your staff has the time to plan, execute and fulfill a fundraising incentive initiative. Or, can your budget include outside help if needed? These programs are not cheap, and if you’re like most nonprofits, your finances are always top of mind.

So, before trying a fundraising incentive plan, make sure you’ve done everything you can to use fundraising for mission (and the good that you feel!) as the reward itself. If you are communicating frequently about mission and fundraising and are seeing a plateau in results, then it may be time to consider a prize program. But, make sure it doesn’t overshadow your mission and that you have the resources it takes to get the job done. In considering all of the pieces, you may determine that it’s not the right approach for your organization. Either way, keep communicating passionately about your cause — because increased awareness naturally attracts participants and volunteers who feel that simply helping is its own prize.

7 Steps to Increase Your Open Rates

7 Ways to get better response rates to your e-news

By: Katya Andresen

Blog reader Marla Grant of the Florida Blood Services Foundation recently sent me a copy of her newsletters (you can see them here), which are chock-a-block with great stories. She was wondering how to increase donations through this email outreach, and kindly agreed to my sharing my advice as a post.

Here are my 7 ideas for better response rates.

1. Have a subject line that makes you want to read more.  My friend Kivi Leroux Miller talks about bad subject lines being a wrapper (example: September Diabetes eNews) and good subject lines being the candy in the wrapper (example: 6 ways to manage your diabetes).  Make it interesting, so people open the message in the first place.

2. Start with story that’s compelling and relevant to the reader.  Here is where Marla’s organization is hitting it out of the park.  Her newsletters are full of moving stories that are personal and highly relevant to the reader.  But there are a lot of them!  Which brings me to my next point…

3. Say less.  A lot less.  An e-newsletter needs to be far, far shorter than what you’d send in print.  Anything over 500 words is really pushing it, in my view.  If you must have multiple stories, just provide the first part of each and link to the rest.  Remember, people tend to be in a hurry in their inbox and they skim more than they read.  The newsletters Marla sent have great content - but so much of it, it’s hard to absorb and unclear where to focus first.  I’m speaking from experience. The number one compliment I get on this blog from people who subscribe via email is that it’s short, with one main concept each time.  (I take this as a compliment!)

4. Go easy on the eyes.  Just as you want to be short and sweet in email, you want to go easy on the eyes—go for uncluttered, easy to read messages.  Too many articles and sidebars and buttons and images will overwhelm the reader and lower your conversion rates drastically.

5. Ask for one thing.  Be clear about the purpose of each piece of email outreach.  Is it a thank-you full of stories of change and transformation?  Is it a fundraising appeal?  Is it to inspire involvement in an event?  You want your e-news to have a focus and one clear call to action.  Tightly sticking to a theme and reducing the options for action to one (or at most two) will boost response rates.  Too many options, just like too much information, really hurts conversion.

6. Ask explicitly. Are you directly and clearly asking for action? A Donate button off to the side isn’t enough if the goal of the e-news is to raise money.  Ask in the text too.

7. Provide multiple, obvious links for the same action.  Make it incredibly easy for people to act by including links throughout the text and on buttons.  The more obvious, the better the conversion.
Good luck!

Turning a No into a Yes

Asking for Donations: When Does “No” Mean “No”?

March 29, 2012 by Tri Point Fundraising

You’ve prepared. You’ve practiced. You’ve overcome your fear of asking for a donation. So you make the ask and they say “no.” But how do you know when “no” really means “no”? I tell my kids “no” all the time. Yet, it doesn’t stop them from asking again, and again, and again. They do this for a variety of reasons, but mostly becasue they’ve learned that sometimes “no” turns into “yes” if they ask frequently and persistently enough. So how come as adults, we’re much more likely to take an initial no as a final no? Turning a “No” into a “Yes” In fundraising, some of the best development directors are those who can take a “no” and turn it into a “yes.” When you get a “no” for whatever reason, your job is to ask why? That’s the most important question you can ask. Get to the core reason, and explore if there’s a way to turn the “no” into “yes.” Before asking a prospective donor for a contribution, you’ll want to consider all of their possible responses, so you’re prepared to respond appropriately. In general, there are three types of response:       1. yes       2. no       3. maybe In fundraising, “yes” and “maybe” are great answers, but “no” can be good too. “No” is an opportunity to explore, build the relationship, ask more questions, and encourage engagement. It’s up to you to find out why the person is saying no, and how you can turn their no into a yes. 4 Reasons Why Prospective Donors Say “No” There are many reasons why people say no. Four of the most common include: 1. Wrong time. Money is tight at the moment for whatever reason. Six months or a year from now might be better. Or, they could need more information before making a decision. 2. Wrong project. They love your organization. They’re really interested in the after school program — but you asked for the preschool program. 3. Wrong amount. You asked for too much or too little. Once you ask some good follow-up questions, you may be delighted to receive a gift of another amount. 4. Wrong asker. This is often the most difficult issue to identify, but it’s possible that your donor just doesn’t click with the board member you brought along. Keep your intuition tuned for issues like this, because they will often go unspoken. I’ll be discussing how you can turn those no’s into yeses and a whole lot more in my upcoming session at the International Association of Fundraising Professionals’ conference. Going Further There are some great posts around the web pertaining to this topic. Here are two of my favorites: When a foundation declines to fund you, the story isn’t really over Overcoming the 9 Fundraising No’s

A Better Place

Think about the story you’re telling. Are you building an emotional connection? Don’t just ask people to participate in your event, inspire them to help you make the world a better place. — Therese Grohman 

Become an Experience Curator

Now Is the Time to Rethink Event Production and Become an Experience Curator

Social media and technology have had a profound impact on how we interact every day. We’ve certainly seen changes in event fundraising — people have migrated from emailing fundraising letters, to leveraging CRM systems like Blackbaud and Convio to benefitting from social networking and other integrated online fundraising platforms like StayClassy. As the fundraising side of our work is changing, so too are the expectations for the actual event.

Direct outgrowth of social networking is a big reason why more people are craving in-person contact, which makes a live event even more desirable. Social sites and an influx of portable gadgets have contributed to a loss of human interaction. As a result, we are finding that people want to maximize their face-to-face experiences and don’t want to deal with small inconveniences that distract from the event. JWT Intelligence’s “10 Trends for 2012” forecasts that to “balance out our increasing immersion in the digital world, people will embrace face-to-face gatherings and digital downtime.”

This trend impacts the most basic interactions we have with participants, like how to collect donations at an event, which is a simple transaction. People are now used to “anywhere, anyway shopping.” The best example is the Apple Store. Apple makes everything seamless from being greeted, to direct interaction with the products (touching computers and gadgets is encouraged) to a sales person checking you out anywhere in the store. Those of us in event fundraising need to learn lessons from such experiences and maximize the point of sale on event – making things quick and easy certainly helps. (See JWT Intelligence’s “2012 and Beyond” for more examples.)

Participants don’t want to spend their time waiting in line when they’d rather be out interacting with people and doing the activity. Ideally, registration should happen online before a participant arrives on site (for some of our events we allow participants to navigate registration self-serve online and even print their own credential to bring to the event). In cases when you offer check-in and registration on-site, that experience has to be unobtrusive. Kiosk or iPad systems allow us to make the process an easy self-serve task, registering a higher number of participants more quickly and efficiently.

I believe our future is going to be less about event production and more focused on being experience curators. What’s the difference? Event production is more of a one-way street: “We build it, they show up.” But experience curating is social: “We build it together, we participate together, and we communicate about it together.” Events will be about providing a venue with multiple experiences where people can move through focus points that we design. There will be a major emphasis on being able to meet with others to discuss what’s happening or just be social in various spaces, a focus on human interaction. Think Burning Man and South by Southwest (SXSW) — models for the next generation of events.

Socializing through Twitter and Facebook can start relationships that lead to positive in-person connections. So when people shut down the computer and show up at your event, be sure there are ways to grab their interest and make connections to grow. In this cluttered Attention Economy, events will need to provide more than one focus and plentiful peer-to-peer opportunities. Participants now expect to contribute to building the experience. Events need to be immersive and multi-faceted with elements of surprise. People need to walk away feeling like they learned something about themselves, a cause or others. And they want to get online and talk about your event and post photos and feedback via Instagram and Twitter. This combination of online and live buzz provides memorable experiences for event-goers, and also makes others feel they missed something big if they did not attend – they’ll be sure to get involved next time. Offer sharable content and never underestimate the power of a good photo opportunity.

As we adjust to “Event 2.0” as an industry and strive to be experience curators, the opportunities are endless since our participants will want to help us build the experience.

Article by Patrick Riley and Sarah Coniglio, Event 360

Pay for Shipping?

Operation Smile continues to impress me.  Today's email campaign is trying to get donors to donate specifically to pay for shipping costs.  Shipping costs!?!?  Obviously, shipping costs are not usually something that is very glamorous or a campaign that donors typically gravitate to, but let's face it, it's a necessity in order to do what they do.  I love the way they worded things... simple and straight to the point.  Seems silly not to help them out, right?

Tell a friend

Katie, Help Ship 8X the Medical Supplies Every $1 that you give today helps ship $8 worth of life changing medical supplies.  Our volunteer surgeons are ready. Our corporate partners have already donated essential medical equipment and supplies. But, we need YOUR help to ship them, so we can forever transform the lives of children like Junior. Help other children like Junior from Honduras.

Relationships

4 ways marketing is entering the relationship era My colleague, the avid reader Kate Olsen sent me a fascinating AdAge article by Doug Levy and Bob Garfield on the future of marketing, and I think it’s worth reflection. Here is my take on the ideas that grabbed me in the article, “The Dawn of the Relationship Era,” along with what I think they mean to nonprofits: 1. Manipulation backfires.  You shouldn’t be going for the quick sale (or donation) - you should be going for trusted, sustainable relationships.  Don’t send an appeal and skip the stewardship.  That will make you the Comcast of nonprofits. 2. The network effect is enormous.  The old funnel has been flipped, and it’s not about what we say but what consumers say about us to each other.  The people who love your cause are your greatest asset.  Think of them not as fawning fans but as powerful champions. 3. Core values can’t be faked.  You have to walk your talk.  Companies with a true purpose trump companies who use cause affiliations as a cosmetic ploy to cover up their lack of caring.  Keep that in mind when you choose your partners. 4. Everything you do is the new media department.  Social media isn’t about your tweets—the masses play out who you are online.  Remember that in all aspects of your operations.  How you treat others is how you will be portrayed in social media! 5. To do this all well, look inside and be honest.  As the article notes: “In the words of that Danish marketing guru, Polonius: ‘To thine own self be true.’ Counterintuitive as it may seem, a pillar of the Relationship Era is that it is better to look inward than define your business as the accumulation of your public’s often fickle, shortsighted tastes.”  For nonprofits, this is even more important.  Know why you matter, and make it matter to others.  That is the great, messy, thoroughly human essence of marketing. Post by: Katya Andresen, Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog

10 Strategic Must-Dos for Event Fundraisers in 2012

By: Meghan Dankovich
Vice President, Fundraising Strategy
Event360

I know, you've given up on making New Year's resolutions. (You're just going to end up breaking them anyway, right?) Well, I've compiled some New Year's resolutions that you can actually keep. And don't worry — none of them involve dieting.

These are 10 strategic ways to improve your event fundraising in 2012. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

1. Integrate your mission into the participant experience. Events are a prime opportunity to strengthen participants' connection with your mission. You can do this in a variety of ways, such as: Featuring impact statements on route signs and elsewhere Having people whom your organization has helped speak at the event Posting an honor wall where participants can write their thoughts

2. Highlight the mission in post-event communications. The new year is a great time to catch your breath and gauge the impact your organization has had over the past 12 months. How much progress have you made toward achieving your mission? Particularly for nonprofits that focus on research, progress can be difficult to quantify. In these cases, make sure you explain your mission-oriented accomplishments in language that participants and other supporters can understand.

3. Take part in your own events. The best way to inspire passion in yourself and your staff is to take part in or volunteer at your organization's events. Being a bystander isn't enough. By completing the walk or working a water stand, you'll gain a deeper understanding of what your organization is doing right — and where you can improve. So put the date(s) on your calendar now!

4. Extend your thank-yous. So many people are involved in your organization's success. Take a minute to thank them now. And I don't mean sending out another appeal under the guise of a thank-you. Call up that woman who organized a big team for this year's run. Drop a note to that loyal donor (bonus: you'll be in his head as tax season approaches). Explain to that sponsor how their logo was prominently featured and find out how you can make this a mutually beneficial partnership moving forward.

5. Clearly define what constitutes success. Establish quantifiable goals for your events that you can measure against. What are your intentions with the event? Have you made changes to the experience, logistics or income model but haven't also implemented the metrics needed to evaluate the outcomes of those changes? Examples of metrics include dollars raised per individual, number of gifts per participant, number of emails sent by participants and overall costs. Once you have metrics in place, measure them consistently and follow them year over year, it's easier to know when you've succeeded — or where you have more work to do.

6. Nail down and communicate your strategic goals. Be sure to define the organization's strategic goals and how you expect your events to contribute to them. This helps articulate organizational direction and demonstrate how it will be achieved. For instance, "Let's increase overall development revenue by $250,000 — x% from fundraising events, x% from major gifts, x% from the annual direct mail campaign, etc." Then, communicate this goal to your key constituents while tying it in with your mission (i.e. how will the additional funds help your organization further achieve its mission?).

7. Cut costs where you can. Put on your accountant's hat and closely scrutinize your paid services for your events. Can you identify creative ways to reduce vendor costs? Could you offset some expenses with sponsorships?

8. Increase use of personal fundraising pages. Event participants who actively use their personal fundraising page tend to raise more money than those who communicate via offline channels. Offer incentives or challenges to encourage participants to use the email account associated with their personal fundraising page. Send email reminders of the valuable tools available through their personal fundraising page. In short, do whatever you can to get more participants on board.

9. Go to where your audience is. Are you incorporating a broader digital communications strategy to reach out to your participants? Think Twitter, Facebook, other social media and free advertising on websites they might visit. And if you are using those channels, do you have an integrated communications calendar to ensure the messages you send are consistent and timed appropriately?

10. Evaluate how you spend your own time. Your organization's events deserve the best you have to offer. Are you getting distracted by the little details that prevent you from focusing on the big picture? If so, start looking for ways to delegate those countless tasks to others. Calling to recruit past team captains, running training or informational meetings, overseeing grassroots recruiting events — these are all things that staff or even volunteers can probably take off your plate.

What's on your must-do list for the year? Share with us your goals and ideas for a successful 2012.

7 Event Participant Types and How to Effectively Communicate with Them

Peer-to-Peer Event Fundraising Tips

Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:26 AM PST

Many summer peer-to-peer fundraising events will be opening registration in the upcoming months (hopefully, yours included).

To get the most from your event this year, it’s important to realize that your participants are a diverse group and you need to speak to each group differently.

Sending one-size-fits-all event update isn’t going to cut it anymore. You have to target each audience with a tailored message – one that speaks to them.

Why?

Your participants have different motivators, perspectives and needs. They also have varying levels of commitment to your event and organization.

First-time participants have separate needs from longtime participants. Superstar fundraisers respond differently than those who raise the minimum. Team captains have a different perspective than individual participants.

With so much money at stake, it’s important that your event communications resonate with participants and anticipate their needs. Strive to answer their questions before they even think of them.

Just like email appeals, crafting unique messages for different audiences is the best way to connect, inform and motivate participants.

In fact, by sending targeted communications to its different audiences, the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure was able to increase their average amount raised per fundraiser and overall amount fundraising (despite fewer participants). Check out the results …

• With 2,500 fewer participants registered, the Global Race has brought in $150,000 more in donations to date
• Fundraisers raised an average of $32 more in 2010
• Power fundraisers brought in over $25,000 more than last year
• Overall average donations increased by $8 per registrant

So, how can you start segmenting your audiences, tailoring your communications and improving your fundraising results? Here’s seven ideas to get you started …

7 Event Participant Types and How to Effectively Communicate with Them

Your communications should tell all participants why donations are needed and how they’ve been previously used. Besides that, here’s what to say to your unique audiences:

Superstar fundraisers

Show them the love! Your communications should let them know how much they’re appreciated. Chances are they’re closely connected to your cause. More than other participants, share outcomes of past donations. Tell them “you did this!” Also monitor their fundraising progress and reach out by phone, if needed. Highlight statistics about how social media can help them raise even more. Provide ways to connect with other top fundraisers. List the top fundraisers and discuss high-level incentives.

Minimum/Non-fundraisers

Keep communications brief. This group will be tough to motivate, so focus on incentives, contests and convenience. Highlight the ease of fundraising by social media and email. Remember, 1 in 4 emails result in a donation. Those who use Twitter raise 10x morethan those who don’t. Tell them you know they’re busy. Make fundraising easy by including sample Facebook posts or emails they can forward to friends. Highlight stories of those who’ve raised money with minimal effort. At the end of the day you should be focused on turning these participants in to fundraising superstars!

Team captains

Show them the love, too! Captains are the lifeblood of your event. Send communications that help them manage their team. Include reminders about deadlines and contests. Tell them what they should communicate to their team at different stages of the event. Provide ideas to grow and inspire their team. Emphasize what resources they can access to help them manage their team.

New participants

Explain your mission and why donations are needed in a simple, concise way. Remember, they’ll have to retell it to potential supporters, many for the first time. If you can connect them to your cause, the rest will fall into place. Instead of overloading them, focus on the simple things they can do at each stage of the event. “You’ve registered! Here are 2 ways to get started” or “The event is a month away. Here are 2 things to do this week.” Highlight first-time participants who made a difference. Here are 44 more tips for engaging with new participants.

New teams

In addition to what’s outlined above for new participants, communicate the rankings of top teams to motivate those with a competitive side. Send event and team-related details, so they’re not bombarding their team captain with questions. Highlight team-specific contests, like best theme or largest team. Feature stories of other teams.

Returning participants

Returning participants are like gold to any event fundraising organization so make sure you acknowledge they’re the reason for the success of past events. Outline how last year’s donations were used and tell them what you could do with more money this year. Be specific! Vague, high-level phrases do not inspire. Also, let them know what event details are the same this year and point out anything that’s new. Remember, it’s about their success in the current event and getting them to come back next year!

Returning teams

In addition to what’s outlined above for returning participants, include rankings of top teams and many team stories. Learning about other teams will give returning teams fresh ideas and motivation. Also feature team-related contests and incentives.
Basically, you need to create mini-communication plans for these unique audiences. While that does mean more work, it also means more engaged, inspired participants that are far more likely to raise more for your event and return next year.


What other participant audiences have you focused your communications on?
Reprinted from Blackbaud's NetWitsThinkTank.com: an online resource for nonprofit organizations working with social media, internet marketing, and online fundraising.