August, 2012

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What My 14-Year-Old Brother Taught Me About Cause Marketing

Selfish Giving

This is a guest post from Erin Palmer. Erin is a writer and editor for the University Alliance. She writes about nonprofit and public sector topics relevant to Villanova University’s Master of Public Administration degree. The areas covered in the MPA curriculum help improve nonprofit management. Teenagers can be pretty apathetic. Adults may blame it on the technology that.

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How Americans give - and who is most generous

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

The Chronicle of Philanthropy yesterday published loads of data on giving patterns among American donors. You can search for your specific community giving here. The research is based on tax returns from people claiming charitable deductions. Among the most interesting findings: 1. The rich aren’t richly generous. Says the Chronicle, “Middle-class Amer­i­cans give a far bigger share of their discretionary income to charities than the rich.

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11 Must-Follow Nonprofits on Instagram

Nonprofit Tech for Good

For the mobile social media manager, Instagram is a must-download photo-sharing smartphone app – and with more than 80 million users who to date have shared over four billion photos – its quickly becoming a community that early adopter nonprofits have added to their regular list of must-do’s. The social networking component of Instagram is smartphone-based and most of the interactions you have will occur in the palm of your hand as you share your nonprofit’s story on the

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3 Ways the Lance Armstrong Foundation can Survive

Fundraising Coach

Today’s news is reporting Lance Armstrong’s decision to not fight the doping charges. Many are saying he’s basically admitting he’s guilty. Herein lies one of the biggest challenges for nonprofits that are branded around a personality. Nonprofits with personality are wonderful to work with and find it easier to gain supporters.

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9 Great Fundraising Ideas for When Everything Else Hasn’t Worked

Fundraiser Ideas

Fundraising is critical to your organization. Without successful fundraising campaigns, programs, activities, and equipment are oftentimes cut from the budget. However, not all fundraising ideas work for all groups. Following are 9 great fundraising ideas for when everything else hasn’t worked. Fundraising Letter – Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

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Women Are Better Donors

The Agitator

In the Chronicle of Philanthropy Holly Hall just covered a new study finding that older women (Boomer and older) are more generous than older men, other key factors held constant (similar incomes, number of children, education level). The study, Women Give 2012 , was done at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.

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Raise More Money from Businesses with Shopping Days

Selfish Giving

Are you a local nonprofit that has a downtown business district of mom and pop stores? Shopping days may be the fundraiser for you. Generally, there are three components to a shopping day program. Pinups Purchase-triggered donations Shop walk Here’s how they all work together. Working with these small businesses you pick a day or.

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#FundraisingFriday :: Please Donate $10 to Your Favorite Nonprofit!

Nonprofit Tech for Good

Each Friday through the end of 2012 I am going to donate $10 to one of my Favorite Nonprofits in the hopes of inspiring others to donate more often. If you are a nonprofit, please help me get the word out about #FundraisingFriday to your supporters. Hopefully you’ll be able to convert a few fans, followers, and friends into donors. If you donate $10 to your favorite nonprofit, please post the name and website of the nonprofit below.

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Why traditional newsletters don’t work anymore

Get Fully Funded

You know that saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well, it’s time to fix what’s broken with your newsletter. Yep, without even seeing it, I can tell you that there are very likely some things you need to change with your print or email newsletter. I’ve heard from many donors that they don’t even look at newsletters anymore, even if it comes from their favorite nonprofit.

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No Wonder Retention of Online Donors is So Bad

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

In yesterday’s post, I told you that I suspect that the reason online givers seem to be one-hit-wonders has less to do with online givers being fickle and more with nonprofits not yet figuring out how to do online donor retention well. I promised to share what happened when I gave online gifts to 20 national nonprofits at the end of 2011. Did I get the kind of online communications that would lead to another online gift?

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Remember Telemarketing?

The Agitator

Hopefully the 47% of Agitator readers who were ‘on the job’ in the 20th Century do! Karin Kirchoff of MINDset Direct discussed telemarketing — “the ugly, redheaded stepchild of fundraising and acquisition” as she put it — in a recent FundRaising Success webinar. Here’s a report on what she had to say about how to use this ’70s and ’80s channel today.

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Raise More Money from Businesses with Purchase-Triggered Donations

Selfish Giving

Purchase-triggered donations is a long name for a simple cause marketing promotion. When shoppers buy a product or service from a business a portion or percentage of the sale is donated to a good cause. A recent example I came across is this promotion from the makers of 5-Hour Energy. Living Essentials, the marketer of.

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The 10 vital rules of thanking, pleasing and keeping donors

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

1. KNOW YOUR DONOR: Capture information on how your donors gave and what appeal they are supporting. Did they give in response to a special appeal or at an event? Were they asked to donate by one of your donor champions who was running a race to raise money for your cause? You need these details to properly thank and cultivate them. 2. ALWAYS THANK YOUR DONORS: Always.

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The Top 10 Cheerleading Fundraising Ideas

Fundraiser Ideas

Cheerleading squads rely on fundraising for a variety of items including new uniforms and travel costs for competitions. Fundraising can make or break a season, so every cheerleading organization can benefit from successful fundraising. Following are the top ten cheerleading fundraising ideas. Spirit calendar. One of the most profitable cheerleading fundraising ideas is to put together a spirit calendar with a picture of the squad for each month of the year.

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Why traditional newsletters don’t work anymore

Get Fully Funded

You know that saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well, it’s time to fix what’s broken with your newsletter. Yep, without even seeing it, I can tell you that there are very likely some things you need to change with your print or email newsletter. I’ve heard from many donors that they don’t even look at newsletters anymore, even if it comes from their favorite nonprofit.

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How Social Media and Fundraising Fit Together

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

You’ve probably been cautioned to avoid using social media as a fundraising tool and to focus instead on donor “engagement” – which will someday lead to fundraising opportunities. But when? What about all of those nonprofits using social media to raise money right now? Can you create a social media strategy that does both? I think you can, and that’s what I’ll be talking about when I present a workshop called Social Media: Your On-Ramp to Future Fundraising at the annual conference

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How Can I Use My Cell Phone?

The Agitator

In case you were running short of ideas on how to use your cell phone, here are some ideas from the rest of the cell phone population, courtesy of Pew Research. In a store : 38% of cell owners used their phone to call a friend while they were in a store for advice about a purchase they were considering making. 24% of cell owners used their phone to look up reviews of a product online while they were in a store. 25% of adult cell owners used their phones to look up the price of a product online w

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Where to Look for Cause Marketing Opportunities

Selfish Giving

A lot of people ask me how they can get into companies such as Target, Starbucks and Walmart. I tell them don’t bother and instead focus on companies such as iParty, Ocean State Job Lots and Finagle a Bagel. If they live outside New England they have no clue what I’m talking about because these businesses don’t operate in their area.

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Should you thank your donors with a gift?

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

As you know, I believe giving is best approached through social rather than market norms. What do I mean by that? Social norms are governed by values of community selflessness and altruism. When we are primed to give based on social norms, we donate because we want to make a difference and help others. Market norms are governed by calculated self-interest.

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6 funky ways to use your calendar

Fundraising Coach

While I miss my old school Franklin Planner, I love the convenience of my Google Calendar. Over the years, I’ve developed some unconventional uses for my calendar. Here are 6 of them. Non-family birthdays: I’ll start with the most banal first: birthdays. Whenever I learn of a birthday of a friend, client, or most anyone, I put it in my calendar.

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On Vacation. Offline. In Nature. Viewing Wildlife. Will Reconnect on August 27!

Nonprofit Tech for Good

Back in 2009 I wrote up 10 tips for managing social media burnout and taking my own advice, I am going offline for three weeks. On vacation… in remote areas in a distant land… viewing wildlife (hopefully)… and 100% offline. No smartphone. No tablet. No work. Just a camera, a couple of good books, and a journal, a pen, and a glue stick.

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Six Ways Social Media Has Affected Nonprofit Newsletters

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

Last week, I asked for your thoughts on how your newsletter has changed , including how your organization’s use of social media has affected your newsletter, whether print or online. Of the 299 people who had answered this particular question when I pulled the data yesterday, a third said that social media had little to no effect , because. the organization wasn’t using social media much or at all, the audiences for the newsletter and for social media were very different, or. the org

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Is This Any Way To Report To Your Donors?

The Agitator

You bet it is! I recently received this email from Charity: Water. This organization just keeps impressing me over and over. Click below to watch the video. Rachel’s Gift. One Year Later. Call me a marshmallow, but it got me crying. See how long you last. Tom.

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Cause Marketing Hangout & Chat with Megan Strand & Peter Wright

Selfish Giving

Pete Wright, the producer of CauseTalk Radio, moonlights as an instructor for Marylhurst University and asked Megan Strand and me to join him for a class on – what else – cause marketing. Here’s Pete’s description of the class.

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Your mission is the gift. Really.

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

A week ago I posted on the question, should you give your donors gifts ? I got a big response via email. Many people wrote to say they agreed, and that the advice offered reflected their own experiences as fundraisers. A few even told me that their most consistent donors typically decline the gifts they offer. And a bunch wrote me with more questions.

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Get over it and ask!

Fundraising Coach

[Warning: rant in progress]. Stop it with the excuses. The timing is never perfect. There are always reasons to put off asking people to support your nonprofit. And that is a sure way to get your nonprofit bankrupt. If your nonprofit is doing important work, people will want to fund it. But they won’t come to that conclusion all by themselves.

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Read this post or the puppy gets it

Sea Change Strategies

Yes I stole that from National Lampoon. But there’s a point to be made. Getting and holding your audience’s attention is harder than ever. The latest research says we experience 5,000 marketing messages on a typical day. That’s 5,000 taps on the shoulder demanding your focus. Your brain is a miracle of mental filtration. Faster than Mitt Romney can say “Obamacare” we cast 99.9% of those shoulder taps into cognitive oblivion.

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Checklist: Is My Message Relevant?

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

I taught “So What and Who Cares, Part I: How to Make Your Messaging More Meaningful and Memorable” today for our All-Access Pass Holders. In Part II next week, I’ll apply what we discussed to home pages and Facebook pages of several Pass Holders. ( Want to join us? Today’s recording will be available tomorrow afternoon, and Part II takes place on August 23.).

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Where Does Fundraising Begin?

The Agitator

If you said ‘the donor relationship’ you’d be wrong! Well, not entirely, The Agitator would still give you a B+. But as he answers with respect to all marketing in his post, The circles of marketing , Seth Godin would say … The Product. As Godin says: “When the thing you sell has communication built in, when it is remarkable and worth talking about, when it changes the game–marketing seems a lot easier.

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CauseTalk Radio Ep23: Navigating Into the Cause Marketing Triangle with Incite

Selfish Giving

Today, Megan and I chat with Sarah Harris , Vice President & Founder of Incite , about her firms work with nonprofits and companies on cause marketing partnerships. We also discuss Incite’s new whitepaper: The Cause Marketing Triangle: A New Approach to Cause Marketing. Finally, Sarah talks about her recent trip to Africa and how it reinforced that cause always comes before the marketing.

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The vital emails you might be forgetting to send

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

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.

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How to Get Started with a Major Gifts Campaign

Get Fully Funded

I bet you have more needs at your nonprofit than you can shake a stick at. You have programs that need to be funded, special projects to undertake and maybe equipment or vehicles you’d like to have. Sometimes you can get a foundation to fund those particular needs, but most of the time, the most effective and efficient use of your time is creating a major gifts campaign to raise that money.

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Let’s Be Fearless Communicators

Getting Attention

As the VP of Communications and Marketing at the Case Foundation, guest blogger Allie Burns is charged with spreading the word about the Foundation’s great work with the ultimate goal of mobilizing more people to make giving a part of their everyday lives. Earlier this summer, we at the Case Foundation officially declared our intention to Be Fearless in our efforts to drive social change—with the hope that the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors would join us in a dialogue about how we can all e

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How Often Should You Email Supporters?

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

Every nonprofit communicator wants an answer to this question! My generic advice — knowing nothing about your organization — is monthly bare minimum and really more like twice a month. You should step it up beyond that to more like weekly if. you need people to do lots of things (you have lots of calls to action, like events or volunteer opportunities). people count on you for frequent updates or timely information in a fast-moving field (this applies to advocacy orgs in particular).

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Flat Earth Fundraising: Catch & Release Fishing

The Agitator

Too many direct response fundraisers, many of whom should know better, continue to resort to acquisition techniques that only serve to camouflage the erosion and dry rot destroying long-term donor performance and value. Whether it’s the over-use of premiums or the increasing dependence on cooperative databases ( see piece in Direct Marketing News ), the amount of money spent on boosting acquisition campaign results strikes me as the height of short-sighted tactics and irresponsible fiscal folly.

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CauseTalk Radio Ep20: Cause Marketing on Pinterest with Beauty Brand Elizabeth Arden

Selfish Giving

Today Megan and I chat with Christina Bennett of beauty brand Elizabeth Arden about their new cause marketing campaign on Pinterest, #PinItToGiveIt, in partnership with nonprofit Look Good Feel Better. Christina shares how the campaign plans to reach their donation goal of 10,000 eyeliners (valued at $16-$18 each) to Look Good Feel Better by early.

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10 simple ideas for things to share on social media

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

Are you stuck on what to post on social media today? Network for Good has a great mini-guide on the topic here (free with registration). Check out our tips for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. And while you’re downloading the document, here are ten quick ideas if your creative well is dry. Thanks to my colleague and guide author Caryn Stein for these pointers.

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