Selfish Giving

APRIL 27, 2011

I’m really excited to have Jocelyne Daw guest post on my blog today. In addition to being a wonderful author who’s written two of my favorite books on cause marketing, Cause Marketing for Nonprofits and Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding (with Carol Cone ), Jocelyne has been a great mentor to me and other cause marketers. In her post today, Jocelyne makes an important distinction between cause marketing and sponsorship.

Marketing 264

Marketing Marketing Non-Profits Advertising 264

Nonprofit Tech for Good

APRIL 21, 2011

It took 2 years, 10 months, and 50,000 clicks of a mouse, but yesterday @ NonprofitOrgs followed its 50,000th nonprofit on Twitter! I start each morning browsing those that followed @ NonprofitOrgs the day and night before, and follow those that are nonprofits and nonprofit staff in return. There a handful of nonprofit service providers in there too.

Nonprofits 105

Nonprofits 105

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 29, 2011

I woke up this morning to my Twitter stream being filled with tweets about the royal wedding–both people watching it and people tweeting about people watching it! Those tweets got me thinking about fundraising…because that’s just how I am. 3 Ways the Royal Wedding is like fundraising. The royal wedding involved mutual vetting. Just like in fundraising, both parties needed to do their research and engaging to vet each other.

Fundraising 103

Fundraising Fundraising Communication Nonprofits 103

The Agitator

APRIL 14, 2011

Before acquiring new donors, learn how to cultivate the ones you have. In a nutshell, that’s the challenge posed by one of the respondents to The Agitator’s donor retention survey. [BTW, two more days for you to take the survey.]. I’m reproducing Stephen Best’s entire response below, not because I necessarily want you to stop acquiring donors, but because he absolutely nails it in terms of the attitude and approach nonprofits should bring to engaging with donors.

Non-Profits 97

Non-Profits Retention Ethics Management 97

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

APRIL 11, 2011

I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about how much words matter. We need to choose words that stir the imagination, spark emotion and transport with story. Here’s a video, sent to me by Rachel of the Parent Infant Center , that shows this well. The words the woman puts on the sign at the end of the video are impossible to ignore. Why? They forge an emotional connection between the experience of one person with that of another.

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Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 25, 2011

A dashboard is a visual way to bring lots of data together easily (hopefully automatically) into an at-a-glance overview of a situation. Nonprofits can use dashboards for all sorts of purposes, including fundraising results , program participation , management reports to boards , and much more. One very popular use of the dashboard concept is to monitor social media conversations about your organizations and issues.

Management 85

Management Communication Fundraising Fundraising 85

Selfish Giving

APRIL 4, 2011

New research out of the University of Michigan confirms what I always knew was true: I was right to name my cause marketing blog Selfish Giving. After giving college students the choice between donating through a cause marketing promotion or donating directly, the students that chose the former felt more selfish, less generous and even less happy. Maybe I should change my blog to SelfishStingyUnhappyGiving.com.

Marketing 252

Marketing Marketing Retail Production 252

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 5, 2011

I’m really pleased to introduce you to Tina Cincotti of Funding Change. When I saw this in her email newsletter, I asked her if I could share it with you. I’m glad she said yes! Be sure to sign up for her monthly Keep the Change newsletter. by Tina Cincotti. I’ve spent my entire fundraising career in small shops. So let’s just say I know a bit about the stress that comes with being responsible for EVERYTHING.

Non-Profits 102

Non-Profits Retention Fundraising Fundraising 102

The Agitator

APRIL 12, 2011

This week, I’m going to wear you down on the subject of retaining donors! It’s THAT important. Here’s more advice on how to hang on to them … this time from Bill Peck of Organizational Solutions, writing in Philanthropy Journal. Bill’s recommendations ( amplified here ): Send a timely thank you letter within five to seven business days of gift receipt.

Retention 86

Retention Philanthropy Communication Nonprofit Management 86

Get Fully Funded

APRIL 11, 2011

A friend shared this very powerful video with me and I wanted to share it with you. . It’s a great example of the power of words. “Vision Is Seeing the Invisible.&# — Jonathan Swift. Thanks! Sandy.

Marketing 81

Marketing Marketing 81

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 4, 2011

This Thursday (April 7, 2011), I’m presenting a webinar called “ Rethinking Your Nonprofit Newsletter: Making It More Relevant for Today. &# I first presented this webinar back in September, and one of the big questions that people wanted to discuss was: Is it better to keep your email newsletter to members only or make it openly available?

Nonprofits 78

Nonprofits Values Associations Marketing 78

Selfish Giving

APRIL 25, 2011

All great advice books have a certain agelessness. While their subject is defined by their time, they share common themes and ancient wisdom. Placed in a different time and place, they could have been written by Aristotle, Plato, Montaigne, Thoreau or by modern authors Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey or Jim Collins. A new addition to the library of timeless advice is Randal Moss and David Neff’s The Future of Nonprofits.

Entrepreneurship 252

Entrepreneurship Nonprofits Collaborations Marketing 252

Nonprofit Tech for Good

APRIL 4, 2011

Unlike the Q&A site Quora, Facebook Questions allows brands to ask and answer questions. On Quora you have to be a person, but Facebook Questions uses your nonprofit’s Page and avatar as your Facebook Questions identity. Quora is great for professionals and those that want to spend time building their personal brand online, but I think Facebook’s decision to allow brands to use Questions was smart.

Nonprofits 99

Nonprofits Technology Activism 99

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 12, 2011

When you ask people about making a donation through their phone, they usually think of texting donations like they do for the Red Cross. That is about to change. A growing number of services are allowing people to give donations from their phone. And services allowing you, as a nonprofit, to receive donations right at the visit or event. In this post I’ll highlight one of each: Givatron and Square.

Associations 97

Associations Fundraising Fundraising Marketing 97

The Agitator

APRIL 6, 2011

Yesterday, Target Analytics published its Index of National Fundraising Performance for the 12 months ending December 31, 2010. Not a pretty picture. And frankly, if I were the CEO or a Board Member of one of the 83 big organizations included in this Index, I’d probably be looking for some new resumes to replace some of my status quo fundraisers. For the 5 th straight year the majority of the large organizations included in the Index – those where the dominant revenue source is direct response –

Fundraising 80

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 80

Getting Attention

APRIL 12, 2011

We’re thrilled to welcome back guest blogger Colleen Farrell, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications at New York Cares. Did you know it’s National Volunteer Week ? What better time to look at the role of recognition in volunteer communications. New York Cares did a study last year to try to measure the impact of recognition. We personally thanked volunteers who did multiple projects to see if that would influence their likelihood to volunteer again. 15% of the sample became our cont

Recruitment 74

Recruitment Leadership Communication Activism 74

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 12, 2011

Nonprofit marketing can be an overwhelming job, but it’s one that you can make much easier by using a handful of simple tools, including a Graphic Design Style Guide. A graphic design style guide puts in writing all the various decisions you’ve made about how things should look both in print and online. While many of the same decisions will be reflected in a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), they are not the same document.

Values 77

Values Marketing Marketing Nonprofits 77

Selfish Giving

APRIL 18, 2011

Andrea Rosen puts in a few miles at PUMA's Boston store and raises a few bucks and shoes for needy people around the world. Marathon day in Boston always inspires fun and interesting promotions. This year footwear and apparel maker Puma is promoting a cause marketing promotion that benefits Soles4Souls , a nonprofit that provides shoes to poor people around the globe.

Marketing 200

Marketing Marketing Health Nonprofits 200

Nonprofit Tech for Good

APRIL 18, 2011

The number of low-cost or free, web-based resources and tools available to nonprofits today is astounding. So much so that many nonprofit professionals are overwhelmed by the all choices – and as the Mobile Web and related start-ups continue to grow, prepare to be mind-boggled by all the new technology options available to your nonprofit in coming years.

Nonprofits 98

Nonprofits Technology Energy Management 98

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 21, 2011

I was just checking in with Facebook, when an NTEN ad caught my eye. It wasn’t the image. (Not sure what that is.) But it was the “You’re already a fan of NTEN…&# line. Let’s face it, most Facebook ads are as effective as community bulletin boards at the supermarket–very easy to ignore. But this NTEN ad worked because it made the direct connection to it and something I was already interested in.

Nonprofits 97

Nonprofits Education Education Management 97

The Agitator

APRIL 5, 2011

Harvard’s Institute of Politics has collected some interesting data on college-age and young adults and their online advocacy. As reported in ClickZ Marketing News … “Among 18- to 29-year-old Facebook users, 21 percent said they’ve used Facebook to advocate for a political position, 29 percent have liked an issue, and 24 percent have liked a candidate.

Marketing 79

Marketing Marketing Activism Communication 79

Getting Attention

APRIL 14, 2011

Humor is tough to integrate effectively into marketing, especially nonprofit marketing. We see a lot more of it in consumer marketing, where the issue covered isn’t so serious or meaningful. Frankly, it seems to be that we in the nonprofit sector can just take ourselves a bit too seriously sometimes, and that can be a barrier to connecting with our networks.

Marketing 73

Marketing Marketing Nonprofits Fundraising 73

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 27, 2011

I met Julia Reich at the NTC conference (at the 501 Tech NYC Happy Hour to be exact) and being the nonprofit marketing geeks we are, we started talking about the struggles that nonprofits face with design. We seemed to take a similar approach, so I asked Julia to guest blog for us. Her first post follows up on the discussion I started about style guides earlier this month by providing you with some real-life examples.

Communication 77

Communication Production Nonprofit Organizations Nonprofit Organizations 77

Selfish Giving

APRIL 11, 2011

Mobile. Moms. Cause Marketing. These three things are made for each other. Not unlike: “The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost&#. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness&#. “…of the people, by the people, for the people&#. “Mo, Larry and Curly&#. We all know that moms are the shoppers of the household. Heck, except for Starbucks and gadgets, I don’t even buy my own underwear.

Education 180

Education Education Marketing Marketing 180

Nonprofit Tech for Good

APRIL 25, 2011

In March 2011 Facebook disabled the popular Static FMBL App that many nonprofits had used to create custom tabs on their Facebook Pages. Rather than having their apps be based on FBML, Facebook has now switched over to iframes. Those nonprofits that have already created custom tabs using the Static FBML app will continue to be supported (not indefinitely, however), but those that want create custom tabs for the first time or switch over to iframes have a few new apps to experiment with, namely S

Nonprofits 97

Nonprofits 97

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 14, 2011

It’s no secret that I love Twitter. Here are five tips to help you make better use of Twitter. Be human and interesting. One of the worst things you can do as a fundraiser on Twitter is broadcast about your cause all day long. This will bore people. Social media is social. So be a human. And be interesting. Tasteful. But interesting. Feel free to tweet about things you’re reading.

Fundraising 96

Fundraising Fundraising Nonprofits 96

The Agitator

APRIL 18, 2011

Nothing fancy about last week’s Agitator survey. We asked one question: “What percentage of your nonprofit’s 1st time donors make a second gift?&# [Folks at agencies and consultants were asked to indicate an average over the clients they've typically served.]. Here are the results … 31% — Less than 30%. 31% — 30% to 39%. 24% — 40% to 49%. 15% — 50% or more.

Retention 78

Retention Management Communication Fundraising 78

Getting Attention

APRIL 11, 2011

Your nonprofit’s message platform is the most powerful marketing tool you have , enabling you to connect with what’s important to your target audiences quickly and effectively. And your tagline is at the heart of your message platform, conveying the essence of the impact of your work, in eight words or less. When you craft the right tagline, based on getting to know your network (current and prospective) and what’s they want then finding the sweet spot that matches what your or

Education 73

Education Education Nonprofit Organizations Nonprofit Organizations 73

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 13, 2011

On January 3, 2011, I started a daily blogging experiment — and by “daily&# I actually meant business daily, Monday – Friday. (Katya Andresen did the same thing, but really did blog every day, including weekends. Here’s what she learned about her 100 posts.). Out of the 64 business days between Monday, January 3 and Thursday, March 31, I actually posted 58 times, missing one day in January, none in February, and five dates in March.

Communication 75

Communication Marketing Marketing Nonprofits 75

Selfish Giving

APRIL 13, 2011

One of the greatest feelings in the world is when someone comes up to you out of the blue and says they’ve been reading your blog for some time and learned something they’ve been able to put into practice. That happen to me yesterday when I spoke to the Women in Philanthropy in Holyoke, Massachusetts. After Joanna and I spoke, Gwen Majercak from Cooley Dickinson Hospital in nearby Northhampton, MA shared the above pinup with me that sold in local stores for $1 and raised $10,000 last

Marketing 173

Marketing Marketing Retail Medical 173

Nonprofit Tech for Good

APRIL 12, 2011

On the Mobile Web, it’s 1999 all over again. Those nonprofits that are pioneering mobile websites today will reap the benefits of Mobile SEO tomorrow. Mobile search engines like Google Mobile , Yahoo! Mobile , and Bing Mobile are hungry for mobile content, especially fresh content. That said, the uber vast majority of nonprofits have not even considered launching a mobile website.

Technology 78

Technology Nonprofits Food Values 78

Fundraising Coach

APRIL 26, 2011

April is “volunteer appreciation&# month. Last week, the ED of a nonprofit gave whoopie pies to each of us on the board. In presenting them, she said, “April is volunteer appreciation month. So each year we do something to say ‘thank you’ to each of you on the board. But rather than chocolates, this year I thought we’d give whoopie pies.&#.

Fundraising 95

Fundraising Fundraising Nonprofits 95

The Agitator

APRIL 20, 2011

Yesterday, in our ongoing discussion of the acquisition-retention linkage, we presented acquisition Plan B , from one of our readers. In brief, that model says use online and mobile media to capture as many impulse givers as possible … do this over and over … and don’t aspire to renew these folks. It is in the nature of the ‘new generation’ of donors to spread their money around and experiment … they’re not looking to build relationships.

Non-Profits 74

Non-Profits Participation and motivation Retention Advertising 74

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

APRIL 12, 2011

Here is a brief cultural guide to social media, and it is primarily common sense. But since I see these truths forgotten all too often, they are worth citing. Sometimes the most obvious ideas are the ones we overlook. 1.) Always listen and watch first. Being quiet is the first step to any social media strategy. Understand the social network you are joining by focusing on the people who compose it. 2.

Culture 72

Culture Marketing Marketing 72

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

APRIL 19, 2011

Last week, I talked about creating a graphic design style guide. Along with that, you need an editorial style guide. These are just two of several very important tools that all nonprofit communicators should be using. Your editorial style guide should contain a word list that shows how you will use, format, and spell certain words. When do you spell out numbers?

Communication 75

Communication Marketing Marketing Nonprofits 75

Care2

APRIL 26, 2011

It’s no secret that Facebook and Twitter have been duking it out in hopes of being crowned King/Queen of social networks. While both networks have changed the way organizations do outreach and marketing, which social network is more valuable in generating click-throughs and increasing your website traffic? For the past year I have noticed that website visitors prefer to use Tweet shares VS Facebook “Likes&# and Facebook Shares when spreading content from nonprofit and technology webs

Technology 78

Technology Activism Marketing Marketing 78

Getting Attention

APRIL 7, 2011

Email marketing strategies have matured and are no longer strictly about increasing the number of subscribers. Today, the priority lies in building a quality list of names. And the 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report is a must-read guide to getting there, highlighting what works best to grow relationships with an engaged base and prospects. The Report is based on survey findings initially billed as insights on building a stronger email list.

Environmental 71

Environmental Marketing Marketing Nonprofit Organizations 71