Selfish Giving
JANUARY 5, 2011
Last January I wrote a post on What is Cause Marketing? that got a lot of great feedback. Over the past year I’ve gone back to that post many time and reread the comments again and thought about how I was defining cause marketing. I felt I had the first part right. Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JANUARY 24, 2011
If you haven’t noticed QR Codes yet, after you read this post and browse the QR Codes on Flickr you’re going to start to seeing them everywhere. In magazines, on flyers, tabletops, and conference materials. So, what are they? QR Codes are two-dimensional bar code images that when scanned by a camera on a smartphone open a link to a website, send a SMS, or dial a phone number.
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 11, 2011
This week, I’m honored to introduce Vivanista. Vivanista is a member-based, lifestyle community for charitable volunteers. I really like their practical tips as well as their emphasis in women in philanthropy. Check out their tools at Vivanista.com This top 10 list was put together by Vivanista’s founder, Layne Gray, a Bay Area entrepreneur and experienced volunteer fundraiser. by Layne Gray.
The Agitator
JANUARY 31, 2011
We recently noted the latest Pew Internet Research findings on US online habits across various generations. Here’s the main point: “In what they term the ‘biggest online trend’ Pew reports that certain key internet activities — including donating — are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups.&#. Bonnie Catena of Amnesty USA offered this comment, which I thought deserved your attention … “All great food for thought as we continue to wade through t
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
JANUARY 4, 2011
Microsoft's rumored to be working on a Windows-based set-top box (a la Apple or Google TV), webOS may be coming to tablets next month, and Google may use Android's near-field wireless for quick on-the-go payments.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 19, 2011
Putting aside for a moment whether we should call them “target audiences&# or not, it’s always good to remember that, as a nonprofit communicator or fundraiser, you are very rarely the kind of person that you are trying to communicate with. Even if you match the demographics, the fact that you are employed by your cause sets you apart in major ways from those who are not.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 3, 2011
Here’s one last look back at 2010. Here are the top ten posts at Selfish Giving as ranked by PostRank. Komen & KFC’s Cause Marketing Isn’t Finger-Lickin’ Good. My Twitter Policy: How You Can Join the 200 (Kind of surprised this ranked so high, but it doesn’t hurt to review!). Cause Marketing Cynicism is a Good Thing.
Nonprofit Leadership Zone brings together the best content for advertising professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 18, 2011
Have you ever been put on the spot by an excellent question? Last week, I was speaking at a Rotary Club. At the end of the presentation, one man asked this question: For some of us, we’d rather have a long, sharp wooden stick put in our eye than ask people for money. What are the top three things that can help us overcome the fear of asking? I loved his candor!
The Agitator
JANUARY 6, 2011
I’ve seen a number of fundraisers proffer their wish lists or predictions for 2011, and would like to pass some along. The Agitator will even offer some too (after we’ve read everybody else’s, of course!). Here are some thoughts from Fraser Green at Good Works. He calls his essay New Year Nostradamus. After he talks about some cosmic issues like globalization and ‘The End of Certainty’ he gets to his seven marketing/fundraising predictions: 1.
Getting Attention
JANUARY 26, 2011
Thank you for all of the questions, stories and feedback you share with me. It’s your input that makes it possible for me to cover what you need to know to increase your nonprofit’s marketing impact! You were particularly generous last December, when I asked you to share your most important nonprofit marketing lesson or key principle learned — either from hard knocks or new found success — in 2010.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 11, 2011
The 2011 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report is officially available! Thanks to the 780 nonprofits who completed the survey last month, making this report possible. It answers many questions that a lot of us simply speculated about before. Here’s one of the charts from the report, which shows how nonprofits ranked 14 different communications tools.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 10, 2011
We have a new toy. Let’s play. It’s the new question and answer site called Quora. Like Twitter , you ask a question, you get an answer, but you don’t have to filter out the other noise. You can follow people, but you can also follow topics (e. g. cause marketing) or questions (e. g. Where is cause marketing headed in 2011?). Also, like Twitter, Quora results are showing up in Google.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JANUARY 12, 2011
The last four chapters of my book cover mobile social networking and mobile communications and fundraising for nonprofits, and I need some examples of success, or attempted success. If your nonprofit is experimenting with mobile technology, please share your experiences and links (if any) in a comment below. I am particularly interested in: 1. Nonprofits with mobile websites (please share the link!).
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 6, 2011
Because sometimes all you need is a little kick! This year, I’ve got a lot of great products and services I’ll be rolling out to help you raise money. Today, I want to introduce you to a cool new service I’m really excited about called “ Fundraising Kick.&#. I’ve had the privilege of doing alot of fundraising coaching and fundraising training.
The Agitator
JANUARY 26, 2011
Courtesy of SOFII, here is the latest direct mail tutorial from copywriting guru Jerry Huntsinger. This one talks about evaluating a fundraising letter. Jerry’s points, embellished in his tutorial … 1. Give yourself some positive reinforcement. 2. Get your mind off the letter of complaint you read earlier this morning. 3. Don’t try to edit the letter so that it ‘sounds like you’. 4.
Getting Attention
JANUARY 20, 2011
2010 delivered cause-marketing shockers, highly-effective disaster relief communications, a tougher-than-ever fundraising environment and the continued emergence of Facebook, even as the basics remained the cornerstone of nonprofit marketing impact. Here are the tools, case studies and recommendations that nonprofit marketers like you found most valuable in guiding them through this tough year: 7 Easy Ways to Boost Your Nonprofit Marketing Impact with Google Analytics. 10 Ways to Make Your Onlin
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 13, 2011
It’s dry. It’s boring. It’s dead — or deadly. It’s nonprofit writing! Not all nonprofit writing, of course, but a fair amount of it. Here are 20 ways you can bring your writing back to life. 1. Use more descriptive nouns and verbs. Don’t say child when you can say teenager or toddler or even 16-year-old or 3-year-old. 2.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 31, 2011
The latest cause marketing program from Foursquare is looking a lot like last year’s. Maybe the folks at Foursquare should watch the movie Groundhog Day. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all for a great cause, but location-based services like can be used for much more than action-triggered donations. What if Foursquare could combine a special offer with a mobile payment so that shoppers could check-in an give.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JANUARY 6, 2011
At the beginning of each chapter in my book (11 total) there will be a quote of wisdom from a nonprofit that speaks to content of that chapter. Then throughout the book, there will be approximately 20 more quotes of wisdom. If you have some wisdom to share with the nonprofit community, please post your quote below and if it fits, I’ll add it to the book.
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 21, 2011
Earlier this month, I mentioned how excited I was about the products that I’ve got coming out this year. Today, I get to announce another really cool offering: the “Ask Without Fear! DVD&# ! Many of you who’ve read my book or attended my seminars have asked for a DVD version. Something you can use for your own development and something of such quality that you could use it to train your board or your staff.
The Agitator
JANUARY 27, 2011
I’ve always thought of him as a kid. After all, he is several years younger than I. For years and years Mal Warwick has always been there. At conferences. Giving seminars. On planes. On panels. No one I’ve ever met gave back more to our profession than Mal. So today, when I opened my email from Mal to learn that he was packing it in and turning over the reins of his first rate newsletter, with the understated moniker of Mal Warwick’s Newsletter , and moving on, I shed a tear.
Get Fully Funded
JANUARY 26, 2011
Seems like lots of nonprofits are talking about social media these days, but not many are doing it well. If you are thinking about uing Facebook or Twitter or email campaigns or any other tools, here are some tips for success. Know your purpose. Be very clear about what you want to achieve by using social media. Too many nonprofits jump into it without clear goals then get frustrated when they don’t raise boatloads of money.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 24, 2011
Is your collection of Nonprofit Marketing Guide e-books complete? When you register for a free membership with our Learning Center , you can download all four of these e-books at no charge: 2011 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report. and What It All Means for Your Good Cause. This 22-page report reveals what 780 nonprofits think are the most important (and least important) communications tools for 2011, what scares and excites them, how often they will email and direct mail supporters and more.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 24, 2011
I love the new mobile payment app from Starbucks. It’s great having one less card to carry around (I’m down to a driver’s license and a credit card). There’s also a total coolness factor, especially when Chris Noble introduced me to the new app several weeks before most people, including most of the staff at Starbucks, knew it was working in stores.
Care2
JANUARY 30, 2011
The political uprisings in Egypt for the past week have sparked the tiresome debate again – can social media create and spread revolution? The truth is that, while social media played a role in getting information out quickly, it was Al Jazeera (a traditional media outlet) that provided mass new coverage and fed it to US newsrooms who then repurposed it. “It's actually been interesting to watch as a case study in the enduring power of traditional media.
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 14, 2011
I’ve just created a page of the quotations used in my fundraising training book. These have helped so many of the thousands of people that have read the book that I’ll also be sharing some of them on Twitter with the hashtag #awfquotes. There are 55 quotes about. fundraising, the steps to successful fundraising (researching, engaging, asking, loving), putting yourself in the shoes of others, making mistakes, and. giving.
The Agitator
JANUARY 10, 2011
When is the last time you — or your nonprofit — seized and implemented a really big fundraising innovation? If an example jumps immediately to mind, I hope you’ll share it through us with other Agitator readers. If you’re struggling to come up with an example, read these two recent articles by fundraising consultant and SOFII leader Ken Burnett.
Getting Attention
JANUARY 6, 2011
Mila Rosenthal, Executive Director of HealthRight International , is a Letter to the Editor (LOE) expert with a significant record of success. Read on to review her most recent success — a strong, concise, pointed Letter to the Editor of The New Yorker – and Rosenthal’s tips for your own efforts. Re: A Deadly Misdiagnosis. December 6, 2010.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 25, 2011
Melinda Pearce McKee, the public relations and communications director for NCGives , is sharing her experiences with us as a communications professional at a small nonprofit that’s undergoing many changes as it transitions from being a foundation project to an organization of its own ( read other posts here ). Today, Melinda explains the process of changing the NCGives tagline.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 13, 2011
Last month during a visit to a Finagle-A-Bagel store in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to pick up a check for $25,000 from the Finagle team and their owner, Laura Trust , we got talking about social media, specifically, location-based services. Finagle was intrigued with Foursquare and how they could use the service to connect with and reward customers at their nine area stores.
Care2
JANUARY 15, 2011
Are your nonprofit staffers addicted to social media? Do they feel that one day Twitter and Facebook are going to bring in the big bucks and build a huge base of activists that will come to your organization’s rescue when you need their help the most? Perhaps around passing one of the most important legislative bills in your organization’s history?
Fundraising Coach
JANUARY 1, 2011
These were the highest traffic blog posts in 2010. Interestingly, Three of them weren’t DONE in 2010! And you’ve really liked, my new series of guest bloggers. 40% of the top ten were written by them. Thanks for helping make this a great year! #10 Fundraising letters that connect with your donors [written in 2008]. This post includes real fundraising letters I used for the same fundraising event in different years.
The Agitator
JANUARY 13, 2011
On Monday, in his No More Mr Nice Guy rant (to which I subscribe) about the inadequacies of present day fundraising, Roger let slip just how long we’ve been at this business … 41 years. And we know many of you are thinking of us as, well, old farts … but are just too polite to say so. From Dilbert, how does this resonate … ? Modem?
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
JANUARY 18, 2011
Last summer, I blogged about Panera’s first pay-what-you-want, nonprofit restaurant near St. Louis. Customers are asked to pay what they can afford (their “fair share&# ) in donation boxes, and any profits go to charity. The chain, which called this a “test of humanity&# has since opened Panera Cares community cafes in Detroit and, this week, Portland.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JANUARY 18, 2011
Back in June, I shared some of my favorite tips for writing Facebook and Twitter updates. In that post, I urged you to think of your social media writing goals in terms of the reaction you were looking for. Do you want someone to DO something, THINK something, or FEEL something in response to what you are putting online? I’d argue that these three goals are all worthy of your pursuit.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 20, 2011
I’ve spent many years on the cause side wooing businesses for cause marketing programs. I’ve often said, “If I ran a business this is how I would choose a cause marketing partner.&#. Here’s my advice for business owners looking for a cause partner. Choose a cause you really care about. I know, this one is a no brainer. But it’s a good place to start.
Care2
JANUARY 28, 2011
Has your nonprofit ever talked to your online donors about their donation experiences? Was the feedback positive? Negative? Unfortunately many nonprofits still don’t spend the necessary time optimizing their donation pages and donation flow. These negative experiences can leave donors frustrated, which means fewer donations for your nonprofit.
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