June, 2014

article thumbnail

Nonprofit Marketing Tips from 19 Experts

Fundraising Coach

'A while ago, I was invited to be a guest lecturer at Brandeis. As my friend David Mersky was introducing me, I put this question across various social media platforms: RIGHT NOW: Nonprofit people, what marketing tips would you tell a graduate class on philanthropy? I''m guest lecturing at Brandeis right now and would love to show the power of social media.

article thumbnail

14 Must-Know Stats About Fundraising, Social Media, and Mobile Technology

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Spring is report season in the nonprofit sector. A slew of new data is released and this year the emerging theme is that online fundraising is rapidly rising, especially on mobile devices. Nonprofits that have not yet adopted a mobile-first approach to online communications and fundraising can use the new data to help convince executive staff and board that a new mobile-compatible website should be high on their priority list.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

New Tool Helps Determine Your Asking Style So You Close More Gifts

iMarketSmart

'Brian Saber, president of Asking Matters, has spent his career asking for donations on behalf of nonprofits. Now he’s really done it with a cool online test that helps you determine your asking style so you can improve upon it by focusing on your strengths to close more gifts. Try it out here. P.S. – In case you’re wondering how I did… I am a “kindred spirit” (according to the test).

article thumbnail

Selling Your Board On Direct Response

The Agitator

'Roger has written on several occasions about the obstacles that nonprofit boards can present to effective fundraising and growth — see, for example, here and here — especially when it comes to direct response fundraising. Similarly, Tom Harrison, chairman of Russ Reid, writing a recent column in Fundraising Success , recited some of the ‘wisdom’ he’s heard from board members: slash the acquisition budget in digital, mail, DRTV in order to improve the current year’s

article thumbnail

Pro Tip – Check How Easy Your Text Is to Read in Word

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'Here’s a quick tip for you today on using Microsoft Word to check how easy it is for your supporters to read your communications. Word has the ability to let you know your Flesch Reading Ease score and your Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. You just have to turn it on! Wait, what? The Flesch Reading Ease score and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level are readability tests that let you know if your copy is easy to read or not.

article thumbnail

Media Relations: Too Valuable NOT to Use

Getting Attention

'Guest blogger, Patricia Brooks guides client orgs to reach and motivate people through traditional and new media sources. She’s a 24/7 newshound and loves to match the right story with the right journalist. Freedom of the press is one of the founding principles of American democracy, and the press is our vehicle for making our voices heard and driving change.

article thumbnail

15 Social Media Tips for Ministry Fundraising

Fundraising Coach

'This month''s Church Executive features an interview with me on how pastors can use social media for fundraising. The editor pulled out 15 of the most important tips I''ve learned, both pastoring a church and in coaching church planters and others in ministry fundraising. It was fun to see what she chose! Social media tips for online fundraising. It’s OK to ask for money.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Want your message to spread? Evoke emotion.

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'We know that emotion is tied directly to giving , but does it matter when it comes to sharing online? This week, Business Insider shared a chart to illustrate the primary emotions evoked by the top 10% of most shared content. Awe, amusement, and joy are among the top emotions that prompt people to share with their networks. However, the emotions that work to power the viral engine are not necessarily the same ones that drive people to give.

76
article thumbnail

When ‘Branding’ Rears Its Ugly Head

The Agitator

'Sooner or later someone in your organization, totally devoid of fundraising knowledge (likely the CEO, a board member or the spouse of one) is going to come up with the brilliant idea of changing your organization’s name. Or your logo. Or your tagline. Or your graphics and copy style. Heaven help you. Because if they succeed your organization’s likely to be out of business or at least headed for a fire sale.

article thumbnail

How to Use Hashtags to Promote Your Cause [Free Download]

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'Our social media and online campaigns adviser, Kerri Karvetski, has created a new download for you on how to harness the power of hashtags to promote your good cause on social media. In case you are brand new to social media, hashtags are words or phrases with the hash symbol (#) in front of them. The hash symbol creates a link and clicking on that hashtag will bring up other posts with that tag.

article thumbnail

Is Your E-newsletter a Must-read or a Yawn?

Mission Minded

'Is your newsletter one that people welcome? Do your supporters read and get inspired by it? If you’re not sure, or if you have a sinking feeling it could be better, we’re offering 7 ways to make your writing the kind people want to read. Most of these ideas will make your annual report, website, […].

76
article thumbnail

4 Disney Lessons to Transform Your Donor Retention

Fundraising Coach

'I''m just finishing up another family trip to Walt Disney World. Every time I''m here, I study the culture, habits, and design of the parks and resorts. I''m fascinated by their attention to detail, their ability to create brand new merchandising opportunities, and their ability to engage guests of all levels. I''ve written about lessons on giving donors a behind the scenes experience and three things Disney can teach you about fundraising celebrations.

Retention 103
article thumbnail

All Nonprofit Tech for Good Webinars Are Now Free and Open to the Nonprofit Community

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Thanks to a sponsorship from the Public Interest Registry , for the first and only time all Nonprofit Tech for Good webinars are being offered for free to the nonprofit community. Nonprofit Tech for Good occasionally offers free webinars, but the paid series has never before been offered at no cost to the public. Over the last five years more than 25,000 nonprofit staff worldwide have attended webinars offered by Nonprofit Tech for Good (free and paid), and thanks to this new sponsorship that

article thumbnail

How You’ll Get Inspired & Energized this Summer?

Getting Attention

'I’m seeking your ideas this time round! Please tell me ( in the comments below ) what your summer camp looks like —i.e. how are you planning to use summer to get inspired, energized and even smarter? And how will you integrate that experience and the results into your work approach and/or activities in the fall. Pls share your ideas and hopes here.

article thumbnail

10 Tips For Successful Donor Testimonials

The Agitator

'Kim Wallace, co-author of the fascinating Why People Don’t Buy Things , just posted a terrific guide to making and using Donor Testimonials. Not only does Kim explain why donor testimonials are so effective, he also illustrates his points on producing outstanding testimonials with this video collection of the real things. Here are Kim’s 10 tips for success: 1.

article thumbnail

What Questions Do You Include in Donor Surveys?

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'I’m getting a lot of questions about questions — the ones you should ask donors or other supporters of your work in surveys. First, yes, surveying your donors a couple of times a year is a great idea. It not only gives you information you can use to adjust your programs and how you market and fundraise for them, but surveying also demonstrates that you actually care what your donors think!

article thumbnail

The psychology of color and what it means for fundraising

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Are you red hot? Or true blue? It’s no secret that color evokes emotion and is a key visual indicator that communicates meaning. But just how much goes on in our minds when it comes to color? Marketing strategist Gregory Ciotti offers an excellent review of how color can influence brand preference and, in turn, how we feel about the messages we receive.

article thumbnail

Why I pay for the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Fundraising Coach

'Years ago, the school that employed me as a fundraiser paid for a subscription to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. So when I began running a development shop, I made sure the Chronicle subscription was in my budget. But then, somewhere along the line, I realized two things: The stack of Chronicles just kept piling up on my desk. And I was getting pretty much all the news I wanted from their free Philanthropy Today email.

article thumbnail

12 Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Google+ Pages have a vast tool set and Google’s quest to integrate Google+ into their most popular products, such as Search, Gmail, YouTube, Local, and Wallet, is paying off as active monthly users continue to grow. That said, Google+ is low on the priority lists of most nonprofits. Many nonprofits are curious, but lack the resources necessary to create and manage yet another social network.

article thumbnail

Hire the Right Nonprofit Marketing Help

Getting Attention

'Your strong response to The Truth Behind Nonprofit Marketing Help-Wanteds strengthened my conviction to dig further into hiring and job/project hunting practices in our field. So many organizations wear blinders when hiring, that there’s a lot of room for improvement—true low-hanging fruit! As always, I learned so much from you and other members of the Getting Attention community who shared experiences and other comments on this post.

article thumbnail

Fired, With Enthusiasm

The Agitator

'Or should it be “Fired with enthusiasm”? There’s a big difference as UK fundraiser Ken Burnett sees it. Awhile back, as part of a series Proud to be a fundraiser , Ken wrote Keeping the right fundraisers. He wrote of fundraisers as either “radiators” or “drains” … The radiators, who spread heat and passion, radiating the warm glow of making a difference.

article thumbnail

Mixed Links for Nonprofit Marketers and Fundraisers

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'Happy Friday, everyone! Let’s have some Mixed Links… Marc Pitman shares 5½ Things to Say at Your Next Major Gift Solicitation. If different officers in your organization squabble over who a donor “belongs” to, check out Whose Donor Is It Anyway? Do you know Why You Should Recruit Millennials to Boost Your NPO ? Looking for content to share and use Hootsuite?

article thumbnail

Fundraising + Marketing = Greater Than the Sum of Their Parts

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Imagine: You’ve worked long and hard to grow a strong relationship with your communications colleagues (or, if you’re on the communications side, with your fundraising colleagues). You all know that working as a team to solicit, gather, and share insights on supporters is the path to strong and lasting relationships that motivate greater giving, plus desired actions on other fronts.

article thumbnail

All-Call for Independent Schools: School’s Out—But You Should Be In

Mission Minded

'Ahhh. Admissions season is over, summer is nigh, and it’s time to recharge before the fall frenzy starts up again. Before you take out the margarita glasses, Mission Minded is here with a suggestion that you’ll thank us for later (though you might not feel too fondly towards us in the next few paragraphs): You […].

71
article thumbnail

Top 10 Tweets From the 2014 Cause Marketing Forum

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Thanks to a partnership with the Public Interest Registry , Heather Mansfield of Nonprofit Tech for Good was able to report live from the Cause Marketing Forum (Storified) last week in Chicago, IL. When reviewing the hundreds of tweets using the #CMF2014 hashtag , one obvious theme emerged – tweets with images are retweeted significantly more often than text-only tweets.

article thumbnail

Great Nonprofit Marketing Jobs—Movin’ Up Monday

Getting Attention

'Please post your open nonprofit marketing positions here. Communications Counselor , Full Court Communications (Oakland, CA). Communications Manager , The Education Alliance. (New York, NY). Communications Specialist , Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (Austin, TX). Communications Specialist , FHI 360 (Atlanta, GA). Digital Advocacy Intern , NARAL Pro-Choice America (Washington, DC).

article thumbnail

Poor Research & Undocumented Best Practices — Barriers To Growth, Part 6

The Agitator

'You’d think a $300 billion industry like ours would have empirically based standards and practices readily available and accessible to all. After all, most sectors — ranging from apple growers to doctors and hospitals, and even zoos — have them. Fundraising doesn’t. What we do have is mass of accumulated tribal wisdom, often conflicting, seldom empirically based.

article thumbnail

Why I’m Working with Bloomerang

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'Much of what we talk about at Nonprofit Marketing Guide requires software to do well. So naturally, I’m often asked which technology providers I recommend as you go about implementing all these best practices I share. My answer is always that I am vendor agnostic. I rarely, if ever, recommend one company without listing off their competitors, and suggesting you do homework via organizations like Idealware , the Nonprofit Technology Network , and TechSoup.

article thumbnail

HOT OFF THE PRESS: A Golden Age of Philanthropy Still Beckons With a New $59 Trillion Target

iMarketSmart

'Here you can find a combination of two impressive new studies focusing on estimates of wealth transfer and philanthropic giving by households during the period from 2007 through 2061. I find this fascinating because the authors (John J. Havens and Paul G. Schervish) have revised their previous estimate of $41 trillion upward to a whopping $59 trillion. “Our current estimate of wealth transfer for the 2% growth scenario is $58.1 trillion in 2007 dollars for the 55-year period from 2007 thr

article thumbnail

5 Ways To Make Your Donors Feel Loved

Care2

'I feel like there is a lot of donor fatigue happening right now in the nonprofit community. Our donors are being solicited on every channel from numerous organizations multiple times a day. Today I received at least 10 fundraising pitches. Instead of treating our donors like ATM machines, we need to make them feel like heroes to our movement. Here are five ways to make your donors feel totally valued. 1.

Values 75
article thumbnail

The 4 qualities of powerful visual storytelling

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Content syndication outlet NewsCred has teamed up with Getty Images to create a new site, The Power of Visual Storytelling. The online guide (and accompanying whitepaper) boils down the essentials of effective imagery into four principles: Be authentic. With stock images and Photoshop, it’s easy to be fake. Allow your readers to connect with the human side of your work by highlighting candid photos that show the reality of your work.

Culture 69
article thumbnail

Fantastic Nonprofit Marketing Jobs—Movin’ Up Monday

Getting Attention

'Please post your open nonprofit marketing positions here. Associate Video Producer , Marketing Graphic Designer, Online Campaign Strategist , Online Campaign Strategist-Latin America , Public Relations Specialist-Bilingual and Web Designer, The Human Society (Gaithersburg, MD). Associate Director of Digital Communications , Boston Children’s Hospital Trust (Boston, MA).

article thumbnail

Sadvertising

The Agitator

'Writing in Fundraising Success recently, Angie Moore riffed off an article in Fast Company titled, The Rise of Sadvertising: Why Brands Are Determined to Make You Cry. At the top of her piece, Angie wrote: “…you would think emotional advertising is something new. I’m not making fun of the article — I actually found it very interesting — but I did find it humorous that this seems like something new when fundraisers have known this for a very long time.” My fir

article thumbnail

A Day in the Life of a Nonprofit Communicator – Lizzie Chen

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

'Lizzie Chen. Here’s the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators, where we ask you to describe your day in your own words. Lizzie Chen is the multimedia specialist at Southwest Key Programs and specializes in documentary photography and video production. She received her Masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Journalism.

article thumbnail

Want a Bigger Budget for Your Planned Gift Marketing Efforts?

iMarketSmart

'Here’s a strategy that will help you get a bigger budget for your planned gift marketing efforts. Post your successes on the wall outside of your office. . That’s right. Post charts, graphs, notes, pictures (and anything else that will show everyone that your efforts are bearing fruit) right outside your office on the wall. Make ‘em big and easy to read.

article thumbnail

Can Online Campaigners Fight Online Harassment?

Care2

'If you work in social media or online advocacy you are no stranger to trolls and online harassment. We at Rad Campaign along with Lincoln Park Strategies and Craig Newmark of craigconnects recently conducted a national online poll about the rise of online harassment. We found that almost 25% of people reported that were either harassed online or knew someone who had been harassed.

Culture 70
article thumbnail

Rethink how you approach lapsed donors

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Conventional wisdom says it’s more cost effective to retain donors than acquire new donors. Of course you should spend a fair amount of your time tending to your active donors, ensuring they’re seeing the impact of their donation and making them a part of your community. In this case, an ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure.