Selfish Giving
JUNE 10, 2011
I just can’t understand what Kentucky Fried Chicken is thinking with its latest cause marketing program. This picture says it all. Buy a HALF-GALLON of soda – with 800 calories from 56 spoonfuls of sugar – for $2.99 and a buck goes to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I’m actually more astonished that JDRF would sign on for such a pact.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 8, 2011
Written for the June 2011 issue of Fundraising Success Magazine , where I am writing a quarterly column throughout 2011. For the past six years I have spent 50 to 60 hours a week utilizing Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Foursquare to promote nonprofits. I’ve watched the early adopters of MySpace in 2005 propel themselves into the national and international spotlight using social media, and I’ve seen latecomers begin to dabble with Facebook and Twitter just
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Fundraising Coach
JUNE 6, 2011
I last posted on Twitter chats back in April in the post 5 Twitter Tips for Fundraisers. Since then, I’ve really stepped up my participation in Twitter chats, particularly. #blogchat : primarily about blogging; occurs most Sunday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern. #speakchat : Monday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern, a moderated chat about some aspect of speaking & conferneces.
Fundraiser Ideas
JUNE 6, 2011
Organizing fundraisers for clubs and activities can be a fun and educational experience for high school students. By selecting club fundraising ideas that relate thematically to the activity or club being supported, club members can often achieve improved results, both in donations and in increased awareness of the club in the greater community. Here are ten club fundraising ideas that go beyond the same old bake sale or car wash routine.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JUNE 1, 2011
A few weeks ago, I asked you to describe your nonprofit’s personality in three words and I got some interesting responses. Several of you emailed me privately to say that you really didn’t think your nonprofit had much of a personality at all. If you are in that boat, here are 7 ways to show more personality. 1. Write in the first and second person as much as possible.
The Agitator
JUNE 19, 2011
If a donor says — “Do not telemarket to me! — put them on a suppression list. If a donor says — “Do not rent my name!&# — don’t rent their name. If a donor says — “Remove me from your email list — remove them. Above all, don’t ignore them! Don’t treat them the way Newsmax.com treats me.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 23, 2011
Niccolo Machiavelli , the Italian diplomat who wrote the classical treatise The Prince 500 years ago, probably would have been a big fan of cause marketing. For a man so interested in statecraft, Machiavelli would appreciate the bottom-line benefits of cause marketing to causes and companies. Some have called Machiavelli a manipulator. I see him more as a realist.
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Fundraising Coach
JUNE 1, 2011
For many of us, June is the end of the fiscal year. There is still time to make sure you finish this year strong. Here are my three suggestions: Revisit your no’s. Last year a friend told me about a campaign she was working on. Since I was familiar with her community, I mentioned some names of people that I thought she should’ve contacted.
Get Fully Funded
JUNE 20, 2011
We all procrastinate from time to time, don’t we? There are lots of reasons why we do it – fear, perfectionism, doubt – the list goes on. We really need to just dig in and get the thing done. Here’s a great little video to help you get your stuff done.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JUNE 29, 2011
It happened again this week. I received a very business-like form letter, really just slightly better than a receipt, in response to a recent charitable donation. What I should have received instead is a warm, welcoming thank you letter. This is an old soapbox of mine, but it’s time to get back up on it. Sending out really good thank you letters is an incredibly savvy marketing strategy, simply because so many other nonprofits are doing it so badly.
The Agitator
JUNE 21, 2011
The recent flap over the revision in Giving USA figures for 2008 and 2009 seems a more than a little silly and arcane to us. As reported last week in The Chronicle of Philanthropy , the annual yearbook of charitable giving (revised) is now saying donations fell by higher percentages in 2009 than at any other time in the past five decades—down by 8% from $304 billion to $270 billion—even though last year the report said that donations in those two years had declined only slightly or held steady.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 8, 2011
Everyone wants to be more successful selling their cause marketing programs. But how? Try social media. It’s been a key part of my success, and I bet social media can help you too. I’ll talk about how to use social media to sell cause marketing in another post. But let’s first confirm why you should use social media for cause marketing in the first place.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 15, 2011
Lately I have been receiving a lot of requests from nonprofits in New Zealand, Australia, and East Asia for recorded versions of my social media webinars. However, I don’t record my webinars and the current schedule is not compatible with nonprofits located in New Zealand, Australia, and East Asia since most nonprofit staff are still sleeping (and dreaming) when they are being presented live to nonprofits in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Western Europe.
Fundraising Coach
JUNE 30, 2011
June 30 is the end of the fiscal year for many nonprofits. Tomorrow, the bar gets set higher. But that’s tomorrow. Today, I just wanted to say ‘thank you&# to all of you who raise money for nonprofit, community benefit organizations. Your work is making a difference. Feel free to share this with any fundraisers you know. (c) Marc A. Pitman, FundraisingCoach.com.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
JUNE 22, 2011
Today, the Case Foundation is holding a virtual summit on millennial donors, which I’m blogging about today. Julien Smith , who along with Chris Brogan wrote Trust Agents , shared these essential truths about social media. 1. If no one is paying attention to you, it’s your fault. You must have amazing content, over and over. What may look like apathy is filtering out your message because it’s not compelling.
Getting Attention
JUNE 8, 2011
Thanks to guest blogger Joan Stewart for sharing her timely advice. What a week for learning about crisis communications! Here are five important lessons that Rep. Anthony Weiner taught nonprofit communicators. You’ve heard them all before but Weiner’s massive misstep s clarify how important they really are: Never lie. Weiner thought he could fib his way through the crisis.
The Agitator
JUNE 23, 2011
Back in April, we asked Agitator readers a simple question: What percentage of your nonprofit’s 1st time donors make a second gift? The final results of our survey … 32% — less than 30 percent converted. 29% — 30-39 percent converted. 22% — 40-49 percent converted. 17% — 50 percent or more converted. Not impressive.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 16, 2011
It’s been an interesting week since I wrote my post on the cause marketing promotion between Kentucky Fried Chicken and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I learned a lot, particularly about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. I plan to put my new found education to good use in the coming months. But there are lessons for everyone from this cause marketing promotion.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 1, 2011
As I have said many times, I was a reluctant blogger. I did not think the Internet needed another blogger. But I was wrong. So wrong. Blogging has transcended my ROI (return on investment) , primarily from simply featuring my e-newsletter “Subscribe&# option and social networking icons in the upper right column. Sadly, the vast majority of nonprofit blogs do not feature on their blog the three must-haves listed below: 1. e-Newsletter sign-up. 2. “Donate Now&# button. 3.
Fundraising Coach
JUNE 28, 2011
This week, I’m honored to introduce you to Debra Askanase. Debra Askanase is the founder and engagement strategist at Community Organizer 2.0 , which works with nonprofits and businesses to create engagement strategies that move people to action. She has impressed me with her ability to help nonprofits do competitive analyses of their social media usage.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JUNE 16, 2011
On Monday, I asked if you could boil down your annual report to just six words. We are getting some great examples: check them out in the post comments! But of course, I realize six words is probably not enough for most of you. What about a postcard? That’s more room, but still very short and readable, and one of the formats I advocate as the New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report.
Getting Attention
JUNE 8, 2011
See below for a creative, engaging and mission-driven use of an email auto-responder (what you set up in your email program when you’re away or otherwise unable to reply in a timely manner) as a strategic marketing tactic. Kudos to Molly Thompson, Development and Communications Coordinator with Pillsbury United Communities, for turning what’s usually plain vanilla on its ear!
Fundraiser Ideas
JUNE 8, 2011
The average direct mail campaign achieves a two percent success rate. In simple terms, this means that of fifty fundraising letters sent only one produces a positive response from its recipient. Increasing your return on investment is essential in order to maintain adequate operating funds for your nonprofit or charitable organization. By incorporating the following proven strategies into your direct mail fundraising campaign, it is possible to improve your return on investment on these fundrais
Selfish Giving
JUNE 21, 2011
I’ve made it my mission of late to find good online cause marketing options for small companies and causes. Thanks to the Cause Marketing Forum Conference two weeks ago , I’ve discovered two more. I’m a little embarrassed that I’m just learning of MissionFish and Benevity. But better late than never, right? MissionFish , which was just acquired by eBay in May, has a tagline that says it all: “The way to fundraise on eBay.&#.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 7, 2011
The time is ripe for the early adopters in the nonprofit sector to embrace m-Advocacy, otherwise known as mobile advocacy. Odds are a year from now pitches to subscribe or join “Mobile Action Networks&# will be commonly seen in Facebook Status Updates, Tweets, blogs posts, homepages, and e-newsletter subject lines. As social media taught us, those nonprofits who act quickly and embrace emerging trends tend to experience the highest success rate, and similar to the rise of e-advocacy and &
Fundraising Coach
JUNE 8, 2011
The phone is an important tool in the fundraiser’s tool kit. Whether your fiscal year ends this month or not, June should involve a lot of phone calling. But we often forget to do these three things. Video not showing? Watch it on YouTube at [link]. Happy phone calling! Before you make your 5-10 calls, would you take this quick, 30-second poll about when your fiscal year ends?
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JUNE 30, 2011
Guest Post by Lisa Maher, student in Nonprofit Management at NYU. Lisa Maher. Last December I asked you, dear readers, to participate with me in some experiments regarding the types of communications we receive from nonprofits after donating. Lisa Maher decided to participate by putting together a list of organizations she has always donated to and then tracked the direct mail she received from those organizations.
The Agitator
JUNE 8, 2011
Here is an interesting — and a bit amusing — depiction of social media evolution in large organizations, as seen by research firm Forrester. The process of ’social maturation’ for social media utilization … 1. Dormant stage — one in five companies don’t use social media. 2. Small victories — baby steps and case studies. 3.
Fundraiser Ideas
JUNE 14, 2011
Fundraising for worthy causes and to support various activities is a necessary element in the daily operations of most nonprofits and charitable organizations. Finding the best fundraising ideas can be challenging for administrators. Tried and true methods may lose their effectiveness over time, while trying new approaches can sometimes cause concern among established donors.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 3, 2011
Wow. What a great Cause Marketing Forum Conference this year. Day two featured an excellent lineup with lots of good and interesting speakers. My favorite speaker of the day was Kami Watson Huyse , President of Zoetica , who presented on best practices in cause-related social media. You can find her slides here. Among other things, if you’re looking for solid information and direction on how to best compete in online contests, Kami is the woman to talk to.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 20, 2011
Email is still queen. No doubt about it. The vast majority of online donations come from a click in an e-newsletter, as do most new Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, and text alert subscribers. It’s even the number one activity on the Mobile Web. E-newsletters will likely be eulogized at some point, but for now and in the near future, nonprofits that do not publish e-newsletters are definitely at a disadvantage.
Fundraising Coach
JUNE 10, 2011
Cleaning my desk, I just found this “chew on this&# card from our local homeless shelter. I must’ve received it 4-6 months ago. In that time, I’ve thrown out more pamphlets and brochures than I can count. But I kept this card. Maybe it was the size–bigger than a business card, smaller than a full sheet. Maybe it was the card stock–heavier than regular paper.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JUNE 14, 2011
I've never really understood what thermometers have to do with fundraising anyway, other than the idea of something rising, which is a pretty weak link. I’m not fan of those fundraising thermometers. Yes, they are an easy way to show progress, but they are so overused. And when you think about it, what does a thermometer and temperature rising have to do with 99% of the causes that use that graphic: nothing!
The Agitator
JUNE 15, 2011
A particular reference in comments to our recent posts got me thinking. One post referred to regaining lapsed donors. The other talked about walkathon and similar event -based fundraising. Paul de Gregorio , writing from the UK, notes that he finds it effective to cultivate event participants via the telephone … and indeed convert them to monthly donors.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
JUNE 5, 2011
When the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan made Newsweek’s list of dying cities , the people there did something extraordinary to show how wrong a description that was. Check out the ten-minute, CONTINUOUS take, lip dub of Bye, Bye Miss American Pie. Everyone from the mayor to local businesspeople to students starred. As NPR put it in this story , “It’s a little counterintuitive, but a massive crowd ballet that specifically identifies no one turns out to be a surprisingly powerful
Selfish Giving
JUNE 29, 2011
Monday is Independence Day and I’m in search of cause marketing promotions that will help me celebrate the day! Share them with me via email, Facebook or Twitter and the person with the best submission will get my book when it hits stores the end of July! The Fourth of July promotion that got me thinking about holiday cause marketing was Old Navy’s Operation: Care and Comfort , a program I remembered from last year.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 13, 2011
6/13 UPDATE :: Now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble ! Based on more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit communications and 15,000+ hours spent utilizing social and mobile media, Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits, written by Heather Mansfield , is a comprehensive 256-page hardcover book packed with more than 100 best practices covering Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 nonprofit communications and fundraising.
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