Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 20, 2009
As a fan of pinup programs , especially for small nonprofits, I’m frequently asked how important the “ask&# is at the register. The ask happens when you’re checking out and and cashier says, “Would you like to donate a dollar to help ?&#. To understand why the ask is so important to the success of a pinup program, you needn’t look any further than the stores you visit everyday. “Do you need batteries for that?
Nonprofit Tech for Good
DECEMBER 13, 2009
Scheduled to occur sometime between late 2009 and early 2010, some major changes are coming to Facebook Fan Pages. My first instinct is that the changes below are going to significantly impact nonprofits, and in some cases, not in a good way. I think those nonprofits with national and international brand recognition, lots of fans, and technical resources will benefit and the changes will hardly affect them.
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Fundraising Coach
MARCH 14, 2009
With all the blog posts I’ve done on Twitter for nonprofits , you know I’m having a blast with Twitter. I’m connecting with old friends and new ones. I even used Twitter to rewrite a fundraising appeal! But over the last few weeks, I’ve seen some repeated habits that really annoy me: People asking for followers. I don’t understand why people would send tweets asking, sometimes begging, people to follow them.
The Agitator
NOVEMBER 23, 2009
Here’s some food for the brain if you have some spare time over the Thanksgiving holiday. Agitator readers outside the US, set it aside for your next long weekend. You won’t raise more money tomorrow from reading this report, but it might help you make better sense of the context in which nonprofit fundraising, organizing and communications will be undertaken during the balance of your career.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
AUGUST 7, 2009
As you may know, I am in the middle of writing the full-length, printed book version of Nonprofit Marketing Guide, to be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. As I was writing various chapters on both strategy and tactics, I realized that I was making choices about what to include and what to leave out based on my own set of assumptions about the world that nonprofit communicators are working in.
Get Fully Funded
AUGUST 11, 2009
This just in from the world of the weird and unbelievable - -. Development Director for a small nonprofit providing housing to families in need speaks to donor who has been supporting annual golf tournament for the past several years. Man wants to give extra money this year, but wants it ALL spent on the tournament , to promote his business, and openly admits this. “Don’t spend any of the money on ‘those’ people.
Care2
SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Is there an art to getting ReTweeted on Twitter? Dan Zarrella says yes and has been studying the " Science of ReTweeting " for the past nine months. Zarrella analyzed five million tweets and 40 million retweets and compared the two, noting the time of day they were tweeted and ReTweeted, which words and url shorteners were used most often, and more.
Nonprofit Leadership Zone brings together the best content for advertising professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Getting Attention
JUNE 22, 2009
Your organization could be one of this year's Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Award winners! Enter today. A strong tagline does double-duty -- working to extend your organization's name and mission, while delivering a focused, memorable and repeatable message to your base. It's one of your most effective marketing tools, but the 2008 GettingAttention.org survey showed that 72% of nonprofit organizations don't have a tagline or rate theirs as performing poorly.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
DECEMBER 31, 2009
A great answer from Mint.com: budget planner – Mint.
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
Renata von Tscharner, President of The Charles River Conservancy (CRC), isn’t sure why Absolut chose her organization to receive the charitable windfall from its new Absolut Boston Vodka. But she’s thrilled they did. Under the agreement, CRC will receive a $50,000 gift from Absolut that the Boston-based environmental group will use for programs that are generally difficult to fund. “Advocacy work is one area,&# said Renata, “and volunteer programs that help repair and be
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 13, 2009
Of all the different social media tools I’ve tried (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc.), a new one I just started using, Foursquare , probably has the most potential for cause marketers. Why? Because the backbone of Foursquare is the businesses at which its members visit, check-in and score points. When you pop into a store, bar or restaurant you can earn points, badges or can even become mayor of your favorite hangout if you “check in&# enough.
Selfish Giving
AUGUST 13, 2009
Powerful presentations are the backbone of most successful cause marketing pitches. Whether you’re talking to one person or a hundred, the ability to speak compellingly, sincerely and briefly can be a deciding factors in earning a company’s cause business. I have no doubt that speaking well has made a huge difference in my success. Representing a small, relatively unknown hospital in Boston requires not only better ideas than our competition, but also the eloquence to make them glow
Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 17, 2009
Boston’s #1 hip hop station, Jam’n 94.5 , and everyone’s favorite hip retailer, Target , which has a store less than a mile from the hospital, teamed up to reward some very needy kids with a great Christmas and a happy New Year. The partnership was a simple but generous arrangement. Target invited the morning show team from Jam’n 94.5 to the store for the whole day to collect items for BMC’s Pieces of Home Backpack Project.
Selfish Giving
NOVEMBER 18, 2009
One thing I frequently lament about the cause marketing field is that there just aren’t enough practitioners blogging about their work. After Selfishgiving.com , Causerelatedmarketing.biz and the Cone Blog , the pickings get pretty slim. (Although folks like Steve Drake , Olivia Khalili , Scotty Henderson , Brian Powell , Noland Hoshino and Mike Swenson are certainly great contributors.).
Selfish Giving
JULY 30, 2009
Thanks to everyone who commented on my post Help Me Convince My Boss To Use Social Media. Not only did you offer some great support and tips, but the 24 comments I got were real evidence that social media really does work! I owe you all a Starbucks, which I’m happy to buy you when you come to visit me at my home store on 627 Tremont Street, Boston.
Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 28, 2009
It’s hard to believe that this month marks my 5th anniversary blogging. On average I’ve posted 100+ times a year. (Although for a time a good many of those were “Cause Marketing Links&# (short news stories) from my Delicious account–something I don’t do anymore). This year blogging took a back seat to Facebook , Twitter and Linkedin.
Selfish Giving
NOVEMBER 24, 2009
I love Starbucks. I love Product (RED). I love cause marketing. If you have a problem with any of these you should probably leave now. Through December 1st when customers spend $15 on any purchase Starbucks will automatically make a $1 donation to The Global Fund on their behalf. Customers also get a copy of the exclusive All You Need Is Love Holiday CD for free.
Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 2, 2009
This week kicks-off the 6th year that Rhode Island-based Ocean State Job Lots will sell cause marketing pinups to benefit cancer care at my hospital. You can read all about how a delivery of 40,000 pounds of frozen chicken in 2003 turned into one of the most successful corporate partnerships in our history here. It’s quite a story! For all the different types of point-of-sale programs my cause marketing team executes this one is perhaps the simplest.
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
My friend Beth Pfeil’s ( @readerbean ) nonprofit is the cause with the big name and the small staff. The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation has only four employees, but that hasn’t stopped them from raising millions for better treatments and cures for the movement disorders dystonia and Parkinson’s disease. Since Beth joined Bachmann-Strauss three years ago as their Special Events Manager, she’s managed their annual golf tournament, New York City marat
Selfish Giving
AUGUST 27, 2009
I really don’t unplug on vacation. I don’t like to disconnect from my gadgets or my work. I like to have my two sidearms, my iPhone and cause marketing, on at all times, thank you very much. So it’s not surprising that after spending time in Hyannis on Cape Cod last week I came home with a few cause marketing lessons–captured on my iPhone no less!
Selfish Giving
MARCH 9, 2009
It’s been too long since I posted regularly here at Selfishgiving.com. But I have a good excuse: I’ve been busy creating useful and exciting offline content! Just last week I was in Dallas, TX for the annual Run, Walk, Ride Conference where I delivered a four-hour seminar on Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits. Putting together the program was a lot of work, but the material was well received by a diverse group of fundraising pros.
Selfish Giving
JULY 8, 2009
A summer ritual here on the development team is planning for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1st. Part of that planning process involves a half-day retreat for directors at my boss’ house where we discuss our goals for the upcoming year. Before my boss left for vacation last week he said to me: “At the retreat I want you to talk about how we can use social media for prospect research, fundraising and advocacy.&#.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 21, 2009
A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get a call or email from four or five people looking for work. Most of them come from marketing, advertising and public relations. Some are changing careers. Some just can’t find work in their chosen fields. They all see opportunity in cause marketing, and they’re right. This post is for all of you, because I know I haven’t gotten back to everyone.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 5, 2009
Sent to the Boston Globe this morning. Dear Editors, The Sick of Pink article in yesterday’s Globe Magazine was unfair to socially responsible companies in general and to New Balance , an outstanding corporate citizen, in particular. The whole story reminded me of another. A winemaker who despite having some of the best casks of wine in his town would nonetheless sample each one until he found a poor vintage for himself.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 8, 2009
Assistant Professor Angela Eikenberry has written a thoughtful and provocative article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review entitled The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing. In it, Professsor Eikenberry makes her case against cause marketing or “consumption philanthropy,&# as she calls it. Consumption philanthropy individualizes solutions to collective social problems, distracting our attention and resources away from the neediest causes, the most effective interventions, and the act of c
Nonprofit Tech for Good
OCTOBER 22, 2009
Six months ago I came pretty close to complete social media burnout. I was running over 20 social networking profiles, logging in seven days a week, and at minimum pulling 60-hour work weeks. My brain was completely fried and those around me were getting pretty fed up with the fact that I was never present, only connected… online, all the time.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
NOVEMBER 18, 2009
If you are reading this now, then of the world’s 6.8 billion people , you are likely one of the lucky ones. You have Internet access, a computer, a roof over your head, and likely planning some holiday shopping this year. By spending consciously, your consumer power can change the world. Did you know that in the United States more than 70% of holiday gifts end up in the landfill within 6 months?
Nonprofit Tech for Good
NOVEMBER 9, 2009
Since the popular Facebook fundraising App Causes was built using GuideStar’s database of nonprofits in the United States and Canada, only nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada can utilize Causes’ fundraising tools. There are some amazing nonprofits at the grassroots working miracles daily with relatively small amounts of cash, but unfortunately, since no international database of verified nonprofits exists, these nonprofits are consistently unable to utilize most online fundraising tool
Nonprofit Tech for Good
DECEMBER 8, 2009
Nonprofits that have been using Facebook for a year or more consistently comment “OK… Facebook is great, but how can we take our Facebook Page strategy to the next level?&# Below are six advanced Facebook Page strategies in response to that question: 1) Create Customized Tabs. Advanced strategies requires advanced tech skills. If you know html and have a good graphic designer, then you can use the Static FBML App to create and completely customize Tabs on Facebook Pages.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
OCTOBER 19, 2009
Last week I asked the followers of @NonprofitOrgs to nominate their favorite nonprofit bloggers. The list below is the result of that “Tweet Out&#. Some on the list are very known in the nonprofit sector, and others are completely under the radar and providing some very valuable resources to the nonprofit sector. This time around I limited the list to individuals bloggers, rather than blogs maintained by associations, publications, PR firms, etc.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
OCTOBER 14, 2009
There are thousands of Apps in the Facebook App Directory that Nonprofit Admins could experiment with on your organization’s Facebook Page, but below I have highlighted my five favorite Apps to get you started: 1. The Static FBML App. The Static FMBL App is the most important App on Facebook for Nonprofit Admins to master. It allows you to add new boxes to your page that can include text, links, and images as long as you have a basic working knowledge of HTML ( View HTML Tip Sheet for Non
Fundraising Coach
DECEMBER 8, 2009
I was talking to a friend last week about her fundraising efforts. She was having second thoughts about a mailing that was going to business leaders she knew and respected. I’d rarely heard her confidence this shaken. As we started discussing the letter, I asked her if the letter needed re-writing. Maybe her hesitation was an indication that this wasn’t the right letter to be sending.
Fundraising Coach
APRIL 15, 2009
I was just on a call with fellow members of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy folks when someone asked, “Does anyone here use Twitter or Facebook ?”. It appeared I was the only one. Many wanted to be but their IT departments wouldn’t let them. Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube are sites that are in the broad category of “social media.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
NOVEMBER 13, 2009
As you get your online fundraising programs in place and start connecting with people through social media, the liklihood that you will raise money not only within your home state, but in multiple states, goes up. Diversifying your pool of donors is great, but it also comes with some additional legal responsibilities. To help explain all of this in plain English, I asked Tony Martignetti, Esq., the author of Charity Registration: State-by-State Guidelines for Compliance , to provide this guest b
The Agitator
NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Handwritten letters … what a concept! I enjoyed this article by Max Kalehoff writing in — of all places — Online Spin! Says Max: "… the growing volume of communications in digital form also drives attention deficit, dehumanization and diminishing returns. It’s a tragedy of the commons when digital innovations, celebrated for their improvement on our interpersonal communications, have the opposite effect.
Fundraising Coach
NOVEMBER 3, 2009
Last time, we looked at creating a year-end strategy for fundraising letters. But in today’s world, it’s wise to consider complementing these appeals with tools like Facebook and Twitter. According to FundRaising Success Magazine : Between 35 percent to 42 percent of online giving happens in November and December each year, and the average gift during the final quarter of the year is significantly higher — $84.51, compared to the average of $67.47 for the other three quarters.
Fundraising Coach
JULY 14, 2009
If you’re going to ask people for money, you’ve got to learn to love objections. Or at least be comfortable with them! Working on a session for the APRA conference in Boston, I’m relearning how fun objections can be. Seriously, if there were no objections, we wouldn’t be needed. It would be so clearly self-evident that people would simply fund our cause.
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