2018

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Somehow, 2018 Feels Different

Selfish Giving

2018 is only a few hours old and it already feels different to me. Ignoring the fact that I am still sitting in my front room writing a blog post right before it is “due”, and ignoring the fact that this will be the first time in 5 years that I haven’t taken a two week vacation during the holiday break, things really do seem different.

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Facebook 2018 News Feed Changes 101: What You Need to Know For Your Business

Pam Moore

Unless you have been hiding under a rock or too busy to do the double click, you likely know by now that Facebook recently announced some big changes to their news feed algorithm. These changes impact every business, brand and publisher using Facebook for business purposes. It is imperative you take the time to understand these changes if you plan to do any business marketing on Facebook in 2018.

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2019 Cause Awareness & Giving Day Calendar for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good

Cause awareness and giving days can be very powerful themes upon which to launch online fundraising campaigns. The real-time, in-the-moment nature of cause awareness and giving days can inspire donors to give provided that your nonprofit knows how to promote the days effectively. The first step is to decide which days to build a campaign upon and add them to your 2019 editorial calendar.

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10 Awesome LGBTQ Organizations You Should Support This Pride Month

EveryAction

June is observed as LGBTQ Pride month to commemorate the June 1969 Stonewall Riots and celebrate the vibrant and diverse LGBTQ community. There is no better time to support local and national nonprofits protecting LGBTQ rights and serving the LGBTQ community, and while there are far too many organizations doing great work to list them all, these are a few that we're big fans of. 1.

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Set Goals for What Matters

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

Goals are powerful, especially if you choose only a few. A laundry list is almost impossible to stay focused on. But if you choose two or three realistic, specific goals, and write them down, you are likely to achieve them. But first, make sure you set goals for what matters most. If you’re not clear […]. The post Set Goals for What Matters appeared first on Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership.

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How Donors Choose Among Nonprofits: The Role of Identity

The Agitator

There’s an old joke at the right that often feels like nonprofit marketing. While we do and should have ambitions of expanding the charitable giving pie, we also want to secure our own organization’s piece of said pie. One of the points Kevin made yesterday is that organizations are differentiating themselves by creating donor journeys based on donor identity.

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[Guest Post] 3 Surprising Things I Learned From Making Recurring Donations to 115 Nonprofits

Fundraising Coach

Monthly giving is important for nonprofits. But are we doing it well? To test, Brady Josephson ran an experiment involving giving to 115 nonprofits. And I'm honored that he agreed to write about his findings. Brady is the Vice President of Innovation and Optimization at NextAfter - a fundraising research lab. No stranger to nonprofits and technology, he's widely cited in multiple media outlets.

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7 Steps to Ethical Storytelling (G.R.E.A.T. Stories)

Getting Attention

Does the protagonist of your story know what she’s getting into—how you’ll use her story, and the risks are of sharing it? Probably not, if you’re like most communicators. Let’s change that. Organizations like ours—that share stories regularly to activate our people—wield power and influence. When a protagonist lends us her story to share, she opens herself up to curiosity, criticism, misunderstanding, and sometimes even physical harm.

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Are Stories Authentic If You Memorize Them?

Mission Minded

You may get pushback from some of your colleagues when you ask them to take up the discipline of strategic storytelling. At Mission Minded we counsel our clients to craft, tell and retell stories as a way of inspiring belief in the value and impact of their work. We have a formula for it that […]. The post Are Stories Authentic If You Memorize Them?

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Top 7 Fundraising In’s and Out’s for 2018

iMarketSmart

1. OUT: Making donors feel bad , twisting their arms, telling them to give ’til it hurts and shaming them. 1. IN: Making donors feel good , treating them like people (not ATM’s), partnering and giving them the value they want. 2. OUT: Listening to snake oil salespeople who have never had to raise money for a living (face it, they just want you to buy what they’re selling). 2.

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Issue Revolution Study Reveals Top 5 Social Issues Americans Want Companies to Support [Sponsored]

Selfish Giving

As we head into the fourth quarter of 2018, one can’t help but to look back at what a year it was! Let’s reflect: It was only a little over a year ago that Hurricane Harvey slammed the Texas coast inflicting a record-setting $125 billion in damage to the area. It was exactly 12 months ago that the #MeToo Movement gained global attention, following sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein , in response to the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.

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How Human is Your Brand? Here are 13 Characteristics of Human Brands

Pam Moore

A brand is not a logo, colors, fancy tag line or even a fancy Super Bowl commercial. A brand is not your Facebook page cover video, Twitter background or set of beautifully designed Pinterest boards or images on your Instagram profile. The truth is your brand is all of these things and more. It’s what you tweet, post, pin, +1, Instagram and offer as a call to action.

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5 Digital Fundraising Trends to Watch for in 2019

Nonprofit Tech for Good

By Ray Gary. Ray Gary is the CEO of iDonate , a SaaS-based provider of the world’s most innovative Digital Fundraising Platform for nonprofits. Ray’s experience in launching and building businesses spans nearly three decades, including leadership positions in multiple technology companies. Non-profits aren’t immune to the changes driven by new technology.

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The Nonprofit Fundraising Strategic Plan Guide

EveryAction

For some things, spontaneity is highly desirable, but any fundraising professional will tell you that planning a campaign isn’t one of them. Having a detailed strategic plan in place before embarking on a fundraising campaign can be a huge determinant of its success, even before the first dollar is raised. But it isn’t enough to have a rough idea of messaging, an incomplete timeline, some scheduled tweets, and an arbitrary fundraising goal.

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Objectives for Your Nonprofit Communications Plan

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

In previous posts, I’ve shared with you the twelve most common nonprofit marketing and communications goals and the twelve most common nonprofit marketing and communications strategies. Today let’s talk about the types of objectives you should have in your communications plan. Objectives are the SMART steps you take to achieve a strategy, and at Nonprofit Marketing Guide, we prefer to define SMART as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resourced, and Time-Bound.

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What Your Board Should Learn from Starbucks

The Agitator

There’s no question in my mind that a great deal of the furor over the ‘high cost of fundraising’ on the part boards, CEOs, watchdog groups, the press, regulators and many fundraisers themselves stems mostly from ignorance. Ignorance about what “acquisition” is, how it should be measured, and when or whether its costs should be considered acceptable.

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Fundraising in the last days of December

Fundraising Coach

Year-end is a huge time for nonprofit's fundraising. There's a debate if the spike in giving is because we ask so much more frequently at this time of year or if it's because people are more generous because of the mix of public and religious holidays combined with the end of the tax year. What ever the cause, this is the time of the year nonprofit's need to be clearly engaging with donors.

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Make #GivingTuesday More Than Just a Giving Day

Ann Green

I’m sure you’ve all heard of #GivingTuesday, the annual giving day that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year it will be on November 27. Perhaps you’ve participated in the past and it’s been successful, or maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps you’re planning to participate for the first time. Whether you participate or not, #GivingTuesday is now part of the nonprofit landscape and if you’re doing a year-end appeal, you’ll need to factor it into your campaign.

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One Simple Rule for Fundraising Success

Fundraising Report Card

Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.” That sentiment couldn’t be more true when it comes to achieving fundraising success. The post One Simple Rule for Fundraising Success appeared first on Fundraising Report Card.

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Upside Down Philanthropy – Foundation for the Future of Giving

Mission Minded

Mission Minded works with many outstanding foundations. The 3 featured below have turned foundation support upside down, so if you work for a foundation or seek support from them, this post is for you. Here’s what these foundations do that many others still don’t: Ask communities, people, and/or benefactors what they need and want, rather […].

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3 reasons why I use curse words (but only one that matters)

iMarketSmart

She told me others would say I was unprofessional. I was asked to lead a roundtable discussion at a conference recently. So I did. And afterward one of the attendees approached me as I got a cup of coffee in the sponsorship expo room. She said, “Greg, I really enjoyed your roundtable discussion but why on earth did you curse… twice? Don’t you worry that people will say you’re unprofessional?

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How This Nonprofit Added Four Six-Figure Event Sponsors In 18-Months [SPONSORED]

Selfish Giving

Elyse Meardon is proud of her work with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN) - and rightfully so. As managing director of CMN’s signature dance marathon program, she and her team are stewards of the fastest growing peer-to-peer fundraiser in the country! Hundreds of colleges, and a handful of high schools, participate in the program each year.

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Don’t Sell Your Brand’s Soul to the Facebook News Feed Algorithm and Vanity Metrics

Pam Moore

There is no doubt 2018 is going to be a year of massive fear, shock, change and wasted time for even the smartest business and marketing leaders. By now we should know that when it comes to social media and digital marketing, the only guarantee we have is change. It is one thing we can count on. Brand leaders around the globe are freaking out as they read the blog posts, watch the videos and see the tweets fly by from the Facebook fear mongers crying that the end of Facebook as we know it has ar

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Video Marketing on Social Media: Best Practices & Inspiration for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good

By Becky Brooks , Director of Communications at Animoto , an online video maker that makes it easy to create marketing videos for social media and beyond. Facebook has, for a couple years now, committed to making their platforms “video first.” Unsurprisingly, other networks followed suit. From Twitter to Pinterest to Instagram to LinkedIn, social networks are becoming environments where video content not only thrives, but is expected.

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The 2019 Best Nonprofit Conferences Calendar

EveryAction

It's finally here! If you loved our 2018 Best Nonprofit Conferences Calendar get ready for our new, improved, and updated 2019 calendar! We've searched far and wide for the best and brightest nonprofit conferences from all around the country! These conferences range in size, location, and topic. We have everything from: Fundraising & Grants. Nonprofit Management.

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12 Communications Strategies for Nonprofits

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

You set goals, like these twelve communications goals for nonprofits , including community engagement, raising awareness of issues, and fundraising. And every day you manage tactical communications channels like email, social media, print marketing, PR and more. But what’s in the middle? What connects that tactical work to the larger goals? The answer is Communications or Marketing Strategies. .

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Facebook Giveth…

The Agitator

“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” (“I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts”). — Virgil, Aeneid. Facebook has announced that it is eliminating its five percent transaction fee on donations to nonprofits (personal fundraisers still have a 6.9% + $.30 fee in the US). In a NY Times piece , donors report it being simple to give to and raise funds for nonprofits on the site.

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Get fundraising unstuck by reframing

Fundraising Coach

I just returned from training NGO leaders in Lebanon. Prior to the training, I spent time studying Lebanese philanthropy and interviewing people who'd registered. Fundraising is clearly getting harder. I kept hearing the two reasons it was particularly hard in Lebanon were. The government in Lebanon doesn't cover most things other governments cover.

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How Will You Welcome Your New Donors?

Ann Green

One of your year-end fundraising goals may be to get new donors. That’s fine, but a better goal is to keep these donors. The retention rate for new donors is a dismal 23%. Put simply, over ¾’s of your new donors won’t donate again. There are many reason donors don’t give a second gift – some you can control, some you can’t. One of the biggest reasons is poor or nonexistent donor communication.

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Building a Fundraising Program Takes Time

Fundraising Report Card

Fundraising plans, starting a major gifts program, engaging in a capital campaign and a host of other nonprofit initiatives are like caverns — they take time, diligence and patience to develop. The post Building a Fundraising Program Takes Time appeared first on Fundraising Report Card.

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The Best Email Solicitation I Ever Read

Mission Minded

I wrote this post six years ago and it contains relevant information today. Whether you send emails to ask for financial support, volunteers, or to encourage action and engagement, apply the six lessons at the end of this post to ensure what you write is something people actually want to read. -Jennie Winton At Mission […]. The post The Best Email Solicitation I Ever Read appeared first on Mission Minded.

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10 traits of terrible major and legacy gift fundraisers

iMarketSmart

Sadly, I’ve witnessed all of these but I truly believe #1 is the worst. Here are my top 10 traits of terrible fundraisers that drive major donors away: . 10. Showing up late; 9. Failing to do something that was promised; 8. Talking about how great they are at raising money; 7. Pitching or presenting instead of collaborating; 6. Forgetting what was discussed last time; 5.

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Is Your Nonprofit Ready for Product Licensing?

Selfish Giving

ASPCA is a great example of a nonprofit that profits from product licensing agreements. Years ago when I was writing Cause Marketing for Dummies , Joanna and I had to write a short section on product licensing. I remember being hesitant to write about it because unlike just about every other topic in the book, neither of us had any experience with product licensing agreements.

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Is Your Social Media Content Really Top of News Feed Worthy?

Pam Moore

Are you tired of looking for the magic easy button to help you get your business content to the top of the News Feed? Do you dream about your content showing up on top of the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn News Feed? What if I told you there is no magic easy button? The truth is marketers have no guarantee their content will be seen on any medium, platform or social network, by anyone, let alone their target audience.

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Nonprofits! This Is How to Use Facebook’s Fundraising Tools

Nonprofit Tech for Good

Through a process of trial and error, the Beagle Freedom Project is learning how to effectively use Facebook’s Fundraising Tools and they are being rewarded with more than likes and hearts – their followers are donating! For the last two weeks the organization has been writing compelling posts that evoke strong emotions, uploaded photos that accentuate the story, added a “Donate” button their posts, and tagged their posts as “asking for donations.” Donors are

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2018's Best Giving Tuesday Campaigns

EveryAction

With Giving Tuesday behind us, it's time to highlight just a few of the organizations who ran stellar campaigns, activated supporters, and beat their fundraising goals. Successful fundraising campaigns come in many shapes and sizes, and not every tactic works for every organization's audience. Each of these five organizations exemplifies different ways to make industry best practices and technology tools work in a way that resonates with their supporter base.

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Why You Should Implement an Automated Email Welcome Series for New Donors

Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

Katelyn Baughan. If you haven’t set up some type of welcome series for new donors, you are missing out on a great chance to build a relationship. Katelyn Baughan created an automated welcome series for The Children’s Inn at NIH that nurtured new donors over time instead of throwing them into regular email marketing. Today, Katelyn shares how the new welcome series fit into their revamped email marketing strategy, how it was implemented, and its results. ~ Kristina.