Marketing for Nonprofits

Join Me Today for a FREE Webinar: The Mission Myth

2012-05-22T08:38:00.004-04:00

Join me today for a FREE webinar called The Mission Myth. The webinar, inspired by a book of the same name by Deirdre Maloney, will show why you need more than passion to make your nonprofit succeed.

You also need the four Ms - Management, Money, Marketing and Measurement!

Register now and see you at 1:00pm ET.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Don't Hate. Appreciate!

2012-04-21T13:46:00.000-04:00

Want to improve productivity at your organization?
Want to reduce the cost and stress of employee turnover?
Want to consistently create awesome experiences for your donors, members, clients and volunteers?

Learn how to APPRECIATE and practice APPRECIATION at work!

According to The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People by Gary Chapman and Paul White, "70 percent of people in the United States say they receive no praise or recognition in the workplace." Yikes! As you can imagine, this lack of appreciation and praise is a MAJOR cause of job dissatisfaction. And dissatisfaction leads to low productivity, morale and ultimately performance.

The bottom line: If you want people to stay at work and do a good job you have to help them feel satisfied. You do this in large measure by expressing your appreciation.

Here's the trick. According to Chapman and White, we all have different languages of appreciation. For example, while I might (Hint: I do!) love to hear verbal praise about my performance, others abhor public accolades. They prefer tickets to the game or help from colleagues when the workload gets crazy.

Read The 5 Languages of Appreciation to learn your own appreciation style and ask your colleagues and employees to do the same. This will enable you to hit the recognition target every time.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

The Mission Myth

2012-04-08T13:02:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel like a capitalist at my nonprofit.

Maybe it's because I'm focused on results. Maybe it's because I'm a sales gal at heart, i.e. I'm used to having a "number on my head."

Either way. As a leader at a nonprofit, there are times when I feel out of sync with my colleagues and wonder if I'm too focused on revenue vs. mission.

That is why I LOVED The Mission Myth: Building Nonprofit Momentum Through Better Business by Deirdre Maloney.

Maloney is a veteran Executive Director, who spent seven years learning the ups and downs of institution-building, while leading the Colorado AIDS Project. The Mission Myth is her excellent attempt to show that it takes much more than passion (i.e. mission) to run a successful, thriving nonprofit. According to her, it takes passion and The Four Ms: Management, Money, Marketing and Measurement.

Whether you are an experienced nonprofit leader or new to the sector, you'll appreciate Maloney's honest and practical advice about about managing your board, getting real about fundraising, enhancing your communication, recruiting new talent, using data to make better decisions and more. Use it to mitigate your own managerial mistakes.

I hope you will read the whole book but here are a few points that really resonated for me.

Your mission may inspire you to get up in the morning but it won't make you or your team a success! Too many nonprofit leaders (you know who you are) are passionate about changing the world and that is a good thing. But (and there is a big BUT here) if you don't find a way to scale your passion through good leadership, efficient processes, stable funding, transparent policies and more you won't be in business for long. Don't be fooled by the image of the charitable sector as a poster child for peace, love and happiness. Running a nonprofit is running a business and it's really hard work.

Be explicit (in your communication). This is one of the best pieces of advice I've heard lately. Be explicit, i.e. say what you mean and mean what you say. This is so hard for many of us as nonprofit leaders. We don't want to deal with hurt feelings. We long to be liked. We're nice people. (We work for nonprofits after all!) Unfortunately, it's not possible or reasonable to expect other people to read your mind (or mine). To lessen the confusion, frustration and inefficiency at your nonprofit, strive to be clear, succinct and timely in your communication.

Fundraising is sales. "When you, as part of your organization, engage in fundraising, you engage in sales. Good sales. The money you bring in goes toward a cause that matters. You need to understand and embrace this. If you are unwilling to believe your job is sales, if you think this is an organic process, one where the prospects merely need to hear about your great work and will hand over their hard-earned money, you are kidding yourself." Amen!

Thanks again to Deirdre Maloney for a solid book and for helping us all to do good well.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

New FREE e-Book on Email Marketing for You!

2012-03-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

Want to save money on your print newsletter?
Want to provide your constituents with instant updates on your work?
Want to help save the planet?

Start an email newsletter today!

Download this e-book - From Print to Email: Take Your Newsletter on an Epic Journey, by Kivi Leroux Miller of Nonprofit Marketing Guide, sponsored by Network for Good.

Happy communicating!

Jocelyn

Please Vote for the Next Winner of the Care2 Impact Prize

2012-03-28T17:52:00.000-04:00

Recognizing great work is something we can never do too often. And in the nonprofit sector, where so much good work is being done every day, with so much heart, and for such great causes, well, as Willy Loman says in Death of A Salesman: "Attention must be paid."

That's why I think that each of us who work in the nonprofit sector -- especially if we're doing marketing, fundraising, advocacy and social media -- should take a minute and go cast a vote for the next winner of the Care2 Impact Prize. (Full disclosure: My former employer, Care2, created this prize in partnership with NTEN (I am on their board), to celebrate the work of professionals in the nonprofit sector who are making important contributions to the field of online advocacy, online fundraising or both.

Vote now!

Anyone can vote, starting now until noon Pacific Time on Monday, April 2nd.

The winner gets a cash award of $1,000, plus $1,000 to donate to their favorite charity. The prize will be awarded on April 5th at NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco.

This year's five nominees are an inspiring bunch, namely:

Marc Sirkin - VP of Social Marketing & Online Fundraising at Autism Speaks
Paull Young - Director of Digital at charity: water
Nancy Lublin - CEO & "Chief Old Person" at DoSomething.org
Geoff Handy - VP of Direct Marketing & Membership at Humane Society of the United States
Vinay Bhagat - Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Convio

So let's help to recognize these folks today, because remember: "Attention must be paid!"

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Is Your Website Slick or Ick?

2012-03-21T11:16:00.000-04:00

Your website is your home base on the Web.

It's also your primary tool for online fundraising.

Make sure it's Slick vs. Ick!

Take this fun quiz from my company - Network for Good.

Next, sign up for this FREE webinar and learn more about this 6-week training.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

I'm Teaching Tomorrow. Want to Come?

2012-03-14T14:08:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I have the pleasure of teaching a session, called Growing Donor Support: Planning for the Changing Face of Philanthropy at Association of Community Services. I'll be walking through a variation of the deck above.

Will you join us?

The session will be held on from 8:30am - 11:30am at the Association of Community Services of Howard County Office located on the Ninth Floor of 10480 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, MD. The cost is $60.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Making Mistakes

2012-03-13T21:33:00.000-04:00

I made a mistake today.

The impact was frustration, embarrassment and shame.

I'm learning SLOWLY but surely that I am not perfect and that making mistakes is a result of being human. But that doesn't mean that my mistakes FEEL less painful.

Here is the good news.

Mistakes are essential to growth. Actually, that's not true. LEARNING from mistakes is essential to growth.

Unfortunately, too many of us (including me) numb out, ignore, flee, or react defensively against the fact of our failings. And these habitual reactions cause MORE pain and suffering for ourselves and others.

Can you let yourself be wrong? Can you stomach the pain that comes from a screw up? Can you be compassionate with yourself and others?

If so, you're on the right track.

Mistakes are inevitable. It's how we handle them that makes all the difference.

Peace,

Jocelyn

Good Leadership is Good Marketing

2012-03-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

I've been doing TONS of reading over the past six months on Leaders and Leadership - how to be one, what to do, what to avoid, how to improve, etc...

All this reading has me thinking that good leadership - while it is a unique discipline in its own right - is not much different from good marketing. Let me explain.

Plain and simple the goal of leadership is to INFLUENCE others to action. It doesn't matter what that action is. It can be achieving monthly marketing and sales goals (my world), launching a new product on time and on budget, hitting a fundraising goal or curing chronic disease. Regardless of the action in which you are engaged, all great leaders must MOBILIZE and MOVE others toward an outcome. You can only do this consistently and well if you have INFLUENCE over others.

Marketing is similar. With all of your Tweets, Updates, Emails and Edits, are you not trying INFLUENCE other people to donate, take action, tell their friends and join your cause?

The answer is"Yes!"

The question then is HOW do you do it? How do you increase your influence over others in a POSITIVE manner?

According to the genius that is John Maxwell, if you want to be a better leader or marketer, i.e. influencer you have to do the following:

(Read the book yourself to get all of the answers.) :)

CONNECT to the HEART - People listen to and follow people who know and care about them. Leaders and marketers must be intimately acquainted with those they lead. What motivates them? What keeps them up and night? Where do they struggle and where do they succeed? While numbers and data have their place ("We've got to raise $100,000 this quarter to hit our donation target!"), great leaders and marketers know that data is not enough to move people to action. They connect with the hearts of their followers first.
BE TRUSTWORTHY - People listen to and follow people they trust. This is why research consistently shows that when it comes to recommendations for products, services, and charities to support, people often look to family and friends vs. institutions to point the way. So, how do you gain trust as a marketer or leader? Be TRUSTWORTHY. Share your vulnerabilities. Say what you are doing to do and do what you say. Never lie. Ever. Say "I'm sorry."
EXECUTE - People listen to and follow people who get things done. This may seem like a contradiction to the points above but it's not. You can be the nicest person in the world but as a leader or a marketer, your influence will not grow unless you can achieve results. Let's face it. People want to be on a winning team. This is not to say that they want to win at all costs but they do want to know that their hard work, time and talents are put to good use. Achieving results is also key to increasing your influence. Treat people well and get the job done.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

More Than That

2012-02-27T09:34:00.000-05:00

One of the most EMPOWERING and IMPORTANT things you can do in your personal and professional life is to FIND and SHARE your voice with others.

Letting outsiders, or worse, the popular discourse define you is often a recipe for disaster.

Instead, you must look inside your heart to determine who YOU really are and why you are here.

Kudos to the young adults at South Dakota's Rosebud Sioux Reservation who teamed up to create their own narrative about what they stand for.

Check it out!

Jocelyn

Chocolates and Roses are Fine but...

2012-02-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

Why not rebrand Valentine's Day as Generosity Day - today?!

Check out the video below and sign the pledge.

I wish you a wonderful day full of compassion toward yourself and others.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

5 Ways to Keep Fundraising Results Up in a Down Economy

2011-12-14T21:08:00.001-05:00

The economic news is not good. Across the globe, we continue to struggle with a recession that won't let up. Consumer spending is down. Retailers are nervous. No one knows what's to come of the 2011 giving season or 2012.

This is a tough time for nonprofits too. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, "changes in giving are linked to changes in the overall economy. During good economic times, giving tends to grow robustly. However, when the economy grows at a moderate or slow rate, philanthropy continues, although at a slower rate of growth. In general, during economic downturns, giving tends to decline, after adjusting for inflation."

We've all heard the tragic stories of families and individuals rocked by job loss, protracted unemployment and upside-down mortgages. Maybe this is your story too.

You can't change the economy, but you can do your best to keep your fundraising on track. Here are five steps for fundraising in a recession and making the most of the year-end.

1. Keep asking

While your instinct may be to stop asking your donors for cash in a downturn, this is the worst thing you can do. Need doesn't go away in a recession; in fact it often goes up, and your donors know this. Give them the opportunity to say yes or no to your appeals. It is your responsibility to continue to tell your story, ignite passion for your cause and ask for support.

2. Think like a retailer

If you want to make more money at year-end or any time of the year, provide gift-giving opportunities in addition to opportunities for charitable donations. You don't need to create a four-color catalog today. You simply need to:

Provide specific detail on what a $20, $50 or $100 gift will do.
Provide a mechanism for generating gift receipts. This enables you to "double-dip," i.e., gain access to the holiday gift-giving and charitable-giving sides of your donor's wallet.

3. Focus on retention

In addition to bringing new donors into the fold on Dec. 30 and 31, make a huge effort to retain the donors you already have. Send multichannel appeals to lapsed donors. Call your current donors. Invite existing donors to respond to a matching gift. In short, do all that you can to keep existing customers in the fold.

4. Get their friends involved

You should have a peer-to-peer giving strategy year-round but particularly at year-end. One way to mitigate the financial burden of giving is to provide your donors with an opportunity to give together. For example, instead of asking one donor to contribute $100, ask each donor to rally five friends for the cause. Five $20 gifts enables you to meet your fundraising goals and provide new prospects for next year. Peer-to-peer fundraising also makes giving more fun.

5. Say thank you

According to Penelope Burk, author of "Donor-Centered Fundraising," "46 percent of donors decide to stop giving for reasons that are tied to lack of meaningful information or to a feeling that their giving is not appreciated." Saying thank you in a fast, friendly and fun way might be the single most important tool you have in your fundraising toolbox. Create a thank-you video from your clients and staff. Send handwritten cards. Write a thank-you song and link to it from a thank-you e-mail. There is no shortage of ways to show gratitude to your donors.

Fundraising in a recession is no joke. Donors are stressed, and chances are that your nonprofit is stressed too. We're all hoping for the bad times to end.

The good news is we have the tools to succeed. It's our job to use our ingenuity and resources to create a sound strategy to keep fundraising results up in a down economy.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Help End Hunger This Holiday Season

2011-12-01T19:50:00.000-05:00

What do Kevin Bacon, Lindsay Lohan, Jeff Bridges, Charlie Sheen, Jeff Gordon and John Stamos have in common?

They are all participating in a 6-day campaign to help end hunger in the U.S.!

From Dec. 1 (today!) until Dec. 6., these celebrities, their friends (and you?!) will be raising money to help end hunger. A new charity will benefit each day.

Check out the video below, learn more about the campaign and donate if you can.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

P.S. Full disclosure: This campaign is powered by Network for Good where I work.

Thank You

2011-11-24T14:10:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and not just because of the food.

What a great idea to dedicate one day of the year to giving thanks for life's many blessings.

I don't know about you, but I have SO much to be thankful for. Here is a short list. I hope it inspires you to write your own.

Warmest regards,

Jocelyn

___________________

1) I am thankful for you dear readers. Thank you for reading my blog (for four years!) and encouraging me to keep writing even when I fear there is nothing left to say. I feel so privileged to have this small space in the Universe to express my feelings and share my thoughts.

2) I am thankful for the crazy nonprofit capacity building community. Thanks especially to luminaries like Katya Andresen (Nonprofit Marketing Blog), Holly Ross (NTEN), Beth Kanter (Beth's Blog), Allyson Kapin (Frogloop), Kivi Leroux Miller (The Nonprofit Marketing Guide), Alia McKee & Mark Rovner (SeaChange Strategies), and Allison Fine, who work tirelessly and passionately to help nonprofits build a better world. I'm SO honored to be part of the crew.

3) I am thankful for my mentors, Clint O'Brien and Bob Gilbertson, who taught me what it is to be a good leader (and follower) and continue to inspire me with their leadership every day.

4) I am thankful for Fundraising Success, especially Margaret Battistelli Gardner, Editor in Chief, who gave me a chance to write for a magazine! Thanks also to Katya Andresen for sharing her column with me.

5) I am thankful for my husband Dan Moore. You are the world's greatest coach and have a beautiful heart and mind. Thank you for indulging my never-ending (often boring!) monologues regarding how to improve the practice of nonprofit leadership, marketing and fundraising.

6) I am thankful for a special nine year old girl, who asks the most remarkable questions. You remind me to stay focused on the important things in life like pillow fights, eating pie and singing really loud!

Are You Happy?

2011-11-22T07:29:00.000-05:00

Are you happy?

Do you spend time each week on important things like yourself?
Do you have work or hobbies that you love?
Do you make time to commune with family and friends?
Do you spend your time, talent, and treasure wisely on things like helping others vs. buying more stuff?

If the answers to the questions above are YES, you get a hall pass.

If NO, keep reading.

I read a fascinating book this weekend called (what else?) Happy by Ian K. Smith.

According to Smith, 50 percent of our happiness is hardwired at birth. (Yes, it's possible to be a natural born grouch!) However, the good news is that the rest of our happiness is up to us! And there is much that you can do to boost your happiness.

You should read the book, but here are a few happiness boosting tips that jumped out at me.

Start a gratitude journal. - Make a few notes EVERY DAY about the things that you are grateful for. In addition to boosting your happiness, a gratitude journal will make you a better fundraiser because you'll get better at thanking your donors, volunteers and employees.
Spend your money on things that last. - There is scientific evidence to show that how you spend your money may be more important that what you make. Spending money on others (aka CHARITABLE GIVING!) boosts happiness. It makes those endorphins dance in our brain.
Spend LESS time on social networks and more time with friends and family IRL (in real life). It's also well-researched that people with strong social ties are happier than loners. Make time to nurture your close relationships and develop strong ties with others.
Choose your work wisely. With commuting times at an all time high and work days growing longer in the U.S., where you work is key to your happiness. We're not all lucky enough to get to choose our jobs but even if you aren't pursuing your preferred profession yet, find ways to make your current work day better. Bring snacks for your team! Send thank you notes to co-workers who brighten your day! Take some time away from your work every day. It's the small stuff that will lift your mood.

Happiness is not all up to us. As mentioned, researchers believe that much of our outlook on life is hard coded at birth. But the good news is that biology is only part of the story. According to positive psychology, at least 40 percent of our happiness is variable and we can improve our own happiness by working at it every day.

Make it a priority to make yourself feel better and by extension sow more joy in the world. Being happy is your birthright, it's also a better way to live.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Cool New Online Giving Infographic for You!

2011-11-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

Every wonder how online giving has trended over time?

If you're a geek like me, the answer is "YES!"

My company, Network for Good, has produced this cool infographic (feel free to share it with your fundraising friends!) for our 10th anniversary.

Check out how much online giving has evolved in the past 10 years.

My takeaway: Online giving is mainstream and it's only going to continue to grow!

Translation: Get online today!

Cheers!

Jocelyn

What's Scary About Nonprofit Communications?

2011-11-16T08:11:00.001-05:00

Halloween is over but chances are there are a lot of things that still scare you about the brave, new, world of nonprofit communications.

My frolleague (friend and colleague) Kivi Leroux Miller, author of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide has launched the second annual Nonprofit Communications Trends Survey to identify all those creepy, crawly, communications critters that get under your skin!

Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey and share your thoughts about what frightens and fascinates you about nonprofit communications. Deadline is Friday, November 25.

Boo!

Jocelyn

What's Your Portable Potential?

2011-11-01T22:28:00.001-04:00

Did you know that "in the U.S. more than a quarter of people own a smartphone" and "in the final quarter of 2010, smartphones passed global PC shipments for the first time in history?"

Clearly, we're going mobile as a society but what does this mean for your nonprofit?

A: You need to determine if you need a mobile strategy and what mobile means for you!

According to the new e-book by Convio, A Guide to the Mobile Web: Best Practices for Nonprofits, you should be thinking about a mobile engagement strategy if one or all of the following conditions apply:

5 percent or more of total visits to your website are coming from mobile devices. (Use Google analytics or another analytics program to evaluate visits to your website.)
You have a robust social media strategy. According to Strong Mobile Trends for Leading Social Companies by Kleiner Perkins, "roughly 30 percent of Facebook's and 50 percent of Twitter's memberships are mobile users," i.e. it stands to reason that these constituents will access your site via their phones.
You're looking for younger, donors, activists or members.
You're planning on redoing your website soon!

Think that mobile may be right for you? Determine the best mobile presence.

Now that you're convinced that mobile might be right for you, you need to determine the right mobile presence for your org.

My advice: Focus on mobilizing your website content first vs. creating an app or engaging in SMS/text.

Apps are expensive and don't work unless you are super creative and find a really great hook for engaging your constituents. SMS/text doesn't work either unless you organize BIG events with BIG stars or do disaster fundraising.

What about content?

Going mobile is a GREAT exercise for a nonprofit because it forces you to determine how to STREAMLINE and SIMPLIFY your content to ensure that it is digestible and useful on a small device. It also means thinking strategically about your top engagement priorities, e.g. e-newsletter sign-ups, advocacy calls to action, and donations. (Important note here: You simply cannot smash all of your website content into your mobile site!)

You can mobilize your website by building a "basic browser-detection script" into your main website. This may become a best practice in new website design. Another option (that I like!) is to build a 3 - 5 page mini site with opportunities for users to donate, take an action, read current news items, or share your cause with their friends.

Whatever you decide, mobile is here to stay.

Determine your portable potential and use this on-the-go, always-on, in-your-pocket channel to engage more people in your good cause!

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Are You Accountable?

2011-10-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

You get up every morning. You go to work. You may even put in a longer day than most.

But are you accountable? And to what?

Do you set goals and achieve them? Do you deliver results? Or are you just going through the motions?

I'm reading a great book by Denny Strigl, former CEO of Verizon called, Managers, can you hear me now?

Strigl, who transformed Verizon into the nation's #1 wireless carrier, says there is only ONE THING that will drive results in your business (and I would argue your life) and that is ACCOUNTABILITY.

Everyone says they want results.

"We want to raise more money this year." "We want to diversify our revenue." "We want to create real value for our employees, clients and donors." "I want to find a good partner." "I want to eat healthier." " I want to work out."

But if you dig a little deeper, you often find that there is NO PLAN in place to achieve these righteous results and worse, no one is ACCOUNTABLE for getting the job done. No wonder that weeks, months and sometimes years go by with organizations and individuals stuck in the status quo.

On the other hand, I know many people and organizations that THRIVE in an environment where everyone is accountable to daily, weekly, and monthly results. These individuals appreciate the transparency and clarity of organizational and personal goals and willingly step up every day to OWN their part of the puzzle.

Why the difference? And how can you create more accountability in yourself and others?

Be willing to fail. It sounds counter-intuitive, but unless you are willing to take the risk of looking stupid or messing up, you are unlikely to embrace accountability. Being responsible for a task, process, or policy is hard work (some people won't like you) and things don't always work out as planned. But if you are willing to fail and to fail fast, then it doesn't matter if the road you choose leads to a dead end. Part of being accountable means owning your failure and success.
Be willing to make decisions. Accountable people are willing to say what they feel and do what they say! I can't tell you how much I personally ADMIRE this trait in others. You should gather data and ask for feedback, but at some point you have to press GO! Be decisive. Be willing to make a decision and see if it bears fruit.
Be proactive. Accountable people try to get ahead of the mess. Because they take ownership of and responsibility for their work, they are always on the lookout for ways to improve and make things better. This means knowing that SHIT happens and finding ways to avoid it vs. waiting for it to hit the fan.
Don't play the blame game. This is the most unproductive and unattractive trait at work and at home. Don't do it. Nuff said!
Be confident. It may sound silly but unless you believe in yourself and your own ability to affect change in your work and in the world, you'll never enjoy being accountable for tangible results. Like the cowardly lion, you'll want to hide and you'll be wary of activities that put you in the spotlight. Having confidence is the cure. Believe in your abilities. Believe in the good stuff that people say about you and be willing to act. No one says you have to be perfect. But you do have to show up and do your best.

I see too many organizations and people looking for change in the world without putting in the hard work to make it happen. And it occurs to me that this is not because people lack good intentions, it's because they lack a practice of accountability.

Consider setting goals for yourself this week and working diligently to achieve them. Want to write a blog post? Write it! Want to update your homepage? Update it! Want to ask for a raise? Ask for it!

Practice accountability.

Say what you want and do what you say.

If you hold your feet to the fire, you'll boost your self confidence and you'll probably see the results you covet. Either way, you'll be setting yourself up to grow.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Thanks a Million: How to Thank Your Donors So They'll Come Back and Give More

2011-10-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

I have the privilege of giving this presentation to a group of nonprofits today at a training for Give to the Max Day: Washington - a one day fundraiser to raise over $3 million for DC nonprofits. You can watch the event LIVE here.

I'm speaking on the topic of saying thanks or showing gratitude to your donors.

Sounds sort of dull and obvious. (Do we really need reminders and tips on how to say thanks?)

Unfortunately, Yes!

According to Penelope Burk, author of Donor Centered Fundraising, one of the main reasons that people STOP giving to charity is that their gifts are not recognized. According to Burk,

"46% of donors decide to stop giving for reasons that are tied to lack of meaningful information or to a feeling that their giving is not appreciated."

That's a DISMAL statistic and so easily fixed.

Here are some of my recommendations.

1) Be personal. Do NOT send form letters. Get your volunteers, board members, and staff to write a few thank you letters each day, in their own hand.

2) Be creative. Make a thank you video from your staff. Write a thank you song! Watch this video from Charity: Water for inspiration.

3) Be tangible. The other reason that donors STOP giving to nonprofits is because they don't understand how their gifts are used. Tailor your thank-yous to the ask or how the gift came in and let donors know they great work you are doing with their gifts.

4) Be donor-centered. Put your donors in the center of all of your communications, including your thank-yous. This is not the time to wax on and on about your organization. Make your thank-you about ME!

5) Be fast. This is SO important. Do your acknowledgements within 48 hours of receiving a gift, no matter the size. Think about it. If it takes you weeks or months (Yikes!) to thank me for my gift, that plants serious doubt in my mind about the efficacy of your work and does not make me feel valued.

We have a GREAT OPPORTUNITY as nonprofits provide our donors with an outlet for their altruism and to acknowledge their value as people!

Take every opportunity to lavish your donors with thanks and praise. After all, their time, talent and treasure powers the work that you do.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Nonprofit Marketing Talent is Hard to Find. Linkedin Can Help.

2011-10-10T10:00:00.001-04:00

This is a guest post by Geri Stengel from Ventureer. Enjoy!

Jocelyn

How Will You Fill Your Nonprofit’s Staffing Gaps?

According to a new survey from Idealist.org, a lot of nonprofits are planning to hire in 2012 and many of them will be looking for hard-to-find fundraising and communication talent. But most of them have no budget for recruitment.

Oops! That’s not going to work too well. Recruitment needed and no budget to do so.

But, hey, this is the age of social media, which now gives us social recruiting. The king of social recruiting is LinkedIn, that massive database of resumes, accomplishments, and connections. LinkedIn has new tools to make recruiting faster, cheaper, and easier.

You can do a lot for free, using Advanced Search but to really mine that database, you want to look at LinkedIn Recruiter. It’s fee-based but LinkedIn will be giving discounts to eligible nonprofits.

Where’s the talent?

The LinkedIn database allows you to search for people using all kinds of parameters, from zip code to skill set, from volunteer activities to education level. Say, your nonprofit sees social media looming larger in its marketing mix. You may want someone with Facebook and YouTube experience. Just use those keywords as your search terms and see the wealth of talent you can choose from.

LinkedIn Recruiter expands your reach, allows you to pinpoint exactly what you are looking for, gives you tools to track the progress of contacts and interviews, and lets you contact candidates easily through LinkedIn.

You’ll even get links to passive candidates, those not actively looking for a new position but who may be ideal for your organization.

In other words, LinkedIn is a lot like hiring a search firm but it costs less.

How do you look to the candidates?

LinkedIn is not just about recruiting the best candidates. It’s also about looking good to the people you want to recruit. You want to be wanted.

Candidates will access information about your company, its leaders, and its mission. Make that information easy to find, vibrant, and inviting.

Your organization, board members, top staff, and key volunteers should have up to date, interesting profiles -- interesting, not resume-bland. Candidates want to know your personality as well as the good you do when deciding whether to accept your invitation for an interview.

Take an hour out on Oct. 13 to learn more about LinkedIn’s social recruiting tools in Ventureneer’s free webinar - How to Use LinkedIn for Nonprofit Staff Recruitment. It’s the first step to getting your marketing team ready for 2012.

Put Your Most Important Relationships First

2011-10-09T12:54:00.000-04:00

I have one husband.

I have one child.

I have four close women friends.

Compare this with the fact that I have 261 "friends" on Facebook, 239 people who have added me on Google+, 500+ contacts on Linkedin, 2,575 followers on Twitter, and 1,437 subscribers to my blog.

This is not a popularity contest.

My challenge is this, how in the world do I (and you) manage all of these relationships?

I am struggling to figure this out.

The promise of social media is its ability to connect us to amazing, new people across space and time. And while I have met new and interesting people on Linkedin and Facebook, that I wouldn't have bumped into elsewhere, I can't keep up with all of these connections. Not in any meaningful way.

I hate to admit it but I don't have time to thank everyone who RTs (retweets) my stuff on Twitter. I don't have time to check status updates on Facebook. Heck, I hardly have time to get through my inbox!

So what's a marketer, fundraiser, aka relationship-builder to do?

I think the answer is twofold.

1) Create a small tribe - a core group of peers, colleagues, friends, etc. and build deep and authentic relationships with this group over time. Regardless of the tools you use to stay in touch, nurture these relationships with great care. These people should get the bulk of your time and attention.

2) Create or join a big tribe - a group of peers, colleagues, friends, etc. and stay loosely connected to these folks over time. Read their blog posts when you can. Send an email twice a year. But instead of aspiring to know these people on a deeply personal level be content with living at arms length.

The trick is determining who goes into which group and why.

It may seem obvious, but my husband, daughter, friends and co-workers belong in the first tribe. I spend most of my time with these folks. More important, I have committed to making these relationships work. If I do my core relationships right, my peeps and I will blossom over time.

Vendors, past customers, clients and collaborators go in tribe two. I nurture these relations as best I can but I don't expect big ROI from these connections. I spend the minority of my time with these folks. Sometimes (though rarely) someone moves from tribe two to tribe one.

The PAIN of technology is that it has made us more scattered. I am easily lost in a swirl of insignificant communication.

Don't let this happen to you. Put your most important relationships first. Choose your tribes wisely and allocate the majority of your time and attention to the most important people in your life. Then let go of the guilt that says you're not doing enough.

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Quote from Steve Jobs for You

2011-10-08T13:04:00.000-04:00

I love this quote from Steve Jobs. I hope you too find your voice and follow it.

Jocelyn

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

- Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

Meet Allison: Your Personal Year-End Fundraising Guide

2011-10-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

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Did you know that according to the Online Giving Study, 33% of all online giving happens in December?

What this means for you.

Year-end fundraising is no joke. It can make or break your annual budget.

Get ready now!

Shameless plug. My company, Network for Good, is offering a $50 year-end fundraising training (a $200 value) facilitated by your personal guide (see Allison above!) and other fundraising experts, including Katya Andresen, author of NonprofitMarketingBlog and Mark Rovner and Alia McKee of Sea Change Strategies.

Buy now!

What you'll get.

A step-by-step guide to creating your year-end fundraising plan.
Access to an exclusive live training webinar.
Templates of fundraising appeals that you can use.
The opportunity to have your year-end plan and one of your year-end appeals reviewed by our team of experts.

Learn more and buy today.

Happy Fundraising!

Jocelyn

How Do You Engage People in Social Change?

2011-10-01T13:43:00.000-04:00

Web of Change 2011 from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Check out this thought-provoking video from some super smart folks at Web of Change 2011 - a gathering of passionate organizers working at the intersection of technology and social change.

Do you LISTEN to your constituents?

Are you OPEN to being affected by the people you serve?

Do you know how to connect with others on a meaningful and deep level?

Do you genuinely care about what others need and want from you?

Cheers!

Jocelyn