Communicate Your Cause

10|5|1: How We're Celebrating #GivingTuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:17:00 +0000

I've never been into Black Friday and passed on trolling the Internet for Cyber Monday deals this year, but #GivingTuesday is one post-Thanksgiving movement I can get behind.

Since our official launch six months ago, Prosper PR has made a consistent effort what we can to the nonprofit and social enterprise community. It has just come naturally. After all, we're always encouraging our clients to give back to their communities. We couldn't do it if we didn't walk the talk.

But today, in honor of #GivingTuesday, I'm going to make a formal commitment to give back in several important ways over the next year by launching our official giving movement: 10|5|1.

Here's what we're committing to give:

10% of our time to volunteer mentorship and training.

In 2012, we (myself and my interns) collectively donated over 100 hours of our time and expertise to the nonprofit and social enterprise community through mentorships, training sessions and speaking engagements. A couple examples? I mentored new social entrepreneurs at The Impact Engine, trained community-based volunteer educators at Chicago's Tutor Mentor Conference and worked with my team to offer free social media consulting sessions to a handful of nonprofits and social enterprises. In 2013, I'm committing to donate a minimum of 10% of every Prosper PR employee's time to the social enterprise and nonprofit community through mentorship and training. That means four hours/week or 200 hours/year from me alone (and from any future employees I may hire over the course of the year --fingers crossed!) as well as two hours/week or 100 hours/year from my interns. We're still solidifying plans, but you can expect to see us work with organizations like The Impact Engine (again), Nuevo Labs and Chicago Nonprofit

5 pro-bono marketing projects for nonprofits.

In 2012, we worked with pro-bono partner Catchafire on two amazing pro-bono marketing projects--one with Turning Point and another (currently in progress) with The Mycelium School. Now, I'm committing to complete a minimum of five pro-bono projects with nonprofit clients through Catchafire in 2013.

1%of our revenue to support young social entrepreneurs.

As with any new business, cash has been tight around here during our first months of operation. But I'm happy to report that we're now in a spot where we're ready to make a financial gift to the cause we care about most--social entrepreneurship. I'm committing, right here and now, to donate 1% of our total revenue from 2013 to Youth Venture, Ashoka's youth-focused organization that helps young people ages 12-17 to launch their own social enterprises. That means for every $5,000 we bill, we'll donate $50. Social enterprise can only succeed if we get young people excited about it, and I am so thrilled to help new social entrepreneurs grow.

By the time the clock strikes midnight on the first day of 2013, you'll see a new page on our website and blog where we will track our progress towards our 10|5|1 goals. I hope you'll follow along.

Many of you are already celebrating with #GivingTuesday and making a big commitment to give through your businesses. Kudos to you! If you're not already on board, I encourage you to follow our lead and give your time, skills and money to the causes you care about most. I promise it will be WELL worth it.

Introducing the Impact Innovators - Launching 12.12.12

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:51:00 +0000

If you follow me or Prosper PR on Twitter or Facebook, then you knowI've been gearing up for a big announcement. Well, it's time...

I am BEYOND excited to announce the upcoming launch of The Impact Innovators, a new online lifestyle resource for social entrepreneurs!

When I started my own social enterprise just over a year ago, I experienced a crazy mix of emotions. I was excited, scared, inspired, confused, and determined. Let's be real, I still feel these same emotions every day, many of them at the same time. Looking back, what I wish I had then (and what I still crave now) is a community of other, likeminded social entrepreneurs and social enterprise leaders who are as committed to making money AND making a difference as I am.

Cue The Impact Innovators.

Here's a preview :)

The Impact Innovators is a blog and online community where social entrepreneurs can learn from one another, share successes and struggles and, well, become more awesome. Want to see how successful social entrepreneurs got where they are today? We're interviewing them. Want to learn how to start your own social enterprise? We're sharing tips, funding and resources. Want an inside look at the lessons I'm learning from running my own social enterprise while I'm learning them? I'm opening up.

You'll also find great community features on The Impact Innovators that allow you to connect with other social entrepreneurs like yourself, because supporting eachother is really what this is all about.

So what does all this mean for Communicate Your Cause? As you may have guessed from the preview image, Communicate Your Cause will be rolled into The Impact Innovators as a section of the new site. I remain 100% devoted to my mission of helping mission-driven companies better communicate their impact, and The Impact Innovators gives me a new venue to help you do just that. In addition to quick and dirty marketing how-to posts like I often write here, I'm also going to offer some amazing marketing resources (e-books, workshops and training courses etc.) through The Impact Innovators. You can expect something similar to our series of 101 Guides, but on steroids.

Communicate Your Cause has been a great venue to share my passion for mission-driven marketing, and it's been a joy to watch this blog's little audience grow. However, I realize that most social entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats and care about more than just marketing. I want to bring you stories and content that are relevant to all areas of your work life. After all, this site is for you--The Impact Innovator.

Want to get involved? I'm still looking for contributors. Social entrepreneurs, people who work in social enterprise, and advocates for social impact are all welcome. Just shoot me an email at alyssa@prosperpr.com to start a conversation.

Want to get ready for the launch? The site will go live on 12/12/2012, but I'll keep you in the loop with updates and sneak peeks until then. Just subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed. Soon, you'll also be able to start following us on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute updates.

I can't wait to share this exciting adventure with you!

Now get back to work and keep making your mark,

Alyssa

Can Social Enterprise Solve Our Country's Problems?

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:02:00 +0000

Original photograph via Beth Sometimes

Good morning and happy election week! As Americans prepare to head to the polls tomorrow, many of us have our minds on the country's problems. It's no secret that we have a hurting economy, a broken health care system, and a failing education system. And that's just the start of our long list of woes. It kind of makes me want to crawl back into bed on this cloudy Monday morning, but instead, I'm going to write a blog post about it.

Both of this year's presidential candidates want us to believe that they have the answers to these problems. As in most elections, there has been a great deal of talk about cutting spending, raising taxes and revamping social programs. But where is the discussion about social enterprise and the role it can play in improving our country?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that social enterprise is some magical little fairy that wave her magic wand and fix everything that is wrong with America. But I do think this sector deserves to be recognized for its power to address many of our country's biggest problems.

Here are just a few problems social enterprise can (and does) address:

The economy. Social enterprises are, by and large, profitable companies that create many highly desirable jobs. In fact, a recent study found that "63% of social enterprises around the world are profitable, with an earned annual revenue of $1,104,267 and a median of 18 employees per organization." The typical U.S. business also averages around $1.1 million in revenue, but employs an average of only four employees. When social enterprise grows, so does the job market. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. And get this: over 60 million Americans say they care not just about cost, convenience and quality, but also about the social and environmental impact of the products they buy and the companies that are behind those products. It's a basic economic law: supplying our consumers with what they demand will drive our economy forward.
The environment. By nature, social enterprises place far more importance on sustainability than their traditional counterparts. Whether they're creating products that are good for the environment (think Seventh Generation) or simply making a commitment to green business practices (think Ben & Jerry's), social enterprises are working to reverse much of the damage that traditional businesses have done to our environment.
Poverty. Social entrepreneurs like Muhammed Yunnus and Rafael Alvarez are famous for creating new markets that are capable of breaking the cycle of poverty. Whether it's providing microloans to the underemployed so they can start businesses, teaching low-income high school students a trade so they can find employment, or putting former inmates to work at special restaurants and coffee shops, social enterprise has some pretty cool solutions for getting people out of poverty that don't involve handouts or increased government spending.

Call me idealistic (I'll take it as a compliment) but with potential impacts like these, I think social enterprise is something that both parties can get behind. Whoever wins the election tomorrow, I hope they'll embrace social enterprise and realize that, while traditional business, government and the nonprofit sector are great, they're simply not enough to create the kind of change we need.

Why Social Entrepreneurs Shouldn't be Afraid to Change Course

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:55:00 +0000

Original image via Ellwantstoholdyourhand

Hi there, long lost blog friends. First, let's address the elephant in the room. I know I haven't been writing nearly as much as I used to her on Communicate Your Cause, and as someone who is always advising her clients to blog regularly (and who keeps up a half dozen blogs for clients), this pains me. However, as I'm sure many of you business owners can relate to, sometimes there aren't nearly enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you set out to do. Client work comes first, and I'm happy to report that Prosper PR has been doing quite well in that department.

But there is also another reason for my absence here on the blog. For the last month or so, we've been working to create something awesome (if I do say so myself) that's going to take Communicate Your Cause to a whole new level. Here's a sneak peek:

But more on that later. I am stopping by today to talk about something loosely related to that new development I mentioned above. I'm here to talk about changing course.

As entrepreneurs, we all launch our businesses with what we think is a clear idea about who they will serve, how they will make money, and what they will become. Some of us even write long business plans that lay these ideas out in painstaking detail. Then, we actually launch our businesses, and everything changes. We find our way into the marketplace and learn that, while some of our plans work surprisingly well, others simply fall flat. We learn that our target market might not be all that interested in what we have to offer, but discover that there's another group we hadn't even thought about that's dying to do business with us. Or we find out that what we thought was going to be our key product or service doesn't hold a candle to that other, more exciting offering we bring to the table. We find out that we can help more people if we focus on just one area of our business and let go of others. These are just a few examples of the many realizations that most new business owners can have during their first few months (or years) in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, these realizations stop some entrepreneurs dead in their tracks. The moment they discover that things aren't working as planned, they give up.

If you're an entrepreneur yourself, I urge you not to let this happen to you. No business will be perfect from day one. If you want to be truly successful, you need to be willing to adapt, rethink and reinvent. You need to embrace constant change. You need to learn as you go.

If you know in your gut that you have a brilliant business idea that can change the world, don't spend months developing a 100 page business plan and devising a marketing strategy that will carry you though your first year of business. I promise it will be a waste of your time. Simply go to market as soon as you can and with as little investment as you can, and then focus on learning. There is no better way to conduct market research than actually being in the marketplace. As soon as you open for business, you'll begin learning things about your target market, your products and your strategies that you never could have learned pre-launch. When you do, don't be afraid to change course.

Without even intending to, the strategy I described above is close to the one I've followed since I began work on Prosper PR about a year ago. While I did write a business plan (I had to in order to receive some pro-bono legal help I desperately needed), I made sure it wasn't too rigid to prevent adaption during our first few years as a business. We're only few months in, and we're already making some major changes to our business model and our marketing strategy. The new development I talked about at the beginning of this post is just one of them.These changes are things I couldn't have even dreamt of before I launched the business because I simply didn't have the real world understanding of the marketplace that I've developed since we became a part of it.

All entrepreneurs should embrace change, but it's especially important for social entrepreneurs to remain flexible and willing to adapt. Why? Because, unlike traditional entrepreneurs, we social entrepreneurs aren't just concerned with making money. We're also out to make a difference. Balancing these dual goals isn't easy, and it requires constant adaption to both the needs of the marketplace, and those of society. But the world needs us. Don't let them down. Stay in business and keep learning. Most importantly, don't be afraid to change course. Changing course is the first step toward changing the world.

How Can Social Entrepreneurs Measure Impact?

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Hi again everyone! Sorry about the radio silence around here lately. We’ve been crazy busy kicking off projects with a few new clients, training our fall interns and getting ready to launch something brand new that I think you’ll love in the next few weeks. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

In the meantime, I wanted to stop by to discuss something I’ve been thinking about a great deal lately: the unique motivations and measures of success for social entrepreneurs.

It’s no secret that most traditional entrepreneurs are motivated by money. Sure, other factors like ambition, power, recognition and fame might be motivators as well, but a desire to grow profits is undoubtedly the most common driver among successful entrepreneurs.

But social entrepreneurship is a totally different ball game. Most social entrepreneurs hope to make money while pursuing their ventures, but profits aren’t always their primary driver. It seems that across the board, social entrepreneurs are driven first and foremost by a deep desire to create change.

This can be problematic when it comes time to measure performance. Profit is easy to measure, while progress toward social change typically is not. Traditional entrepreneurs have profit and loss statements to measure their success. But what do social entrepreneurs have? I would argue that social entrepreneurs need to create an “impact statement” to track their progress toward their most important social goals. Profits could (and should) figure into this impact statement, but measures like the amount of people served, employees hired, and waste reduced could be equally as important. An impact statement would likely need to be customized to meet the needs of each individual company, but I think it would be easy enough to create a template that could get us all started. Perhaps that’s a new project I should add to my list. Would you use an impact statement?

NPO AID - A Branding Giveaway for Nonprofits

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:44:00 +0000

Happy Monday! Today, I'm excited to announce an amazing giveaway that we're offering in partnership with talented designer and branding maven Amanda Genther. If you're a nonprofit needs marketing help but simply don't have the budget to work with us, this giveaway is for you.

NPO Aid is an opportunity for our businesses to help great organizations with not-so-great brands stand a fighting chance in this online world. Amanda came to us with a desire to give back by choosing one non-profit organization every year that needs some brand strategy and identity help, and we were happy to get on board!

WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

A Brand Messaging Package from Prosper PR.

Alyssa will work with you to develop a positioning statement, tagline, messaging matrix and other key messaging elements that communicate your mission, values and personality to the outside world.

A Brand Development Package from Amanda Genther Design.

Amanda will work with you to develop a new identity, website, blog, or whatever your organization needs to get you moving in the right direction. You will receive up to 15 hours of design work.

Non-profit organizations can apply online by filling out this form and emailing info@amandagenther.com by Friday, November 9, 2012. The winner will be announced on Friday, December 14, 2012.

SHARE THE NEWS

If you know of a non-profit in the Chicago area, we would love it if you could spread the news. We’ve created some blog buttons for you to share on your own blogs. Let myself or Amanda know if you have any questions on installing the button on your blog. Just be sure to link back to this post!

We are looking forward to choosing a non-profit organization to work with in the new year!

Advice for the Aspiring Changemaker

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Image via Little Luck Tree

Over the last few weeks, I've had coffee and lunch with several ambitious young people who have reached out to me for advice about finding a meaningful career and making a difference through their work. They're real life examples of the trend that Forbes observed in their recent article "What Millennials Want Most: A Career That Actually Matters," and I love talking with them about our shared passion for meaningful work. They give me hope for our generation and for our future.

If you're an aspiring changemaker, I'd like to offer you the same advice that I have offered all of them:

Don't settle. Your desire to make a difference is a beautiful thing, and the best way to ensure you are able to make an impact is to devote your career to a cause (or causes) you care about. It isn't always easy to find a job where you can make a real difference, but more opportunities for meaningful work exist now than ever before, and, unlike some people will try to convince you, they're not limited to the nonprofit sector. Social enterprises and socially responsible companies present great opportunities for aspring changemakers, as well.

If you're not sure where to start, begin with an honest examination of your talents. Decide what you're best at, whether it's writing, accounting, or tap dancing. Then, get creative and start thinking about ways that your unique talent can be used to make a difference. No matter what your talent is (even if it's tap dancing) I promise that it can be used to help people and affect positive change. If you can't find a job that will let you do just that, create one. That's exactly what I did when I started Prosper PR, and so far, it's worked out quite well. And if neither of those options make sense for you, take a job or start a side hustle that will help you work toward the impactful career you crave. There's no excuse for giving up on your dreams of making a difference through your work. The world needs you.

As Mary Oliver wisely said, we have just one wild, precious life. Follow your heart and devote yours to becoming the changemaker you were meant to be.

What Does Social Entrepreneurship Mean to You?

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Do you consider yourself a social entrepreneur? If so, why? It seems like there are nearly as many definitions for the concept of social entrepreneurship as there are social entrepreneurs. I think it would be great to hear what you think makes you part of this group.

I see myself as a social entrepreneur because I've started a business that serves other companies and organizations who are making a difference. I help my clients help more people, so I think the title of "social entrepreneur" make sense for me. But I realize I'm only one example of what a social entrepreneur can be. I don't think you necessarily have to start a business to be a social entrepreneur. I don't think you have to be part of a profit-generating business, or part of a nonprofit. Social entrepreneurs come in many flavors. Tell us about yours in the comments or on twitter @Prosper_PR.

3 Tools for DIY Infographics

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:20:00 +0000

Image via Hongkiat

Back in the beginning of the month, I wrote about the important role that infographics can play in communication. Today, I'd like to continue that train of thought by sharing a few resources for those of you who are interested in creating your own infographics.

Infographics can be expensive to develop, but they don't have to be. Before you contract with an infographic designer, why not try your hand with these tools?

Visual.ly

Visual.ly currently only has a few infographic categories you can customize, but the ones that exist are beautiful. This site is especially useful if you're interested in creating infographics that relate to social media.

Piktochart

Piktochart is one of the more robust free infographic tools I've come across. If you want to create a totally custom-looking infographic, you can use this tool to combine images, charts, vectors and icons into several themes while customizing color schemes, fonts and layouts.

Vizualize.Me

I recently used elements from Vizualize.Me to revamp my resume, but this tool could have many applications beyond a simple resume. Use the mapping feature to visualize your organization's geographic reach, or create a timeline to show major milestones in your company's history.

Have you created any infographics lately? What tools did you use?

A Handy 101 Guide to Media Relations (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:24:00 +0000

I have another handy 101 guide to share with you this morning. Well, at least part of one. I'm releasing the first half of our brand new 101 Guide to Media Relations today (download it here), and the other half will come out in the next few weeks. I hope this will give you a chance to work through the strategic side of media relations (figuring out your target audience, developing your story angles etc.) before jumping into execution (creating media lists, pitching, etc.) Hopefully you find it useful as you work on drumming up positive publicity for your businesses and good causes!

I should also let you know that this will be our LAST 101 guide for awhile. We've churned out quite a few guides in the last six months but we're going to take things in a completely new direction in September. Expect some great content that's even more useful for nonprofit and social enterprise leaders, as well as some big changes to Communicate Your Cause. I can't wait to tell you more soon. Stay tuned!

Mark Your Calendars: 3 August Webinars for Social Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:16:00 +0000

Photo credit: Fora do Eixo

I always try to leave a little time on Monday mornings for reading and soaking up new information on the wonderful world of social entrepreneurship and nonprofit marketing. I happened upon a few webinars this morning that I am going to attend later this month. If you're into keeping up on this sector like I am, I suggest you do the same.

Here's the lineup:

Social Media for Social Good taught by Nonprofit Tech 2.0's Heather Mansfield

What it's about: "Based upon the newly released book Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits, this webinar begins with defining Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 communications and fundraising, and then quickly moves on to a discussion about the importance of integrating the tools from each era in order to maximize your nonprofit’s Return on Investment (ROI) from utilizing social media and mobile technology. Written as a step-by-step strategic plan, Social Media for Social Good is packed with hundreds of social media and mobile technology best practices and how to’s – 11 of which are featured in detail in this webinar (one from each chapter). Finally, the webinar closes with a brief conversation about what’s next in nonprofit communications and fundraising and the importance of early adoption." - Nonprofit Tech 2.0

Cause Marketing for Small Business taught by Michael Houlihan, founder of Barefoot Wines

What it's about: "Back in the late eighties, one of the bold steps taken by the founders of Barefoot Cellars was to invest in "worthy cause marketing" using the funds conventional wine marketers would have invested in advertising. Developing multifaceted relationships with causes important to Barefoot's retail customers and consumers was one of the company's key success factors. Although Houlihan sold the company to E&J Gallo in 2005, the cause concept at its core has lived on -- in fact Barefoot won a 2012 Cause Marketing Halo Award for its beach clean-up programs with the Surfrider Foundation. Now a business consultant and author of the upcoming book "The Barefoot Spirit," Houlihan will share strategies and tactics that small businesses and their nonprofit partners can employ to do well by doing good. Join us for what promises to be a spirited presentation." - Cause Marketing Forum

Social Entrepreneurship: The New California B-Corporation taught by Bob Pimm, California Lawyers Association Chief Learning Officer and Director of Legal Services

What it's about: "Effective January 1, 2012 California began recognizing corporations organized as benefit corporations -- "B-Corps" -- reflecting the growing social entrepreneurship movement throughout the U.S. Learn about social entrepreneurship and how it applies in the creative arts community. This new form of 'for-profit' entity seeks to balance social, environmental and 'common good' goals with traditional wealth creation. Discover if a B-Corporation is a good fit for your creative arts endeavors." - California Lawyers Association. Even if you're not from California and live in a state where B-Corps aren't yet recognized, this webinar promises to be a great primer on the legalities of B-Corp certification that all social entrepreneurs can benefit from.

Prosper PR is Hiring Interns!

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Image via My Daily Cafe

That's right, let the intern search begin! If you're a college student in the Chicago area who is interested in learning more about marketing and PR, making a positive impact and having a lot of fun while doing it, you should apply for one of our Fall internships. Here's the scoop...

Prosper Public Relations is a Chicago-based marketing firm that works with nonprofit organizations, social enterprises and businesses that care about making the world a better place. We offer a mix of strategy, owned, earned and paid communication and training services, with a special focus on digital marketing and social media.

We're seeking 1-2 rockstar interns in the Chicago area to help grow our business and deliver extraordinary work for our clients. Internships will be unpaid, but we're happy to help you get college credit for your work. Some responsibilities assigned to our new intern(s) will include admin duties, small writing assignments, project coordination, internal marketing and community management for agency and client social media channels. In addition to daily responsibilities, the intern(s) will also work with our staff at the beginning of their internship to design their own self-led project based on their interests, which will be a great portfolio-builder once complete. Our ideal candidate is interested in making a positive impact on good causes through their work while learning more about marketing, social media, business and entrepreneurship. A sense of humor is also a must! Marketing, advertising, public relations and journalism majors are preferred, but students in all fields of study are encouraged to apply. Work will be completed at our home-based office located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood in Chicago (steps from the Brown Line) The intern must have available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Thursdays beginning around September 1st.

To apply, email your resume with a link to your portfolio or blog (if applicable) to a lyssa@prosperpr.com with INTERN APPLICATION as the subject line. You can also apply online through DePaul University's career site.

I can't wait to check out your application!

Going for Gold: What Olympic Athletes and Social Entrepreneurs Have In Common

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:21:00 +0000

Confession: I am obsessed with the Olympics. I usually don't watch much TV, but when the Olympics come around every two years, I'm always glued to the screen. I think it has something to do with the friendly competition, the camaraderie between people from all over the world, and my childhood dreams of being a gymnast and/or figure skater. The fact that this year's games are in London, where I lived and studied for a few months during college, has taken my obsession to a whole new level. But this weekend, somewhere between beach volleyball and fencing, I realized there's another reason I love the Olympics. It's because the athletes are a lot like social entrepreneurs.

Bear with me while I explain. You know the interviews after an event has concluded where members of the media ask the athletes how they feel about their wins (or losses) and how they achieved what they did? Well, I started to notice a trend in these interviews. In one way or another, all of the athletes say that they are motivated to go for gold not just by their own personal desire for greatness, but also by something much bigger than themselves. They say they are motivated by the opportunity to inspire others and bring a little bit of hope into the world. Olympic athletes make huge sacrifices and push themselves to the limits because they want to achieve the higher purpose of making their countries proud. It's what the Olympics is all about.

In many ways, social entrepreneurs do exactly the same thing. We get inspired by an idea about how we can make a difference. We get so fired up about it that we live, sleep, eat and breathe it. Plenty of people tell us it's impossible. Seemingly insurmontable roadblocks stand in our way, and we find a way to overcome them. We discover new tools for solving old problems. We work, we sweat, and sometimes we fail. But we keep going because we're motivated not just by our own selfish desires (making money) but also by a greater purpose (making an impact). As John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan put it in The Power of Unreasonable People, we're motivated not just by making the deal but also by achieving the ideal. It's what keeps us going when traditional entrepreneurs give up or sell out.

It might sound cheesy, but next time you're facing a tough situation in your social enterprise, I challenge you to think of yourself as an Olympic athlete would. Realize you're working for something bigger than just yourself, and that in the end, all the sacrifice will pay off.

Friday Resource: The Five Markets of Change

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Happy Friday! Today is a busy day here at Prosper PR, but I just wanted to drop by quickly to share a resource I stumbled upon this morning. It's a PDF guide called "The Five Markets of Change" and it's written by Tania Ellis, author of The New Pioneers, a book that's all about sustainable business and social enterprise. I have yet to read the book, but I want to enthusiastically recommend "The Five Markets of Change."

Society is changing. Our values are shifting and we know we can't keep doing things the way we have in the past. We all know it, but no one has done as good of a job of explaining this shift and its implication on business as Tania. Want to learn how about the various ways that our shifting values are forcing companies to rethink their business practices and inspiring a new generation of businesses that focus on our new priorities for making the world a better place? Then you need to read this.

I know it's the end of the week, but why start your weekend off on a postive note and download "The Five Markets of Change" here!

Use Infographics to Communicate Your Social Impact

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:01:00 +0000

It's never an easy task to evaluate a company based on how "good" it is. Corporate social responsibility, sustainability, employee engagement and social impact are more important to companies now than ever before, but everyone defines these terms and their criteria in different ways. All too often, companies give their customers tons of information about their social, environmental and employment practices (think the 50+ page CSR report) and then leave customers to draw their own conclusions about the company's impact. They avoid breaking their information down in powerful and digestible ways simply because they are afraid to use the wrong measures or miss important facts.

The result? Customers become frustrated and give up trying to evaluate the impact of the companies they interact with. Socially responsible companies miss opportunities to differentiate themselves based on the good work they do. No one wins.

Companies must focus on clearly and succinctly communicating their impact using the facts that customers care about most. There are many ways to do this, but one of the most powerful is our friend the infographic.

Infographics work because they deliver facts visually and provide top line information that can be digested quickly. Just ask McDonalds, McGraw Hill, Nestlé and Volvo, all of whom have made use of infographics to tell their social impact story.

Check out their examples below:

Image via Park Howell

Image via Sustainable Sphere

Image via Corporate Eye

Image via Infographics Only

Do you use infographics to communicate your impact? If so, tell us how it's working. If not, why not?!

July Faves

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Can you believe it's already the end of July? This month has flown by, but you know what they say: "time flies when you're having fun!" All corniness aside, I have had a great time this month working on new projects for our clients and enjoying the beautiful summer weather while I'm not hard at work. Now it's that time of the month where I share some of my favorite posts on nonprofit and social impact marketing from the last month.

Few Grantees Paid Heed to Foundations on Social Media via Philanthropy
I was shocked to learn that only 16% of nonprofits use the social media created by the foundations they do business with. While foundations seem to be heavily involved in social media marketing, they must not be very good at getting the word out about their efforts to the nonprofits they serve. If you work for a foundation, make sure you have your social channels displayed prominently on every page of your website, and consider other awareness-building tactics like emails that provide links to your social channels as well.

Is Wall Street a Good Training Ground for Social Entrepreneurs? via Forbes
Social entrepreneurship is becoming a popular career choice for millennials. As a result, there has been a lot of discussion lately about the best path for an aspiring social entrepreneur to take in her education and early career. While the emerging social entrepreneurship programs at major universities like this one, and social impact incubators like this one seem to get all the attention, I think taking a more traditional career path can also provide a great entry into social entrepreneurship. That's why I'm happy to see this article discuss how Wall Street paid off for Worldfund Founder Luanne Zurlo.

A Pinup Sales Sheet for Pitching Businesses via Selfish Giving
If you pitch businesses on cause marketing partnerships with any regularity, you'll find a pinup sales sheet to be a really useful tool. A big thanks goes out to Joe for featuring this great example that we can all learn from.

Did you take some time away from summer fun to catch up on your reading? Share the posts you enjoyed in the comments!

7 Steps to Unlock Your Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:50:00 +0000

"I'm not creative."

It's a line I hear from my clients and colleagues on an almost weekly basis. The truth is, I don't believe a word of it. Everyone is creative. Some of us have simply learned how to tap into our creativity better than others.

That's right, creativity can be learned. If you find yourself in a position that requires regular creative thinking (few positions don't), it's time to throw away the misconception that some people are creative and others simply are not. It's time to unlock the creativity that most surely resides somewhere within you.

Here's how to do it:

1. Realize that creativity is work. Creativity is not some mystical process. Creative ideas typically do not appear in one's head out of nowhere as if by divine intervention. If you simply sit around and wait for creativity to strike, you could be waiting awhile. More often than not, I have my most creative ideas after I've deliberately committed a few uninterupted hours of my time to working through the creative process.

2. Plant the seeds. The creative process almost always begins with some sort of preparation, a warm up, if you will. I typically start with reading and research. Let's say I need to develop a new social media campaign platform for a green cosmetics company. I'd start by reading about the industry, checking out what my client's competition is doing, and learning how others have approached similar problems. I'd keep reading and absorbing and learning until I start to notice original ideas beginning to spark in my mind, and then I'd stop.

3. Germinate. After you've warmed up, it's time to let all the information you've just gathered sink in. Step away. Go do something else. Keeping with the agriculture metaphor, if you've planted enough seeds, they'll begin to germinate in the back of your mind without you even noticing it.

Idea cards from a recent ideation session.

4. Ideate. Sometimes, you'll be pushed out of the "germination" phase by a stroke of inspiration that hits you at an unexpected moment. More often than not, you'll have to push yourself out of it by sitting down and putting your ideas on paper. After a short germination period, I like to sit down with a big stack of index cards and some markers and get to work. I'll write down all the ideas that have been brewing in the back of my mind, no matter how unrelated they seem. I like to give each idea its own index card so that I can group and organize them later.

5. Organize. After you've purged yourself of your ideas, it's time to make sense of them. First, look for connections between related ideas. Then, begin to sort through them. No matter how good you are, some of your ideas will be crap. Set those aside for now, but don't toss them out. Some of your ideas will have potential, and a few of them will be truly great. Focus on those good and great ideas and organize them in a way that makes sense for you. Write an outline. Make a mind map. It doesn't matter how you do it. All that matters is that you let your idea take shape.

6. Create. All the steps we've talked about so far have led up to this point. It's time to turn your ideas into whatever you've set out to create. Go ahead and write your article, develop your plan, or design your ad. Let your creative ideas guide you, but don't judge yourself too harshly at this phase.

7. Refine. After you've completed your first shot at your creative product, it's time to make it shine. Set it aside for awhile, and then come back to it and begin deciding what works and what doesn't. Edit. Ask for feedback from others. Pick things apart and then put them back together. Be critical, but don't be afraid to call your project complete, either. The best creative work isn't over-thought.

Still convinced that you're not creative? Give these steps a try and see how they work for you. I bet you'll surprise yourself.

How to Avoid The Cause Marketing Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:45:00 +0000

Not long ago, cause marketing was a new and unfamiliar practice that was just beginning to capture the attention of savvy nonprofit leaders and business people. We've come a long way since then. Today, most major companies (from Kellogg's to KPMG) make cause marketing a key strategy, and many small businesses are following suit. This is undoubtedly a good thing. More causes are getting the support they need, and more businesses are making meaningful connections with their communities and their customers.

However, the growth of cause marketing might have an unintended consequence as well. As cause marketing becomes more common, some consumers have begun to believe that any company that launches a cause marketing program for the fist time is simply jumping on the cause bandwagon. In some cases, this belief turns out to be true. Some companies partner with a cause simply because they have seen how successful cause marketing has been for their competitors and know they must at least present the appearance of supporting a cause if they want to survive. However, most of the time, companies get on board with cause marketing not only because they realize it will help drive their bottom line, but also because they truly want to make a positive impact.

Want to avoid jumping on the cause marketing bandwagon and make it clear to your customers that you're not just another copycat cause marketer? Here's how:

Pick a cause you're truly passionate about
Pick a cause that aligns with your company's product or service and mission
Communicate your passion and relationship to your cause clearly and frequent
Make your impact significant (think 10% of proceeds to your cause rather than 1%
Build commitment to your cause internally across your organization before announcing it publicly
Use stories of the people you help to communicate your impact
Make sure your cause marketing programs are only one part of a larger corporate social responsibility initiative
Find a new and original way to give back

Do you have other ideas for avoiding the cause marketing bandwagon problem? Share your thoughts in the comments.

A Secret Weapon for Social Media Metrics

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:28:00 +0000

As a marketer, I get excited whenever I'm introduced to a new way to measure the results of my work. However, when it comes to social media, the variety and quantity of social media metrics tools can be a little overwhelming. For a long time, I provided measurement data for my clients using a mix of a few different tools like SocialMention, Klout and Radian6. Then, I discovered True Social Metrics.

I don't often plug products here on Communicate Your Cause, but True Social Metrics is simply too good not to share. Created by Google's Avinash Kaushik (who I had the pleasure to hear speak earlier this year), True Social Metrics focuses only on the key performance indicators that matter most in social media and then pulls data from each of your networks into one easy-to-use platform. Here's my rundown on what it does, why it's useful and how to use it.

What it does: True Social Metrics allows you to obtain the social media metrics that really matter. While likes and followers might be valuable numbers for some, they are relatively meaningless for others. True Social Metrics allows you to measure valuable data like applause rate, amplification rate, and even economic value of your social media interactions.

Why it’s useful: True Social Metrics solves the problem that marketers have had with proving the ROI of social media. It pulls only the data that clearly shows how your social interactions are contributing to the health and growth of your brand.

How to use it: Sign up for a True Social Metrics account and connect it to your Facebook, Twitter, blog and other social channels. Then, watch the numbers come in and use them to assess the true value of your efforts.

True Social Metrics has truly saved me hours of precious time and helped me to get a better understanding of how our social media efforts are impacting our clients' organizations. If you manage social media for your organization, you definitely need to get on board!

BE THERE: Mission Driven Marketing Event

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Whew, is it really Wednesday already? Sorry for my temporary absence on the blog. It's been a crazy week around here as we work to wrap up a major client project that started back in May while simultaneously kicking off a couple very exciting projects for two new clients (more on that soon).

After the busyness of the last few days, I feel like I need an afternoon to recharge and refocus. That's why I'll be attending the AMA's Mission Driven Marketing event tomorrow in Chicago. The speakers (Holly Messick, VP of Corporate Relations with the American Heart Association and Joey Feinstein, Executive Director of Climate Cycle) will be talking about a topic near and dear to my heart: how to keep your donors and supporters engaged. All too often, I see for-purpose organizations make important connections with donors and supporters and then quickly let those relationships go stale. As for-purpose marketers, it's our responsibility to make sure that our supporters are constantly aware of and engaged in the work we're doing. I think this event will be a great learning opportunity for all of us, and I hope you'll join me there!

Thanks to our new friends at Joone Studios for giving us a heads up about the event!

Announcing...Our New Training and Workshop Packages

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Today is an exciting day here at Prosper PR because we've officially launched our brand new Training and Workshop Packages! Yes, we've been holding training sessions with our clients for awhile, but now we've formalized the process and created compehensive training and workshop programs (complete with workbooks!) for some of the most commonly requested training topics.

Here's the scoop via our shiny new handout...

For both training sessions and workshops, you simply choose a half of full day session, and then pick what you'd like to cover from our list of pre-defined topics. As the handout says, topics can be grouped or covered independently. If you really want to nail down your brand, for instance, we can spend a whole session taking an in-depth look at positioning & branding. If you're looking to cover more ground, we can spend pack several (or all!) of our training topics into a single session and go through the basics for each. As always, we're happy to create a custom training or workshop package specifically tailored to your needs, but we hope these pre-defined packages will be a good starting point for many of our clients.

You'll walk away from your session with assets like a mission and vision statement (positioning & branding session), marketing plan outline (marketing planning session), or a media list (media relations), as well as a better understanding of how to make your marketing dreams a reality.

We're not officially advertising the new packages on our website until August 1st, because we want to give you, our Communicate Your Cause readers the ability to take advantage of a special discount. Contact us to set up a training session before 8/1, and we'll give you 30% off.

A Handy Guide To Marketing Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 23:02:00 +0000

I'm excited to announce that our printable guide/template for marketing planning is finally available. In case you missed it, we went through the process of writing a marketing plan in a series of blog posts in May and June. We covered:

Why so many nonprofits don't have marketing plans
Why your for-purpose organization needs a marketing plan
Marketing Planning Step 1: Setting goals
Marketing Planning Step 2: Conducting a SWOT analysis
Marketing Planning Step 3: Finding Your target market
Marketing Planning Step 4: Developing a strategy and choosing tactics
Marketing Planning Step 5: Measuring your success

Now, we've pulled everything together into one of our Handy 101 Guides to For-Purpose Marketing. Many of you have told us that you liked the template-like features in our social media guide, so we've changed up the guide format a bit to bring you more opportunities to write all over the pages and develop your plan. Enjoy!

Have questions about the guide or want to learn more about developing a marketing guide? Let me know in the comments or email me at alyssa@prosperpr.com.

Building and Funding Your Marketing Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:17:00 +0000

All too often, we encounter a nonprofit organization that is interested in working with us, but simply doesn't have the budget for marketing. Money is always an issue in the nonprofit world, but marketing is one area where budets are notoriously tiny (if they exist at all).

I've been doing a lot of reading on this issue over the last few days, and happened upon two great articles (both by Stacy Jones for Philanthropy Journal) that I think are must-reads for any organization struggling with its marketing capacity.

The first, "Building a Marketing Budget," offers practical tips for nonprofit professionals who want to create (or grow) a marketing budget that makes it possible to get the word out about what they do. I couldn't agree more with Stacy's tip that the first step is making marketing a priority.

The second, "Finding Grants to Fund Marketing," breaks down the process of seeking a grant that will add funds to you marketing budget. Rather than being deliverable focused (looking for grants to build a new website, for example) Stacy says nonprofits should be outcome focused, and seek grants that have to do with raising awareness, reaching clients, building capacity etc.

Whether you're on vacation for the holiday this week or working away at your office, I hope you'll take a few minutes to read both articles and start thinking about how you can grow your organization's marketing budget.

June Faves

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 18:04:00 +0000

Yes, I know, it's already July and I still haven't posted our June faves. With a holiday weekend on the way and a few all-consuming client projects in the works, the end of the month simply snuck up on me. But better late than never, right?

Here are a few for-purpose marketing posts that sparked our interest and got us thinking in June:

Nonprofits Don't Care About Marketing via Marketing That Works
I'll admit, the title of this post was a bit disconcerting as our business is built around helping nonprofits with marketing. However, rather than moping about the fact that many nonprofits consider marketing to be a "low priority," we've decided to see the results of Nancy Schwartz's Nonprofit Messaging Survey study as an call-to-action for nonprofit marketing firms like Prosper PR. It's our responsiblity to show nonprofits (through real world examples) that marketing really does matter, and that it's accessible even for organizations with small budgets. This message will be a central theme in our firm's marketing efforts for the rest of 2012.

How to Pitch Your Cause via Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog
I had the pleasure of attending 2012's Cause Marketing Forum conference earlier this month, and agree with Katya that the "Perfect Pitch" competition was one of the more valuable sessions. Many nonprofits we work with are hesitant about delving into cause marketing simply because they don't know how to pitch their organization to a corporate partner, but keeping these three elements of a winning pitch in mind will make the process far less daunting.

25 Best Social Media for Social Good Blogs via Ventureneer
Many of the blogs featured on this list were already on my daily reads list, but I've found a few new favorites, like SocialMouths and The Dragonfly Effect, thanks Ventureneer. I definitely second their recommendation of all the blogs on this list.

What were you reading in June?

Twitter Mistakes To Avoid #3: Over-Following

noreply@blogger.com (Alyssa VandeLeest) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:13:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I checked in with our Twitter Mistakes to Avoid series. Today, I'd like to touch on a third common Twitter mistake that many for-purpose organizations make, but all should avoid: over-following. You've seen this before. An organization or company starts a new Twitter profile, and, in an effort to get their follower numbers up quickly, goes out and follows a ton of (often irrelevant) accounts all at once. There are two problems here:

1. This kind of activity makes you look like a spammer. If you're sending out a massive number of random follow requests with only a few tweets under your belt, you can bet that only a very small number of the accounts you follow will return the favor. Those that do are likely to be low quality followers who just want to get their numbers up, too. Why? Because someone with a low number of tweets and followers and a high "following" number looks like a spammer.

2. You'll end up with a group of worthless followers. A large number of followers does not make you a Twitter master. It's not your follower number itself, but rather the number of followers within that group who legitimately care about what you have to say that matters. Building a community of relevant, engaged, interested followers time, and you typically can't do it by following hundreds of accounts all at once.

So what's a new Twitter user to do? I suggest taking a week or two to build up a history of interesting, insightful tweets. Then, start by following people you know personally. They'll be more likely to follow you back even if it's clear that you're a Twitter newbie. After you gain some traction, start using search.twitter.com to identify other accounts in your niche or local market and follow a few new accounts each week, but don't overdo it. Then, simply keep posting regularly and interacting with the accounts you follow. Your follower count might grow more slowly than those who engage in over-following, but you can bet your community will be much higher quality.