Grassroots 2.0

New Report - Empowering Alumni and Friends to Carry Your Message to Elected Officials

2009-12-08T18:02:49-06:00

Convio, Inc. and Tipping Point Strategies today announced the availability of a guide that will help educational institutions to launch effective grassroots advocacy campaigns. The guide provides practical advice on balancing direct lobbying, media relations and grassroots efforts, as well as tips on how to mobilize your community to support your institution. It is available to download at: http://www.convio.com/empower-alumni.

Topics covered include:

Deciding on an infrastructure
Staffing your program
Creating campus leadership buy-in
Identifying key stakeholders
Choosing an online software tool
Creating and launching a grassroots advocacy plan
Developing key messages

For educational institutions that have a grassroots advocacy program in place already, the guide provides a series of expansion strategies.

The guide also includes case studies which feature leading universities and their success at increasing advocacy with alumni and friends.

Alumni as Advocates - Presentation

2009-12-06T17:38:00-06:00

Check out the presentation that I delivered this weekend at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Government Relations conference.

Alumni As Advocates

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Wireless Web

2009-10-13T09:37:00-05:00

What is the future of the wireless web? Is it something simply relegated to mobile usage on smart phones or is it the wave of the future? Competing special interests make this a discussion fraught with peril – the same companies which have invested in mobile technology are also some of the biggest players in the broadband business. Even manufacturers of smart phones have a lot invested in the status quo.

A recent article by the consulting firm McKinsey&Company asked a series of important questions about the future of the wireless web:

Will the mobile Web become a substitute for wired access?
Will mobile match the performance for fixed access?
Where will people go for the best content and Web applications?
Which software interface will organize and manage the wireless Web?
Which mobile Web are we talking about?
What will the pricing model be?

Read the entire article here: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/High_Tech/Strategy_Analysis/What_shape_will_the_wireless_web_take_2425

Certainly, internet users are not abandoning their fixed connections; rather, they are adding wireless applications to their current web usage. Yet, public preferences are already shaping the debate. According to McKinsey, "[s]urveys show that two-thirds of mobile-phone owners access data on their devices—up from only one-quarter three years ago—with 60 percent using them for basic Internet browsing. Spending on smart phones, meanwhile, has soared from barely 3 percent of new-phone purchases to nearly 20 percent in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States."

Certainly, mobile technology is a huge democratizing force. Accessing the internet from a smart phone is much less expensive than purchasing a computer and signing up for either a broadband or wireless internet service provider contract. Those communities, typically on the losing side of the digital divide, are suddenly able to access all kinds of information on the internet and to take part in important public debates through mobile technology.

But, the question remains – how will the entrenched interests in the marketplace respond?

It’s the end of the world as we know it…

2009-10-10T09:35:21-05:00

In an intriguing new study, IBM posits four possible scenarios for the future of advertising. Of course, we all know how technology generally, and the internet in particular, has dramatically altered the landscape of our daily lives. But, other forces are also at work, allowing consumers to being selected the messages they hear – DVR, for example, allows users to simply skip all the advertising during a traditional 30 or 60 minute television program. In a world where advertising rates are determined by "impressions," this is a real blow.

IBM conducted a global survey of 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising experts and asked these groups to grapple with two juxtaposed ideas: the propensity for consumers to control marketing and the openness of advertising inventories (basically, the tension between whether consumer or ad producers will control content and delivery of advertising in the years to come). Depending where the balance is eventually struck, IBM sees one of four potential "new worlds" of advertising emerging by 2012.

You can read the whole report here: http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2009/09/25/ibm-study-the-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it/

According to the IBM study, the four alternatives are:

The continuum swings from "continued evolution," where advertisers are still largely in control, sending messages in the traditional one-to-many format in play today while adapting to new technologies like DVR, all the way to "ad marketplace," where consumers almost entirely self-direct the kind of advertising they want to see and share peer-to-peer the messages they prefer.

What do you think? What is the future of advertising in our ever-increasingly customized world?

Foundation + Nonprofits = A Better Minnesota

2009-10-02T17:12:20-05:00

How can foundations and nonprofits work together to build a better state? That is the question evaluated by a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. The authors of this study correctly begin by noting the Minnesota is rich in both nonprofit organizations and generous philanthropists (individuals and foundations). This state, perhaps more than any other, should be a place where these two groups come together – not just in the obvious ways, such as when a nonprofit submits a proposal for funding to a local foundation – but in new, meaningful ways to effectuate community change.

So argues the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and I think they are on the right track. Foundations should begin using new media strategies to engage in advocacy campaigns that benefit the communities they fund, essentially leveraging the dollars invested by funders into even greater returns for communities in need. The numbers alone make an effective case: for the groups surveyed (approximately 15 organizations in Minnesota), "[f]or every dollar invested in their advocacy and organizing work ($16.5 million total), the groups garnered $138 in benefits for Minnesota communities."

Read the entire report here: http://www.ncrp.org/files/publications/gcip-mn-fulldoc-lowres.pdf

This partnership is especially critical in times of budgetary constraints, economic downturn, and general uncertainty. "Foundations can make a measurable difference by partnering with effective grassroots and statewide nonprofits to advocate and organize for long-term, meaningful change." To do so, the report suggests that funders do the following:

Increase the percentage of grant dollars devoted to advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement.
Engage board members and donors in dialogue about how advocacy and organizing can help a grantmaking institution achieve its long-term goals.
Strengthen peer learning and strategizing about advocacy and organizing.
Engage nonprofit partners in strategic planning and grantmaking process of foundations.
Apply a racial equity lens to grantmaking.
Provide general operating support and multiyear grants.

Minnesota has communities in crisis – organizations and their funders need to join the conversation in more ways than ever before. Foundations should share this report with their boards and trustees; individuals should discuss it with family members and those engaged in making philanthropic choices; nonprofits should identify ways they can bring deliverables into sharp relief so that funders can easily see the social change their dollars will help secure.

Online giving hub connects donors and non-profits

2009-09-15T20:22:02-05:00

It's no secret that online fundraising has exploded in relevance and popularity over the past few years. The ease for donors and the cost-effectiveness for organizations cannot be overlooked. According to Barclays wealth report "Tomorrow's Philanthropist," 66% of individuals in the U.S. search for charities online.

Now, Minnesota non-profits can participate in www.GiveMN.org, a website that unites donors with likeminded organizations. In this new world where donors seek organizations to invest in rather than waiting for that organization's direct mail piece to land on their doorstep, nonprofits must be active in finding ways to connect with potential supports. GiveMN's tool allows this to happen in an easy and cost effective way. Even better than simply providing a way for donors to give online, GiveMN allows donors and the organizations they support to stay connected, providing ways for the organization to update donors on programs and initiatives they support and for donors to provide active feedback to the organizations they support.

In order to participate, registered 501(c)(3) organizations can initiate their own page on GiveMN's website. This page will contain information about the organization's mission, current programs, suggested donation amounts and links to the organization's website. This provides the potential donor with a snapshot of your organization on the same page that it prompts giving – everything the donor is looking for is housed in one easy-to-use space. Furthermore, organizations have the ability to track donations made through GiveMN.org in real time and receipts are automatically emailed to donors at the time they make their gift.

What could be easier? Every non-profit should look into creating a page at GiveMN.org because this convenient tool allows organizations to reach out to donors at the very place where donors are looking for them – online.

Politics has moved online

2009-04-26T17:45:49-05:00

A Pew Internet & American Life Project report from last week confirmed what many of us have already known about politics and the Internet: that the web has quickly become the dominant place where people get their political news and decide to get involved.

"Some 74% of internet users--representing 55% of the entire adult population--went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election. This marks the first time that a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey has found that more than half of the voting-age population used the internet to get involved in the political process during an election year."

This report should finally put to rest the argument that I still hear from organizations – my members just don't really use the Internet. The report found that, "among the entire population the internet is now equal to newspapers and roughly twice as important as radio as a source of election news and information." Even tech-savvy seniors are using the Internet to get political information.

Organizations should determine whether they are allocating internal resources appropriately in this new communications environment. Each organization is different, but your organization should be spending about half of your communication resources online.

That does not mean that organizations should abandon traditional public relations activities like sending out press releases and advertising. Rather, your organization should have a balanced approach between traditional offline tactics and emergent online communication strategies.

Think about these questions:

Does my website look fresh and up to date?
How often do I send out e-mails to supporters?
How well do I engage my members through the Internet?
Am I using multiple channels to send out messages (e-mail, website, social networking websites, blogs, twitter, etc.)?

Are You Mobile?

2009-04-06T09:00:00-05:00

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released a study on the growing number of Americans using mobile internet technology. We all notice this emergent group with the rise of iPhones and Blackberrys. It is clear that this promising arena will be critical to the future success of nonprofits, corporations and political candidates.

The "Mobile Difference" report by Pew defines individuals that use this technology as motivated by mobility. The report states that this group is 39% of the adult U.S. population, having "seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. For these groups, growth in frequency of online use is linked not only to increasing broadband adoption, but to positive and improving attitudes about how mobile access makes them more available to others."

According to the report, the rest of us do not feel such a draw to the use of mobile technology, for a number of reasons:

Many still feel content with their current high speed internet connection on desktop
Many are infrequently online
Many feel they already receive too much information and prefer traditional communication vehicles
Indifference to technology
Some live off the grid - they just don't use the Internet

Here is their breakdown of people that use mobile technology. This information should be helpful in your organization's targeting operation. It can tell organizations how to reach out to different groups and whether they will be receptive to mobile technology.

Some Positive News About Nonprofit Giving

2009-03-23T09:37:00-05:00

The economic downturn has all nonprofits concerned. Fortunately, a recently released study should provide a ray of hope to those that raise money for nonprofits. The study, conducted by Cygnus Applied Research, found that 52% of donors do not plan on decreasing their charitable contributions in 2009.

Remarkably, 50% of donors contacted for the study said that they intend to donate as much in 2009 as in previous years, even making sacrifices in their daily lives to sustain that level of philanthropy in 2009. The study also found that some people (42%) are interested in giving to a charity that they had not supported in the past. So, despite the economic downturn, there are opportunities to recruit new donors and supporters this year.

And, the best way to recruit those new donors is online. The study also found that online donations are going to become an even more popular way to donate, replacing the more traditional methods like tele-marketing and direct-mail as donors preferred method to give.

Of course, this does not mean that organizations should stop using more traditional means to recruit donors. Instead, online strategies should be utilized to keep donors informed and thus are the first way that organizations should ask for financial support. Online engagement is a more cost-effective way to reach donors and keep them happy. Then, if donors don't respond via online giving opportunities, it is wise to follow-up with those more traditional means.

For more information read the article in Chronicle for Philanthropy - http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=7442

E-Advocacy 2.0

2009-02-21T08:33:35-06:00

2009 Nonprofit Technology & Communications Conference

View this presentation to learn how to better engage advocates with technology to meet your organization's public policy goals. This session is designed for people already engaged in e-advocacy who want to learn how to enhance their efforts and integrate their e-communications. Leave this session with a better understanding of how to effectively communicate your organization’s policy issues and enhance engagement via e-advocacy, how to track e-advocacy efforts in a meaningful way, and how to integrate your e-advocacy efforts with your organization’s communications plan.

E-Advocacy 2.0

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