Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Click-it! No, not me. Your mouse!. Then, enjoy your read.
This week’s links are a real potpourri of pretty darn interesting stuff. Check ‘em out!
Events
Click-It: The Secret of the Five Top. Simply brilliant advice from Seth Godin. I dare you to try it at your next fundraising event. And if you’ve done it, let us all know how it worked!
Mobile
Click-It: Top 5 Reasons to Use Mobile. This post has all the data you need to persuade the powers-that-be that the time to optimize for mobile is NOW – before you get behind. Did you know that the cell phone is the most quickly adopted consumer technology in the history of the world?! Jenifer Snyder guests posts on Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog, noting: If you want donors to read your messages you need to send them a text. Text messages have a 97 percent open rate and 85 percent of text messages are read within 15 minutes of receipt. If you want donors to get and read your messages, use mobile. Something to think about, yes?
Social Media vs. Social Business
Click it: The Evolution of Social Business – Six Stages. This is an important, thought-provoking report from the Altimeter Group (Brian Solis and Charlene Li) that will make you think long and hard about your social media strategy and its purpose. A social media strategy lays out the channels, platforms and tactics to support publishing, listening and engagement. A social business strategy is the integration of social technologies and processes into business values, processes and practices to build relationships and spark conversations inside and outside the organization, creating value and optimizing impact for customers and the business alike.
Which of these success factors do you have in place?
How deeply embedded is social within your organization? I encourage you to read the full report and figure out what stage you may be in, and how you may/may not be optimized to move forward. And, while you’re thinking, consider which of these seven success factors you have in place.
Acknowledgment Plan
Click-It: The 4 Thank You Letters Every Fundraiser Needs to Use. If you aren’t segmenting your list and sending them different versions of your thank you letter, here’s a simple model to follow. You can make it more complicated if you wish, but at the very least do make it this complicated. Thanks to the folks at Bloomerang for sharing this.
Finally…
I want to let you know about two great learning opportunities this month:
1. How to Raise More Money with Email Appeals is a two-webinar course from Vanessa Chase of Philanthropy For All. If you get just one extra online gift you’ll have more than made back the fee! So… if you’re planning your year-end campaigns now, consider this as a way to maximize your investment of time and energy. May as well not miss a trick, right?
2. Here’s another link to Shanon Doolittle’s free webinar about how to get more corporate sponsorships for your next event. You do know that’s where all the money is made don’t you? You’re probably making one huge mistake – which is why you’re not getting more sponsorships. I won’t steal Shanon’s thunder, but you owe it to yourself to check it out. Why not? It’s free!
Photo: Flickr, Isaac Torronterra
As you plan your year-end campaigns, don’t forget to plan your thank you’s. Otherwise, you’ll get one-time gifts but won’t retain these folks. Get tons of tips, templates, checklists and sample thank you letters and emails in my Attitude of Gratitude Donor Guide. It’s 100% guaranteed.
