Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Did you hear the big announcement from Claire? Click-it! No time… end of year is coming… got to get more messages out! Are you a mouse or a… ? Chill a sec… you’re all tied up in knots! This will help. Plus… there’s a special gift offered at the end. A gift? Cool… I could use one about now. Maybe I have a sec…
First a Clairity Click-it announcement: I’m deeply honored, humbled and proud that I made the Top 100, and Maximize Social Business (for whom I write a monthly column on social media for nonprofits) made the Top 50, of the Top Content Marketing Influencers on Twitter. If you’re not familiar with Maximize Social Business and its founder, Neal Schaffer, please follow me there and stay up to date on the latest social media news. You’ll hear from over 25 social media experts, all with different perspectives and focuses. It’s a one-stop-shop for social media knowledge. Now, while we’re on the subject, let’s take a look at some useful posts on content marketing and social media that will help you raise awareness and drive more donations this holiday season!
Content Marketing
Click-It: 75 Resources for Writing Incredible Copy that Converts is your definitive list for learning everything you need to know about content marketing that engages potential constituents and converts them into supporters. It comes from the great team at Kissmetrics who know quite a lot about what it takes to succeed with online marketing. The resources are broken into useful categories: copywriting; direct response marketing, and headlines for a few, plus links to all the best websites and blogs on copywriting.
Click-It: This Simple Writing Technique Will Help You Overcome the Inertia of Perfectionism. If you ever have trouble coming up with topics for your blog or e-newsletter, check out this technique from Bryan Collins at Copyblogger called “free writing.” It’s a lot like brainstorming with a group, but you do it by yourself, setting a limit, and putting pen to paper. You keep it conversational, writing down your thoughts as fast as they come to you. No editing allowed! Check it out.
Click-It: How to Write Persuasive Emails. The next time you’re thinking about reaching out via email to a potential business sponsor, foundation grantor or individual donor prospect you’d do well to channel some of the advice offered by Henneke in the Enchanting Marketing blog. Ask (1) if your goal is crystal clear; (2) why your reader would care; (3) what might stop your reader from taking action, and (4) if you can cut out redundancies. The article offers some examples and fixes. Good stuff!
Social Media Engagement
Click-It:10 Ways to Maximize Holiday Giving Online comes from Teri Harel on the Constant Contact blog. This is important because “Around 30 percent of annual online gifts are made in December and donors give 80 percent larger gifts on average in December.” This article is filled with useful facts and tips. How about the fact that 66% of emails are opened on a mobile device, and 80% of people will delete emails not optimized for mobile? Or the fact that 2-3 part email series had four times the response rate and almost double the average donation size of single email appeals? Read the full article to learn more and set yourself up for year-end success.
Click-It: How Social Media Marketing Can Help Win New Business. Every business – whether for profit or not – needs to continually develop new users/supporters. Which is why this article about how to compete in our digitally revolutionized world is so directly applicable to the social benefit sector. How about: “Businesses [aka nonprofits] must showcase their skills and knowledge in social media marketing to overcome competition. They must provide interesting and informative content and share them with prospective clients [aka donors] to help distinguish them from other agencies.” Social media offers a valuable venue for showcasing your skills and strengths and establishing yourself as a leader in your area of concern. The more you become an active player, the more you grow your reputation. Thanks to the folks at Virtual Social Media for this post.
Click-It: 20 Social Media Marketing Tips From the Pros is another great post from Cindy King at Social Media Examiner. They’re all good, but #1 is something I’m amazed nonprofits don’t do more. And #6 and #7 will make your life so much easier if you stick to it. Then there’s #10, which is one of my pet tips and I wish you’d consider it for your nonprofit. These tips come from some of the leading lights in social media marketing, so I encourage you to check them out.
This week’s Clairity Click-it Gift — wrapped up in my blog. Open it!
FREE HOLIDAY GIFTS GALORE!!!
Since it’s the season, I’m going to offer you a gift every week from now until the end of the year. I’m a terrible wrapper (usually I use newspaper). Now that newspapers are dying (sniff, sniff) I may as well wrap my gifts to you up in a blog! Here comes your first present…
Open-It: Whitepaper – The Essential Guide to Social Media for Nonprofits. Salsa Labs is offering a real treat, completely for free. Grab it!
If you check off everything on the lists included in this guide, you’ll raise more money.
Only 40 days left until the end of the year.
Get the most out of this year’s holiday giving season using my Year-End Fundraising To-Do’s and Checklists. It’s a “Cheat Sheet” to make sure you’ve got all your ducks nicely lined up and you’re not missing a few tweaks that could mean a big difference in your results. I promise you’ll more than make up the $17 bucks you spend — or I’ll make a donation to your nonprofit to assure that you do! Grab it today!
Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net
