Fresh Look – Crowd Fundraising Trend
Crowd fundraising offers a huge new opportunity for nonprofits to acquire new donors and expand their base of support. Thus far it’s mostly been used for peer-to-peer campaigns, but one nonprofit recently employed it in a very clever new way.
DetailsIn 1984 Robert Cialdini wrote a groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, outlining principles of influence that affect human behaviors.
These principles are well documented, and can be incredibly useful to fundraisers.
Even someone inclined to support your cause may not give unless you push the right buttons.
A new infographic visually makes the point that, while technology advances, human triggers remain constant.
Here are five triggers — with a few suggested strategies (I’m sure you can come up with more) — to use these principles in your offline and online relationship building with prospective supporters:
DetailsI’m trying something new. I must read over 100 articles every week, and many of them say things with which I agree. In fact, some say them better than I could have said it (Yup!). So I’m putting together the very best in an easy-to-“click-it” format with links to this week’s best and brightest in fundraising, marketing, social media, leadership, change and all the good stuff. You’ll find it to be an eclectic array, often sourced from more than one discipline, as I believe we can learn a lot from our colleagues in other sectors.
Of course, I can’t help but add in a few comments of my own. I hope you’ll find it useful. Let’s begin:
DetailsI really want you to blog. Did you know that Social Media Examiner’s 2013 State of Social Media Report puts blogging #1 at the list of the top 14 social media channels you should be exploring? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Your blog is the hub of your content strategy (or it should be). Build a blog and rock it. You’ll simultaneously put in place a content strategy that will enable you to easily share relevant content across every communication channel you use. Online and offline. There’s no better way to offer your constituents meaningful engagement. So… what are you waiting for?
BTW: You can learn a lot more if you download my free webinar,The Keys to Nonprofit Blogging that Drives Engagement. Did I mention it’s free?
Here are 10 tips to get you started, or to help you simplify the process so you can focus and deliver.
I randomly checked out some nonprofit mission statements yesterday. I was going to check a few more, but… YAWN… I fell asleep.
I’m not kidding.
I don’t want to embarrass anyone, but
DetailsUnless… they reinvent themselves.
I know this sounds harsh. But check out Seth Godin’s Tried and false where he bluntly tells the truth about the tried and true: “In times of change… most of the tried is in fact, false. False because what used to work, doesn’t, at least not any longer.”
You may have been the best major gift officer on the planet five years ago. But that was then. This is now. The buying/giving market has fundamentally changed. And, yes, the culprit is the digital revolution. That’s how revolutions work. It’s truly the end of business as usual.
DetailsWhen you ask a fundraiser what the most difficult part of their job is, chances are you’ll get one of two answers – acquiring donors or retaining donors. Any fundraising organization is bound to come up against these problems at some point. But here’s the thing that is often overlooked – if you do a better job retaining donors, you can spend less time and money trying to acquire new donors.
Could this be the secret formula for fundraising success? Well, not entirely. But it’s a solid start.
Donor retention can seem elusive for many non-profits. It’s frustrating to pull up your annual reports to find out that you’ve only had 50% of last year’s donors make a gift again this year. Sometimes, it can even feel like a personal defeat.
If you’re working on the annual giving side of development, keep track of thousands of donors is nearly impossible. Your database can quickly become your archenemy. Having the highly personal relationships that major gift officers have with donors is a novel pipe dream.
But what if it was possible to scale this concept to create a system that retains donors?
DetailsIt’s perplexing to still hear folks ask “Do we really need social media?” Do you need to text and respond to your kid’s texts? Well… only if you want to be in touch! That question is so 2008. In 2013 it’s more like “my way or the highway.”
Here’s the problem if you’re a small nonprofit:
You’re resource challenged. You don’t have enough staff to do everything that needs to be done as it is. Now you’re supposed to add social media?! Well, which channels? You can’t do it all, for goodness sakes. There must be one best channel. Maybe you can just squeeze that in.
DetailsListen up.
Whatever you did in the past is relevant, but it doesn’t mean it’s exactly what you should be doing today. Relevant means pertaining to or connected to. Your history is always connected with you in some manner. But it’s not always germane (central) or apropos (to the point and opportune).
If you say…
That’s not the way we do things.
We tried that; it doesn’t work.
We don’t need research; we know what our audience cares about.
… stop.
DetailsIn case you don’t know, troglodytes are hermits who live in caves. There are 3 ways I’ve found that folks in the development profession fit this description. Are you a cave dweller? If so, here’s how to get out more.
