Clairity Click-it: Finding Donors, Power of Parody, Gratitude, Leadership, Content Marketing

Mixed bag today. From funny and unusual to serious and thought-proving. You’ll definitely find something of interest here. Take a lo! Finding Donors Click-It: Low Hanging Fruit. This cartoon from Hugh MacLeod at Gaping Void made me wonder. How might this apply to your donor cultivation strategy? Maybe the reason you’re not finding donors…

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Stop Boring Folks with Your Nonprofit Website. Wake ‘em Up with a Blog!

Keep telling yourself you need a better website to build greater awareness for your cause?

You can certainly do this.  But are you asking the more important question?

Why the heck do you want greater awareness?  And why would anyone want to be aware of you? Those are the questions too many nonprofits fail to ask.  So ask.  Seriously. Take a moment.  I’ll wait.

Because we want more people to know about us.”

WHY?

Because we want to educate them about what we do.

WHY?

Because we want more people to support us.

AHA!  Now you’re getting somewhere.

Now ask yourself how getting a better website is going to get you more support.  Chances are it won’t. Not really. Because folks are on a journey towards you that builds – from awareness… to interest… to engagement… to investment. And the kicker is that the latter two are where all the action happens. Awareness and interest alone are passive. They won’t get you the active investment you need to sustain your mission.

Engagement precedes investment!

Sadly, most nonprofit websites are lousy engagement vehicles. They’re especially lousy when compared with a blog.

Let’s look at 4 reasons why blogs trump websites for creating engagement:

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ONE BIG THING Your Nonprofit Must Do TODAY to Succeed in 2014

Adopt an integrated inbound marketing and fundraising strategy.

If you don’t know what that means, you’re in trouble. Read on.

If you do know, are you really doing it?

It’s time to stop pussy footing around this.

Here’s why:

(1) Nonprofit marketing and fundraising have changed more in the past five years than the preceding 50. I’m not kidding!  The digital revolution ended business as usual.

(2) Fundraising and marketing must be seamlessly integrated. They cannot be separate silos any longer.

Have you caught up with reality?

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3 Keys to Rethink Fundraising Risk and Reward in 2014

When should you take risks with fundraising? When you’re ready. Here’s what I mean:

You Can’t Riff Without a Guitar. News flash: You’ve got to do the basics before you improvise.

What’s on your playlist for 2014?  The rewarding gold standards like prospecting, asking and stewarding? Or riskier new events? Special campaigns? Extra social media?  You’re to be congratulated if you’ve got innovative ideas. It shows you haven’t lost your creative spark, and you’ve got gusto and passion for what you do. Bravo! But… wait… hold on a minute…

Before you get lost in the creative process,

Clairity Click-it: Tweak Your System to Improve Year-End Fundraising

As year-end fundraising approaches, just doing it the way you’ve always done it – or imitating the way others do it – may not be enough to set you apart from the crowd.  So… our theme this week is to think outside the box – just a little. Teach yourself a few new tricks, and get outside — literally! —  to invigorate your fundraising.  So… let’s start with a post of almost the same name!

Weekly Clairity Click-it: Content Creation, Storytelling, Practical Social Media, Asking, Thanking

This week’s Clairity Click-it – your eclectic array of easy to-“click-it” links to posts I’ve found thought provoking. With, of course, a few comments of my own.

Content Creation

Click-it: 25 Brain Lubricants to Generate Content Ideas. This guest post on the Convince and Convert blog comes from creative director Barry Feldman. If you feel like you don’t have enough content to fill a blog (and if you read me at all you know I believe every nonprofit should have a blog!) check out these great ideas for combating writer’s block.  Here’s one I like: Got a bookcase full of dusty old classics? Crack one open. Try poetry. Hit Pinterest for inspirational quotes. There’s something about great thinkers that makes you think.

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How Google Works for Your Nonprofit Blog -Easy SEO and Search – S.S.T.S. Series Part IV

Share, Shareable, Talk, SearchIn Part I: Share, Part II: Shareable  and Part III: Talk of this S.S.S.T. Series we covered the importance of sharing your blog, making it shareable by others and getting folks to talk about you with their online networks.  But there’s one important component of your super-sonic blog promotion strategy that we’ve missed.  Here it is:

SEARCH

Let’s begin with why it’s important to talk about search. Because you want more readers for your blog, right? Well, the people who are your friends, plus the people who are their friends, are not all the people in the world.  They’re not even all the people who may be interested in what you do!  Search is how most people find you.  Search is the most common online activity after email, and that fact cuts across generations.

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4 Ways to Turn Your Nonprofit Blog Into Action – RCA Series Part III

Call to Action SignR.C.A. is about getting folks walking; not just talking.  It’s about good content and conversation that leads to your desired action. It refers to Relatable, Part I, Conversational, Part II, and Actionable. You remember this acronym by thinking about an RCA Victrola – that old-fashioned phonograph contraption that helped transport your grandparents and great-grandparents — and fire their imaginations — through the music that inspired them.

You want to transport your constituents with inspiring values and stories in the same way.  The reason you want to transport them?  So their inspiration will lead to engagement — action that helps to further your mission. So, today that’s what we’re going to talk about!  Ready for action?

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3 Ways to Build a Nonprofit Blog Worth Sharing – RCA Series Part I

 

R.C.A.  That’s the three things.  Yup.  When building a blog that’s not only worth reading but also worth sharing, you’ve got to think like an RCA Victrola and record.  A great recording captures our attention.  It transports us.  It carries us away.  It brings us into the music/story in an easy flow.  It gets us tapping our toes and up on our feet dancing. Woo-hoo… it’s a party!

And don’t you just want to share a party?  To get your readers to share your party you’ve got to make sure your blog posts are Relatable (they find common ground with your readers); Conversational (you speak directly to your readers), and Actionable(you achieve your blog post’s purpose).

Once you understand the three principles of R.C.A. you’ll be well on your way towards having a blog your readers will share with their networks. Today, let’s begin with the first principle:  how to put the ‘R’ in R.C.A.

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To Sell is Human; To Give, Divine – Why We’re All in Fundraising Now

Philanthropy; Not Fundraising

I recently attended an inspiring talk by Daniel Pink, author of To Sell Is Human, and found myself furiously taking notes.  Next thing you know I was impulsively buying the book (autographed, of course)! Do I have buyer’s remorse? Absolutely not. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Everything he has to say is so directly applicable to fundraising and the nonprofit sector that [IMHO] it’s a ‘must read’ for those of us in the philanthropy business. Here’s why:

We erroneously think “selling” is bad.   In fact, it’s probably even more of a taboo word in nonprofits than the word “fundraising.” People just don’t like it. Pink did an experiment where he asked people to give him the first word that came to their minds when they thought of “sales/selling.”  They answered with such words as:

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4 Reasons No One Will Read Your Nonprofit Blog: Part III of the C.P.A. series

Yawning hippoC.P.A.? Yup. In my last two posts I introduced you to the ‘accountant’ theory of an effective blog content strategy.  C for constituent-centered. P for plan. A for accessible. You can review the ‘C’ and ‘P’ posts here and here.   Today we’re going to talk about the ‘A.’

No one is going to read your blog unless you make it accessible. As in “easy to approach, reach, enter, speak with, or use.” So, let’s start at the beginning.  Getting found and getting opened.

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3 Little Understood Factors Affecting Your Nonprofit Blog Readership – and How to Quickly Fix Things – Part I

C.P.A.  That’s the three things.  Huh? Your accountant?  Well…. sort of.  What do you want from an accountant?  My guess is that you want someone who is:

  • Passionate about helping you.
  • An authority on their subject.
  •  Focused on you and your situation.
  • Working from a plan; knows how to help you.
  •  Accessible to you; easy to understand; there when you need them.

Gosh, golly… that’s exactly what your blog readers want from you! So if you’ve got passion and authority (and I certainly hope you have that about your mission and the work of your organization) then you’re already ahead of the game. Woo-hoo! Now you just need to package everything, and make sure you’re Constituent-centered (focused on your readers); Planful (you know what your blog’s goals and objectives are and how you can use your blog to be of value to your constituents), and Accessible (folks can easily connect with you and understand what you’re sharing with them).

Once you understand the principles of C.P.A. you’ll be well on your way towards having a blog with content that knocks the socks off your readers. Today, let’s begin with how to put the ‘C’ in C.P.A.

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From Customer Engagement to Desire to Investment: Blogs Bond, Now What? Part III

Now what? Blogs – and social media of all stripes – are not the end goal.  They’re a lot of things. Fun… Annoying… Exciting… Time sucking… Sexy… Leveraging… Awareness creating… Teaching… Seducing… and let’s not forget –Bonding!  As discussed in  Part I and Part II , they can create relationships like nobody’s business if we…

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Missoni Zig Zag Top Giveaway! Hitting the Target; Missing the Mark: When there is no there there, your hype is empty, your customer is alienated and your brand gets injured

Failure to iver on your promise.  This is the cardinal sin in branding. I promised this blog would not just be about philanthropy, but sometimes also about phasion and fun. So… I am following through.  Plus I am PROMISING that if you to the Clairification e list, and add a comment to this blog…