We talk a lot in fundraising circles about inspiring people to give. Inspiration is a funny thing, however. Will we give if we’re inspired by hope or fear? Can you even call fear inspiring? Hmmn… Let’s leave those two questions aside for the moment (we’ll get back to them), and address that which I…
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“Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
— David Ogilvy, advertising legend
Your email subject line matters. A lot.
So this article is all about learning how to rock your online ‘envelope’ – which is really what determines if your email will get opened.
When you stop to think about this, it makes a lot of sense. Your email subject line has a function! And its form should follow that function.
People’s inboxes are increasingly cluttered, so you need to stand out. Big time! Really, you’ve probably got no more than two seconds to make an impression.
Do you think carefully about purpose when you create your email subject line? Do you even craft it at all, or do you delegate this essential function to someone else, perhaps an assistant or someone in your marketing or digital communications department? Someone who perhaps doesn’t really understand the email’s primary purpose as well as do you?
If you’re like most nonprofit fundraisers and marketers, you likely spend a lot of time crafting the perfect email body copy, selecting images and figuring out just the right design that will entice someone to respond to your call to action. Then, at the last minute, you’re ready to send it and hastily come up with a subject line.
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Steven Shattuck of Bloomerang wrote something for Nonprofit Hub called the Ultimate Nonprofit Social Media Scheduling Guide. And I kind of just , , it. Essentially, it suggests just one thing as your absolute key to a successful nonprofit social media strategy. It’s deceptively simple. I say deceptively, because at first blush it los…
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A recent article on Beth’s (Kanter) Blog by Miriam Brosseau and Stephanie Corleto was so well-written I was inspired to share some of it with you. I 100% agree with everything it says – and strongly believe you absolutely must do what the article suggests.
What’s that?
Bust down your siloes!
Specifically, turn those puppies on their sides so they form a pipeline, and let the free flow of ideas between programs, marketing and fundraising begin.
Can you picture this?
Imagine your program staff is hoarding all the inspiring stories of impact, and failing to share them with your development team. That’s a silo that needs to be toppled. Because…
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I’m a HUGE proponent of blogging for nonprofits.
Blogs are media. They’re also social. They aren’t rocket science.
You can build a great blog. But why would you want to? Aha! That’s the question too many nonprofits fail to ask. So, today we’re going to ask and answer this important 21st century question.
If you’re not currently rocking a blog — and making it central to your content marketing strategy — I hope you’ll reconsider.
Which is why I recently hosted Jay Wilkinson of Firespring for a wonderful webinar on the power of blogging and thought leadership for nonprofits. Among his key take-aways were these:
It’s how you get the word out about what you are experienced in. This is important so people think of you in this regard. Depending on your mission, when the topic of local theater comes up… or cancer research… or feeding the homeless… or equine therapy… or fighting human trafficking… you want folks to immediately think of you. For this to happen, you must truly commit to becoming a thought leader in your particular area.
A blog is akin to a super-charged, dynamic website that will bring you many more visitors – and a lot more engagement — than your website does now. Did you know 70% of visitors to the average website never visit again? Done well, a blog drives traffic to you naturally… brings folks back for more… and even gets folks to share stuff you post on your blog with their own networks. It’s a hugely powerful tool for finding and engaging with people – your donors and potential supporters – and I’m not the only one who thinks so. The primary reasons to blog are:
To these reasons I would add: To generate more philanthropic support. That’s the bottom line. It’s why you’re building awareness and driving traffic to your website, right? So… let’s dive into how to make your blog the best tool in your integrated marketing and fundraising toolbox!
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Donors are always a bit nervous about their investment in your nonprofit. More than anything, they want to know what their hard-earned money is accomplishing!
Bloomerang found that 8% of donors failed to renew their giving specifically because they weren’t sure what their gifts accomplished.
THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN!
If you want more gifts, you must give them.
And in this article we’ll look at why stories can be the perfect donor gift!
For a lot of nonprofit insiders, this is a paradigm shift. Think about it. I’m asking you to go from focusing on asking to focusing on giving.
Another way to consider this is to shift from focusing on selling to focusing on helping.
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In Part 1 of this two-part series I reviewed the ways nonprofit marketing and fundraising have significantly changed in recent years, and what this means for your ability to succeed in raising awareness and money.
I talked about how easy it is for leaders to blame staff, and vice-versa. It’s also easy to get sidetracked, because we’re operating in something of a Wild West frontier. And no one really is clear on the rules of the game.
Within the current zeitgeist, the job of the development professional becomes critical. Your organization needs you to lead. They need you to be an expert strategist, even if they don’t always know this.
If you’re just put into a corner and told to “go forth and raise money” or “go forth and make our name known,” you’re in for a bumpy ride. But you have the power to smooth the way!
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How do you create loyal donors? By creating satisfying engagement and amazing experiences.
At. Every. Step. Of…
The. Donor. Journey.
This is the trek you facilitate. You’re a bit of a Donor Sherpa. The way you lead will impact whether, and how long, donors will follow. Every step of the journey is important.
How carefully are you thinking through each step?
No matter what you do, the steps exist. Your donor has to step through them. Forwards or backwards. Upwards or downwards.
Ascertain what these steps look like for your organization’s donors. Are they leading folks onward and upward? Or are they forbidding, dangerous and inherently unenticing? Honestly assess whether the journey is one that is donor-centered. Or one that is all about you, your convenience and your needs.
Before we get started with the creation of five donor experiences to boost online fundraising, I’d like you to being with one “to do.”
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In Part 1 of this two-article series I walked you through some steps to create a rough draft of a marketing communications plan that will serve you in the current digitally-revolutionized and highly networked world. Not what you’ve been doing every year for the past decade, but something that will really serve you in today’s…
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If you’ve been a part of the Clairification community for any time at all, you’ll know my motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Life is just too short to keep the good stuff to oneself! Recently I sat in on Mapping Out Your Nonprofit Calendar for 2018 by Julia…
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