Today I participated in a great discussion on NTEN.org with Sue Cline about non-profit communications and whether its better to look like you need the money or have a more professional image. This is a question that I get asked a lot and is often the topic of much discussion among our board. There are two viewpoints that I see.
1) If you look too professional, potential donors may not want to donate because you don’t look like you need the money or worse - they wonder where the money is going.
2) If you look too “mom & pop”, donors may not take your organization seriously or worse - they wonder where the money is going (or in this case - how is it being managed).
I went to a Best Friends conference several years ago where this topic was discussed as it pertained to animal welfare organizations. Best Friends has a full-color, VERY slick magazine, a professional website, multiple print fundraising drives - you get the picture. As an organization, they made the decision to spend the money to give their org a professional, clean image. Ironically, there was very little fallout and they are one of the most well-funded animal welfare organizations in the country.
GoodDogz.org has been a grassroots organization for five years, yet we’ve always been able to convey a professional image while not spending loads of money. Here are a few tips that may help your organization make the most of your resources:
- Recruit volunteers that have the skills you need. If you need a new website, find a web designer that is interested in your cause. If you need print materials, find a graphic designer that can help you create a template for your print collateral.
- Work with the business community. Seek out members of the local community that can donate or cut you a deal on printing, legal services, accounting, PR help, etc. If they like your message, its likely they will help. It never hurts to ask and I’ve been told NO many times. But that should never stop you from asking.
- Look for cheap online resources. We paid an arm and a leg for our first business cards by using a local business that didn’t want to help us out. By searching online, we’ve been able to find great deals on printing, promotional materials, etc. Also check out Craigslist for high ticket items like trade show booths, computers, etc.
- Find sponsors. If you need a new website or printed materials, look for a sponsor that will pay for the service in return for promotional considerations. I built GoodDogz.org on sponsorships. Not only do you get what you need, but you also make valuable relationships with business owners.
- Most important - execution is key. It doesn’t matter how nice your newsletter looks - if your organization doesn’t present itself in a professional manner, you will not be taken seriously. It seems so simple, but I see so many non-profits fall apart on execution. Return phone calls and emails promptly. Take the time to ensure that your message is clear and is part of everything you distribute. If you host events, be sure that volunteers, participants, sponsors and exhibitors are well taken care of. Go that extra mile. In the long run, people (and potential donors) remember how they were treated by your organization before they recall the color of your website.
I am in the process of writing a social marketing plan for GoodDogz.org. We launched our new website about 2 weeks ago and, without any type of promotion, started immediately receiving blog comments, new NING community members, new LinkedIn group members, etc. It was truly amazing to see how quickly the new social aspects of the site snowballed. Adding these tools to a non-profit site was easy, cheap and effective. Here’s what we added:
That’s it. By adding those 4 tools, we were able to quickly gain more interaction with our audience, more interest and ultimately better resources for our users.
The next step is to create a strategy for promoting and using these tools. Although we were lucky enough to have “built it and they came”, a strategic plan is important to not only establish engagement but maintain an audience of loyal users who will come back often and participate in the conversation. More to come on that and I would love to hear the ideas of others on getting the word out.
Chris Brogan is a visionary in the social media space and has compiled this comprehensive list of tool and sites that are great for the beginner (with a few gems for everyone else). Be sure to check out the comments for more great finds. I would add the following sites to his list:
- Eons.com - social community for baby boomers (I’ve found that the question “How do we reach out to 60+ crowd?” comes up a lot.)
- Gather.com - social community for the intellectual set.
- Changents.com - connecting agents of change with backers.
- Change.org - social community for non-profits.
- Idealist.org - community and resources for non-profits.
I will add Chris’s list to my social media tools page. Please feel free to comment and help us add to the list.
NTEN recently launched the “We Are Media” project. Tagged The Social Media Starter Kit for Nonprofits, We Are Media focuses on strategic uses of social media for nonprofits. The project is supported by a think tank of web 2.0 strategists and consultants and will prove to be a great tool for nonprofits wanting to move into the social media space.
If you are a professional that would like to be involved in the development of the project, you are invited to participate in a number of ways:
Check the We Are Media site often for great new resources that will help your nonprofit gain exposure, grow your community and be seen!
Posted on Jun 28, 2008 under Non-Profit Specific |
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I can do for non-profits and what they really need. While I have a myriad of ideas, I’d rather open it up to my readers to better understand - what do you need? As the president of grassroots non-profit, I understand that the obvious answer is money and donors. But, depending on the size of the organization, I feel like there are many other areas where non-profits need support - web strategy and development, marketing, understanding social media, developing efficiencies, etc. I’d like to hear from you - what do you need? What will help your non-profit more effective and successful?
We have a Facebook Cause. We set this cause up about 6 or 8 months ago and so far have 34 members and have raised $115. We are getting ready to roll out a comprehensive social media campaign over the summer and are taking a hard look at our Facebook Cause. While large campaigns like Stop Global Warning and Save Darfur have hundreds of thousands of members, their donations seem out of line with the membership. So, what I’m seeing is that even though your cause may have a gazillion members, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are donating.
Philanthropy.com posted Is Facebook’s Fund Raising a Bust? on their blog on June 2. Clearly, there is some skepticism regarding the effectiveness of Causes for fundraising.
Frogloop from Care2 is a fantastic blog as a whole. If you are working through the ins and outs of marketing your non-profit, get a feed. Among the huge repository of information is this little nugget - a total assessment of Facebook Causes written a couple of months after it was launched. It’s very informative and includes some great tips.
We plan to continue to promote our FB Cause to see what we can get from it, but I’d like to know what experiences others are having. Please share.
As we ramp up our social media campaign and prepare to launch our new website, I’ve discovered a number of non-profit communities in the space. Here’s what I’ve found:
Change.org - Change.org encourages non-profits to create a profile and a “change” or campaign for an active initiative. The site also allows for non-profits to take donations online. From what I can tell, the donations seem to be pretty low. And as far as I know, our organization hasn’t been approved yet. The site is undergoing an overhaul and will be re-released in the fall. It will be interesting to see the enhancements.
Changents.com - I’m very interested in how Changents can help us. This is a really cool initiative that enables thought leaders in the non-profit industry to engage in conversation and create “ripples”. Your ripple builds as you work with change agents, nominate change agents, invite others to join, etc. As you do more to help your cause and the causes of others, your ripple grows. I’ve set-up an account and am anxious to see what I can create with this service. Very interesting concept.
Idealist.org - Idealist is a huge community for non-profits to exchange ideas, share resources and stories, locate supporters, post/search for jobs, etc. It’s free and contains excellent resources.
Care2.com - Care2 is an enormous network of folks who want to live healthier and happier - site content predominantly reflects environmental change, human rights, health, etc. There is also a center for making donations and creating/signing petitions. Lots of good stuff here - check it out.
If you have any suggestions for other sites to review or want to share feedback on these services, please join in the conversation.
Posted on Jun 15, 2008 under Fundraising, Non-Profit Specific |
We are considering moving all of our fundraising management to a company called QGiv. I met these guys at NTC this year and liked their product. Basically, they help non-profits aggregate their fundraising efforts into one neat package. They are PCI compliant and are audited regularly by a third party provider. Currently we use Just Give, FirstGiving.com, Paypal, a credit card processing company…you see the problem. So, as we re-launch the GoodDogz.org website, we are going to give QGiv a try. If you have any experience with this service, please let me know what you think!
Posted on May 02, 2008 under Animal Welfare, Non-Profit Specific |
We’ve been in the process of selling our house and buying something with more land for our pups. So, posts have been a little sporadic. Please hang in there - as things slow down, I’ll start writing more!
In the meantime, here’s part of an email I received from a good friend about the animal welfare efforts in Maricopa County, AZ. This is one way to “git ‘er done”!
Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay. The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who’d like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows. The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
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Beth consults with businesses and non-profits on social media tool selection and strategy and helps her clients find effective ways to leverage these new mediums to meet business goals.