This is the first of my 5-part series counting down to my favorite marketing event for Nebraska-area nonprofits. Enjoy! I hope to see you February 24 at the 27th Street Conference Center at Center for People in Need in Lincoln, NE. To see the entire agenda, visit here an scroll to the bottom, under Related links.

Storytelling

We all know that storytelling is a necessary skill for marketers trying to convey the importance of their nonprofit cause. Stories pull the heartstrings. Stories are memorable. Stories lead to action.

At Cause Camp, on Friday, February 24 at the 27^th Street Conference Center at Center for People in Need in Lincoln, NE, we’ll have the opportunity to hear about storytelling from two different perspectives during the “Campfire Story Track” that morning. Countdown to Cause Camp – Part 1: Storytelling – continue reading

Wouldn’t  you love to host a fundraising event that you could describe as “magical”?

At one "magaical' fundraiser, fireflies lit up the night.

There are many articles and seminars on the how-to of event planning. Some standard and true advice might include setting fundraising goals, selling tickets and determining price per head.

Not much “magical” about all that.

The best events accomplish these three goals:

1. building engagement of current supporters
2. generating publicity to attract new supporters and
3. making money.

Lately, the best events I’ve attended have had a unique theme that fits the mission. They tend to involve activities other than the stale “silent auction” or golf tournament formula. They allow guests to simply come and enjoy rather than sit, be lectured to and nickeled and dimed to death.

But to create a truly “magical” night, the key is VOLUNTEERS.

Volunteers have so much passion for the organization that they are blind to what they can’t do.

Volunteers have so much love for the organization that they are willing to donate time, talent and treasurer.

Volunteers can’t wait to bring their friends to the event to showcase all that the organization has done and can do.

Unfortunately, I often hear excuses from nonprofit staff about using volunteers. Let me take a moment to address these excuses.

“I hate to bother people.” You’d be surprised who would step up if you simply asked! Ask for volunteers in your newsletter by telling them exactly how you need help. Identify people who actively comment on your Facebook page – maybe if asked, they’d do more.

“Volunteers need so much supervision and I don’t have the time.” Honestly, you can’t afford not to use volunteers. Funders are starting to require the use of volunteers more and more. Especially if volunteers require extensive training to work directly with clients, event planning is a great task that requires much less supervision.

That said, yes, staff must be involved. Have a single staff person stay in the loop with volunteers to identify any hurdles. Be sure to have staff available on the day of the event because there may not be enough volunteers to run the event itself.

“My board is afraid to ask for money.” Inviting people to a fun, social event is much easier than asking for a flat out donation. Sharing an event on Facebook takes no time at all and isn’t an intrusion. If your board isn’t capable of helping promote an event, they likely aren’t truly capable of serving on a board. I’ve seen events fail on this item alone.

Learn more about motivating volunteers at my presentation on Slacktivism: Turning Slackers into Activists on July 28.

There seems to be two predominant fundraising schools of thought.

1. Only traditional fundraising works.
2. Build a Facebook page and makes millions!

My school of thought fits somewhere in between. My friend, Laura Reznicek, and I were invited to speak at the Association of Fundraising Professionals MidAmerican Conference in Kansas City last month and our attendees raved after the presentation that FINALLY, they heard a realistic and rational way to incorporate social media into their fund development model.

Laura and I already have plans to give this presentation locally this fall. But in the meantime, here are a few take-aways you can start implementing now.

• Keep it realistic – Online giving tends to be in smaller amounts from fewer individuals but that doesn’t mean it is a waste of time. It helps to build engagement and attract small donations from new individuals.
• Identify key influencers – Who are your biggest fans? Your volunteers and boards (maybe even clients!) can help you spread social media messages. Just ask and they’ll be happy to help!
• Be campaign oriented – Don’t look at your Donate Now button through the lens of “build it and they will come.” You must attract donors to it. Try short (2 week or so) campaigns with a theme related to a time of year or creative angle.

What  is YOUR school of thought regarding social media for fundraising?

There has been a lot of talk over the past 3 years about how nonprofits should or should not change their marketing and fundraising efforts as the economy fluctuated. I offered several tips and tricks throughout that time on how to continue marketing well on a smaller budget.

But I’ve also found that some marketing truths do not change over time. These are truths that have been around for generations and are something we should remember today as well as the years to come. They apply to both businesses and nonprofits.

1. A good marketer will recommend a medium even if he/she doesn’t consume it.

Each organization has a unique audience but I often hear from clients that they want to advertise in a certain medium that they personally like to read, listen to or watch. 5 Marketing Truths for 2011…. and last year….and next year. – continue reading

Sure, we can’t afford the million dollar ad budgets but we can learn a lot from the successful and unsuccessful commercials run by for-profit companies during the most-watched sporting event in America.

1.       Creativity is key. Tell a story (via a short movie) to make it memorable, much like the Chrysler ad featuring rapper Eminem. This 2-minute spot really told a story about the city of Detroit. Don’t just preach features (programs) but exude emotion.

2.       Be careful with Cause Branding. I am a big fan of for-profits partnering with nonprofits in mutually beneficial situations. In most cases, these opportunities shouldn’t be turned away. But ask to be involved in the messaging. In the case of Groupon, who’s ad tried to gain sympathy for the Tibetan people while also selling discounts at Tibetan restaurants was a bit off color, if not offensive. While it hurt their own image, not the Tibetan charity, it still reminds us as nonprofits to approve the message when possible.

3.       A big event is a good time to rebrand. Pittsburg makes the steel. Detroit makes the cars. What a better time to remind Americans that Chrysler is an American car then at the Superbowl where the Steelers are playing. It took two minutes but it truly was good timing. For nonprofits, consider big events like anniversaries, signature events or capital campaigns to announce a fresh brand or reposition of priorities.

4.       Be authentic – Does Kim Kardashian really wear Sketchers? While I really like the “Imported from Detroit” ad, social media was immediately abuzz with comments about whether Eminem would really drive a Chrysler. We all know that Tiger Woods doesn’t really drive a Buick. Be sure the people you put in place to speak on your behalf are true believers in your cause and not just talking heads.

5.       Crowdsource – Both Doritos and PepsiMax opted to not hire big agencies but depend on their fans to come up with the next big commercial. The spots were voted on by fans also, not an executive decision. While contest for a new event logo or short term campaign can be a fun way to engage an audience, be careful about using this for a long-standing logo.

What I learned from my favorite ad.

• The little Darth Vador actually looks a lot like a mini Luke Skywalker (see his reveal here.)
• Sneaking a peak can improve brand awareness. While most companies wait until the big game to reveal their ad, VW released it early on YouTube. I saw it shared several times on Facebook before the TV premier.
• Throw some big rules out the window. One of the key components of a good ad is to make sure the audience remembers the brand. In the :60 commercial, the vehicle doesn’t appear until half way through and even then, it mostly appears in an outside view. The feature that makes the commercial heart-warming is remote locking – not even a new feature. How did people even remember it was VW? Repetition. Lots of viral sharing online.
• Blur generational lines – the ad is appealing to everyone. It isn’t high-tech or using a “now” celebrity but instead goes with a fairly timeless classic.

What was your favorite ad and what did you learn from it?

For the second year, I’m busy planning Cause Camp – the intensive nonprofit marketing training provided by Lincoln’s Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

I volunteer for this event because I know how important it is for local nonprofits to educate themselves on marketing so they can provide a professional product and a reasonable price that reflects well of their brand.

This will be my 5^th time attending this event so in honor of that “anniversary”, I am naming the top 5 things I’m looking forward to at Cause Camp in 2011

1. Networking. When I know what you are up to, I can connect you to other organizations and facilitate collaboration in natural and beneficial ways.
2. The newest social media ideas. I can’t wait to meet John Haydon and hear about what we could be doing better and what’s just over the social media horizon.
3. Sponsor booths. Seriously, I love seeing what our media and business sponsors can do to help make our nonprofits better. Plus, they usually hand out candy or pens! There will be a dozen sponsor booths this year so get ready to fill your bag!
4. The Roundtables. This new feature of Cause Camps lets us sit in smaller groups with our presenters to ask the questions we didn’t think to ask in front of the group. We’ll get to learn more from the presenter AND each other.
5. I love seeing my nonprofit friends. Will I see you there?

Register here!

PS – Did I mention we have scholarships available? Email me to be considered for one.

On a random summer Saturday enjoyed at my in-law’s house, my 5-year old daughter came

"picking cherries"

inside to find me to tell me that “Papa said we need to pick cherries for the Girl Scouts.” Huh? I’m not following, child.

Upon further investigation, their grandfather had told the girls that he’d like to make a donation to a “charity” of their choosing, for instance, the Girls Scouts.

The girls each picked their “cherry”. My 7-year old chose the Food Bank of Lincoln because she had participated in the BackPack Walk and she really cares about those kids. My 5-year old chose Hearts United for Animals, a no-kill shelter where my husband and I adopted our beagle, Leonard, 10 years ago.

Papa asked the girls to write a letter to the charity to go along with the donation. While the donation to each charity wasn’t significantly large, or even average, most likely, I’m pleased to report that both organizations sent a hand-written letter to the girl who had chosen them. And I’m here to tell you that both organizations now have a donor for life.

I moved in October. I moved several times in my childhood and young adult life but

Our new home, under the fall colors. That's my office in the sunroom on the right.

 had been in the same house for 9 years (the longest I’d lived anywhere). Since moving to that house nine years ago, I acquired two kids and an in-home business.

Here is what I learned during that move and how it translates into the work I do as a marketer.

1. When moving, be sure to hire professionals to carry the heavy load.

• Translation: When doing marketing, hire people who are good at those tasks to do that task.

2. When planning a move, be careful not to do it too close to an already-planned vacation.

• Translation: Consider planning a fundraising event during a time other than fundraiser season (October and February.)

3. Keep a sense of humor when the stress level is high.

• Translation: Keep a sense of humor when the stress level is high.

4. Surprises happen. Both good and bad. Go with it.

• Translation: Sometimes you have to change course with your marketing when something is no longer working. That’s ok.

5. Balance by prioritizing.

• Translation: Sometimes I have to say no (or at least, “not right now”) to projects. Even fun ones. So if I told you “not right now” last month, know that my boxes are now unpacked, the fridge is full and my family has clean clothes now. I can probably say yes to some fun projects now.

The newsletter has been a tried and true tool in our nonprofit marketing toolbox for decades. In years past, the newsletter – while useful – was one of our more expensive tools.

So when email marketing came along, nonprofits cheered! If we can simply gather some email addresses, we can cut out our print newsletter.

This drastic approach is not advised. Read why in my guest blog post for Cornerstone Printing & Imaging.

Fall is fundraising season! My issue of L Magazine that arrived today sure proves that. I’m not sure why so many nonprofits choose the fall months for their fundraisers, but since they do, we might as well get in the party spirit.

Even though many of you are up to your eyeballs in final preparations for your own fundraisers right now, I challenge you to attend some fundraisers outside your own organization as well.

Why on earth would I suggest you be seen at another – perhaps even  *gasp* “competing” – nonprofit’s fundraiser? Put on your party face! 3 reasons to ATTEND fundraisers – continue reading