brand identity

Why Consistency in Communication is Key to Donor Retention

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, database, donor engagement, donor retention, gratitude, planning , , , , , ,

Retaining donors requires a diligent effort to engage and build relationships with them. Explore why consistent communications are key to donor retention.

By Diana Otero

Let’s imagine you donate to an environmental conservation nonprofit for the first time. You’re excited about this cause and how you can make a difference.

After receiving a generic thank-you email, you don’t hear from the organization for a while. You’re a bit disappointed, as you had been looking forward to learning more about the nonprofit and its mission-driven work.

A few months pass, and you finally hear from them again, with an email titled “Give to our organization today!” By this point, you feel that the organization just wants to solicit donations and has no interest in building relationships with supporters or educating them about their cause. You ignore the email and decide not to give to this nonprofit again.

This scenario illustrates the importance of sending consistent, engaging communications that stand out to donors and make them excited to continue supporting your organization. In this guide, we’ll explore reasons why consistent communications empower donor retention and how to adjust your strategy accordingly.

5 Ways Consistent Communications Enable Donor Retention

A steady communication cadence inspires donors to continue contributing to your nonprofit and its community because it:

  • Builds trust and credibility. Predictable communications like monthly newsletters, timely thank-you emails, and event recaps prove your organization’s reliability. When donors receive regular updates about your nonprofit, they can see how it’s actively pursuing its mission and using funds responsibly to execute the programs and initiatives discussed in these messages.
  • Demonstrates transparency. When you communicate with supporters regularly, you’re more likely to update them through both positive and negative circumstances, giving donors a more realistic, honest view of your operations. For example, an organization that sends event recaps may mention that it didn’t reach its fundraising goal and how it plans to rectify this issue next time, whereas a nonprofit without a consistent communication cadence may neglect to share this information.
  • Reinforces impact. The more you communicate with donors, the more opportunities you have to show them how you’ve created better outcomes for your beneficiaries. Regularly sharing stories, impact data, and testimonials helps donors understand that their support is crucial and encourages them to continue giving.
  • Keeps your organization top-of-mind. If you only reach out to donors to solicit contributions, they may feel exploited by your organization and forget about what drew them to your cause in the first place. Sending informational and educational messages reminds donors of your nonprofit’s important work and the engagement opportunities available to them.
  • Fosters deeper relationships. One of the five C’s of communication is connection. When donors hear from your nonprofit regularly, they’re more likely to feel connected to your organization. Over time, you can steward small and mid-level donors to become major donors if you consistently strengthen your supporter relationships through outreach.

When your communications are consistent, everyone wins. Donors feel more informed and connected to your organization, your organization can better retain their support, and, as a result, your beneficiaries will receive the help they need.

5 Tips for Creating More Consistent Communications

1. Establish brand guidelines.

Whether you’re communicating with donors via email, text message, direct mail, social media, your website, or another channel, supporters should clearly recognize that these messages came from your organization. By creating brand guidelines, you ensure that communications across channels and team members are consistent and reflective of your nonprofit.

Your brand guidelines should clarify your:

  • Mission and vision: What is your organization’s purpose?
  • Core values: What are your nonprofit’s guiding principles?
  • Writing style and tone: How should your organization’s copy sound?
  • Positioning: What makes your nonprofit unique?
  • Key messaging: What talking points should staff members hit when creating communications?
  • Logo usage: How should team members place and size your logo on visuals?
  • Color palette: What colors should communications feature to reflect your brand?
  • Typography: What fonts should team members use in messaging?
  • Imagery style: What should images look like?

Remember to update your brand guidelines after a rebrand or major strategy adjustment so your communications align with your nonprofit’s new perspective. Distribute this guide across your team so everyone knows exactly how to construct their content.

2. Create a content calendar.

As Bloomerang’s email marketing for nonprofits guide explains, “Too many emails can overwhelm supporters, causing them to tune out or unsubscribe. At the same time, too few emails can cause your organization to fall off supporters’ radars.”

That’s why creating a content calendar based on your supporters’ communication preferences is the best route for consistent yet welcome messages. Analyze metrics like open and click-through rates, and survey donors to collect data on their ideal message frequency.

Using this information, develop a content calendar that appeals to your donors, stewards relationships with them, and highlights key campaigns, events, and holidays. By scheduling communications ahead of time, donors will know when to expect to hear from you and appreciate this reliability.

3. Personalize messages.

In addition to featuring the same branding and following a regular cadence, consistent communications also acknowledge donors’ past interactions with your nonprofit and reflect their unique relationships with your organization. Receiving relevant messages that align with their interests and engagement history shows donors that your nonprofit cares about them as individuals and makes them more likely to stick around.

Segment your supporters into relevant groups, such as:

  • First-time donors
  • Recurring donors
  • Mid-level donors
  • Major donors
  • Planned giving donors
  • Lapsed donors

Then, personalize messages to donors’ needs to ensure they resonate with them. For example, if you’re trying to solicit a second gift from a first-time donor, instead of sending a generic donation request, you could send them a text that says:

“We were so happy to welcome you to our community five months ago. Since then, we’ve developed a new mentoring program that pairs young children with older children to help them grow as students and people. Would you be interested in lending your generosity again to support children in need?”

4. Leverage automation.

Automating routine communications frees up staff time and promotes consistency. By setting up messages to trigger after certain actions, you can be confident knowing you’ll follow up with donors without even having to lift a finger. Common uses for marketing and fundraising automation include:

  • Thank-you emails that are sent immediately after donors give
  • Welcome email series that triggers after a donor gives for the first time
  • Birthday or giving anniversary messages that automatically send based on stored donor data
  • Educational messages that automatically send after a donor downloads a related resource or reads a blog post
  • Follow-up messages that automatically send when a donor abandons your donation page
  • Surveys that trigger after a donor attends an event or volunteer opportunity

Tweak your automations over time based on donor behavior. For example, you may find that new donors are more likely to engage when you send your welcome email series a day after their first contribution rather than immediately after giving.

5. Implement proper data hygiene.

Outdated, incorrect, or incomplete donor data can prevent you from reaching donors, as well as break up your communication cadence and risk your supporter relationships. Practicing data hygiene allows you to clean up your nonprofit CRM and ensure your messages consistently reach donors.

A complete data hygiene routine may include:

  • Auditing your database
  • Developing data entry standards
  • Validating your data
  • Appending missing information
  • Regularly updating your CRM

Developing data hygiene standards and sharing them across your team ensures your database stays accurate and empowers deliverable communications that help you stay in touch with your supporter base.

Throughout the process of making your communications more consistent, don’t forget to consult your donors. Every nonprofit’s supporters have different needs and preferences. Collect their feedback to determine the ideal communication frequency, messaging, and channels to keep your strategy consistent and aligned with your unique donor base.

As Senior Product Marketing Manager at Bloomerang, Diana Otero leverages her expertise in nonprofit CRM to help organizations strengthen donor relationships. She is passionate about showcasing solutions that empower For Purpose organizations to move beyond data tracking and foster genuine connections. With over a decade at Bloomerang, Diana excels at translating product capabilities into strategies that save time, fuel growth, and allow nonprofits to focus on what matters most: their mission. Her work is informed by her experience as a former nonprofit board member and ongoing volunteer work with various organizations, giving her unique insight into the challenges nonprofits face. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

How to Reach New Audiences With Your Nonprofit’s Message

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, community partnerships, donor engagement, donor retention, planning, social media, website , , , , , ,

Want to reach new audiences to expand your nonprofit’s supporter base? Explore these ideas to engage with new groups of potential supporters. 

By Jay Love

Is your nonprofit looking to reach new audiences with your fundraising appeals, volunteer events, and advocacy opportunities? You’re in the right place!

Reaching new audiences is critical to growing your organization’s supporter base and fostering reliable revenue to fund your cause. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of top ideas to help expand your reach and introduce prospective new supporters to your mission. 

The goal here isn’t that you should immediately start participating in every activity we’ve listed. Instead, browse these ideas to select a handful that would work best for your unique audience and staff capacity. 

1. Set up a giving referral program. 

Establishing a referral program for your giving opportunities incentivizes existing donors to engage with new supporters on your behalf, allowing you to leverage more extensive networks. If your nonprofit has a monthly giving or membership program, you can recruit current participants to promote the opportunity to their family members and friends. 

Offer incentives to current donors to encourage participation, such as:

  • Complimentary nonprofit-branded merchandise
  • Gift cards
  • VIP event access

Thank donors who participate in the program with a personal appreciation message and recognition on your social media pages and email newsletters. 

2. Participate in cross-blogging.

Cross-blogging opportunities require your nonprofit to partner with similar organizations to write posts for their online blog audiences. By participating in these blogging opportunities, you can introduce your mission to a new audience and show them why your organization is worthy of their support.

Reach out to other community organizations in your area, such as nonprofits or civic organizations, to ask if they’d be interested in a cross-blogging partnership. Outline the mutual benefits of this opportunity—by writing posts for your nonprofit’s blog, your partners will also be able to reach a new audience. 

In your blog posts, share engaging stories that illustrate your nonprofit’s mission. Make the stories more impactful by incorporating your unique perspective, referencing recent statistics, and including quotes from your beneficiaries. Include links to your organization’s website so readers can get more information. 

3. Engage with peer-to-peer fundraising donors. 

Peer-to-peer fundraisers allow your nonprofit’s supporters to raise money for your mission on your behalf, expanding your fundraising reach and engaging new audiences. Many organizations send a simple thank you message to new donors and leave it at that. However, we recommend actively engaging with peer-to-peer donors to show them the impact of their gifts and increase the chances they’ll become recurring donors. 

Qgiv’s peer-to-peer fundraising guide offers ideas for increasing retention by inviting new donors to:

  • Volunteer with you
  • Sign up for your email newsletter
  • Complete a survey to provide suggestions on the giving process

Asking new donors to complete a survey can be particularly effective, as you can uncover their giving motivations. While many donors likely gave to support their loved one’s peer-to-peer campaign, some may have a genuine interest in or passion for your mission. These donors are the most likely to stay engaged with your organization after the fundraiser ends. 

4. Offer valuable educational content through your website.

Whether you work in the environmental, healthcare, or community sectors, your nonprofit may have unique insights or information to share about your cause area. By featuring valuable educational content on your website, you can improve your site’s reputation and reach new audiences of visitors interested in the information you have to share. 

Filling your website with rich educational content can also improve your SEO results, increasing the likelihood of your pages appearing higher on search engines. 

Focus on educational content like: 

  • Educational courses
  • eBooks
  • Informational videos
  • Virtual webinars or panel discussions

Be sure to work with your organization’s subject matter experts (SMEs) to design your educational content and ensure its accuracy. Ask them to review your content and make updates as needed. 

5. Host community classes or workshops.

Community classes bring people together to learn a new skill or meet new friends in their area. These workshops are a valuable public service your nonprofit can provide to foster new connections and draw attention to your mission. 

Host classes that align with your nonprofit’s purpose. For example: 

  • A local animal shelter may host puppy yoga or dog training classes.
  • A local community garden nonprofit can host healthy cooking, gardening, or plant identification classes.
  • A nonprofit focused on helping community members gain technology skills can host a digital literacy workshop or coding classes.

These opportunities are also effective for engaging with various volunteers, some of whom may be new to your organization. New volunteers will be more likely to increase their involvement when your classes and workshops are fun and have interesting topics. Plus, volunteers are 66% more likely to donate to the organization they volunteer with than non-volunteers, meaning these individuals can be valuable potential donors. 

6. Collaborate with influencers.

Influencers are individuals who have large followings on online platforms like social media or blogs. They are regarded as authoritative figures on specific topics and can sway their audiences’ opinions with recommendations and endorsements. 

By working with an influencer, your nonprofit can reach its large, engaged audience to share your message and drive engagement with your involvement opportunities. Find an influencer relevant to your nonprofit’s mission to ensure their audience aligns with your existing one. For example, a nonprofit that helps fund school band programs could partner with a musician with a large TikTok following. 

Provide your influencer with the messaging you’d like them to use when discussing your nonprofit and a link to your website or online fundraising page. Also, research disclosure regulations so you comply with marketing laws.

7. Take an active social media approach.

In addition to working with an influencer, another way to engage with a wider online audience is to be more active on social media. Engage with your current audience and reach new potential supporters by following these tips: 

  • Comment on and share posts about your organization. Use social listening tools to track social media conversations about your nonprofit. Bloomerang’s nonprofit software guide highlights Buffer and Hootsuite as two social listening options. Then, engage with those posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them when appropriate. 
  • Post regularly. Use a social media scheduling platform to create posts in advance and schedule them to be published at regular intervals. For smaller organizations, posting around three to five times per week tends to be the most feasible. 
  • Host challenges with unique hashtags. Social media challenges can effectively engage your followers in fun activities and inspire them to share posts about your nonprofit with your followers. For example, you could start a #SelfiesforSeahorses challenge to encourage followers to share pictures of themselves using the hashtag to spread awareness of your organization’s sea life conservation efforts. 

When creating social media content, remember the 5 Cs of good nonprofit communications. Your messages should be clear, concise, conversational, and compelling, and they should establish a connection. Workshop your social media content with your nonprofit’s team to strike the right tone that aligns with your brand. 

8. Co-host events with community organizations. 

Partnering with other organizations in your community can offer mutual benefits. Your nonprofit can reach a new audience while providing your partners similar access to your existing supporter base.

Reach out to other organizations to see if they’d be interested in co-hosting events with your nonprofit. These organizations may include: 

  • Businesses
  • Other nonprofits
  • Civic organizations and clubs
  • Local schools and universities

With your community partners, you can host workshops, classes, silent auctions, fundraising 5Ks, festivals, chili cookoffs, or bake sales. Create branded event marketing materials for you and your partners to ensure consistent and professional branding. 

9. Host cause-merchandise fundraisers.

Branded merchandise can help your nonprofit reach prospective new donors without lifting a finger. When supporters wear or use your branded merchandise, they’ll spread awareness of your organization’s logo, colors, and other brand elements. 

Therefore, you should ensure the merchandise you create is highly visible. For example, you could sell: 

  • Branded t-shirts
  • Tote bags
  • Baseball hats
  • Mugs or water bottles
  • Bumper stickers

Promote your merchandise using social media, website, and email platforms to encourage supporters to purchase your products. You can even start a social media campaign asking supporters to share photos of them using or wearing your merchandise. Create a unique hashtag for that campaign.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to connect with new audiences and spread your nonprofit’s message—it just takes some creativity and outside-the-box thinking. 

No matter which strategies you choose, track metrics to evaluate your progress. You can track social media engagement rates, merchandise sales, event revenue, new donor acquisition, and other relevant data points to better understand which strategies drive the most engagement among new audiences. 

Jay Love is a Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang.

Jay has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Before founding Bloomerang, he was the co-founder and CEO of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to over 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.


4 Key Lessons Nonprofits Should Learn from Businesses

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, community partnerships, donor engagement, donor relations, fundraising , , , , ,

Although nonprofits and businesses seem different, they share many similarities. Discover lessons nonprofits can learn from their for-profit counterparts here.

By Kyle Cannon

Although businesses and nonprofits operate in two different worlds, governed by their own unique rules, these organizations are more alike than one might initially think. Certain strategies apply to organizations in both industries—and nonprofits can experience major benefits from following in the footsteps of certain successful businesses.

To help your organization thrive long-term by building up good habits, this guide will cover four key lessons nonprofits should take from businesses. With these strategies, you’ll be well-positioned to secure loyal supporters, inspire increased generosity, and continue furthering your mission for years to come.

1. Give supporters a compelling reason to donate.

Much like a massage practice needs to convince customers to patronize its business, your nonprofit needs to give supporters a compelling reason to donate. While your organization isn’t necessarily focused on selling a specific product or service, your purpose is what supporters buy into. And it’s not enough to simply be a charitable organization—with over 1.8 million nonprofits registered in the U.S. alone, your organization needs to seriously consider how to set itself apart from others.

Here are a few tips for demonstrating that your nonprofit is deserving of support:

  • Emphasize your mission’s importance. For example, let’s say your animal shelter’s mission is to provide a second chance to animals in need by finding them loving families. You might explain that your mission is important because all pets deserve to be cared for and have a good quality of life.
  • Establish the issue you’re trying to address. Clearly outline what the issue is and why it’s important to fix it now rather than later. The animal shelter above might highlight high rates of animal abandonment in local communities and the negative impact these animals have on local wildlife to emphasize why it’s essential to rescue these animals and provide them with safe shelter.
  • Outline your impact. Explain how your nonprofit has already made a positive impact on its community. The animal shelter above might state that it has rescued over 5,000 dogs and cats since its inception and actively cares for over 300 animals at any given time.

If your nonprofit is well-established and has a base of loyal donors, research their giving motivations for key insights into why they support you. You can do this by sending out surveys or examining the data in your nonprofit constituent relationship management system (CRM). Use this information to improve the language you use around donating and make giving even more compelling.

2. Provide a positive supporter experience.

A crucial part of convincing consumers to make a purchase is the customer experience. Just think about how businesses offer generous return policies, leverage easy-to-use e-commerce platforms, and train employees to provide excellent service. Companies risk losing business when customers don’t enjoy the buying experience.

Your nonprofit can learn one key lesson from this: It’s crucial to establish a positive supporter experience that makes it easy for them to continue interacting with your organization. To that end, streamline how supporters:

  • Donate, such as by designing a responsive, mobile-optimized donation page that accepts various payment types
  • Volunteer, such as by offering a variety of volunteer opportunities that appeal to individuals with varying availabilities and commitment levels
  • Attend events, such as by creating an event page where supporters can RSVP and ensuring that your event-day check-in process is smooth and streamlined
  • Receive messages, such as by communicating with supporters regularly and through their preferred communication channels, whether that is email, social media, or something else

You may want to invest in software that helps you implement these best practices. This is also a key lesson your organization can learn from businesses—they’re not afraid to invest in tools that make their operations easier. Just as a spa might purchase massage software, your nonprofit can invest in a robust fundraising platform, nonprofit CRM, volunteer management software, or any other solution that aids you in your work.

3. Build a strong brand.

Branding is everything to businesses—it’s how they build recognition of their company and products. Just think about McDonald’s iconic golden arches or the stylized font of the Coca-Cola logo. As a nonprofit, you can follow the lead that businesses set and also focus on your branding to improve awareness for your mission.

According to MassageBook, there are two types of branding:

  • Visual. This includes your nonprofit’s logo, colors, and typography—essentially, any branding elements you can see.
  • Verbal. This refers to written choices you make, covering your mission statement, values, tone, grammar, and more.

Establish a thorough branding guide that describes how you’ll handle both visual and verbal branding elements. With the right strategy, you can help your nonprofit stand out in a sea of other charitable organizations. After establishing what your branding will look like, don’t forget to incorporate it into all of your marketing materials in a uniform manner to ensure that your audience immediately associates the material with your nonprofit.

4. Partner with like-minded organizations.

Businesses have long learned that partnerships with other organizations help them expand their reach, acquire more customers, and ultimately generate more revenue. Your nonprofit can similarly benefit from partnering with other mission-aligned organizations.

Here are a few types of organizations you should consider working with:

  • Other nonprofits. Other nonprofits with similar or adjacent missions may be happy to partner with yours to boost awareness of both your causes. For example, an environmental conservation nonprofit might work with an ocean conservation nonprofit to help the latter promote its upcoming event.
  • Foundations and grantmakers. Foundations and grantmakers provide financial support to nonprofits. To secure their support, you’ll need to undergo a grant application process and convince them that your nonprofit is worthy of their funds and will put them to good use.
  • Businesses. Corporate sponsorships aren’t limited to businesses—your nonprofit can also benefit from them! According to 360MatchPro, you can identify potential sponsors by exploring your network, researching local businesses, and using dedicated prospect research tools.

Keep in mind that a partnership should be mutually beneficial. As a nonprofit, this usually means that you’ll promote your partner’s brand, products and services, or mission alongside yours. For example, if you’re partnering with a nonprofit, you might host a co-branded awareness campaign to boost advocacy for both your causes. If you’ve acquired a corporate sponsor, you can include their branding on your event materials and specifically thank them in your end-of-event speech to help them get the word out about their brand.

And there you have it—four lessons nonprofits can take from businesses. Consider whether or not your organization is following these best practices and how you can implement them into your strategies to broaden your reach, acquire more donations, and work toward your mission more effectively.

Kyle Cannon is the product evangelist at MassageBook. He’s spent the past 8+ years developing a deep understanding of the joys and struggles massage therapists face daily, and he’s committed to helping them simplify and grow their practices every step of the way.

Navigating These Uncertain Times

Ann Green brand identity, donor relations, fundraising , , ,

3461601180_b29d215979_wIt’s an understatement to say the world is going through a difficult time. I hope everyone is doing okay and staying healthy. Even though we’re practicing social distance, among other things, it’s perfectly normal to feel anxious during these uncertain times.

I had planned a post on donor newsletters, which seems trite given what’s going on. You and your nonprofit organization have a lot to worry about. Maybe you’re scrambling to figure out how everyone can effectively work from home. Maybe it’s hard to provide vital services to your clients. Maybe you’re going have to postpone or cancel upcoming events.

While we’re trying to take measures to stay healthy, the COVID-19 outbreak will most likely devastate the economy. Here in the Boston area and through the state, restaurants and businesses are closing and gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited. Theatres and museums are closed, and I know of several organizations that have to cut back on services. One organization had to cancel a huge walkathon that raises over $2 million.

During economic downturns, the need to provide vital nonprofit services increases. We don’t know how much the economy will suffer but expect that it will.

You may not be thinking that much about your donor communication at this time, but you should be. Here are a few suggestions to help you navigate these uncertain times.

Reach out to your donors

Please don’t cut back on your donor communication right now.  Maybe you can’t send a print newsletter if everyone is working from home, but you can still communicate with your donors.

Check in with your donors. See how they’re doing and thank them for their support. Don’t ignore what’s going on. Let them know you understand this is a difficult time.

I hope you have a good CRM/database that everyone can access remotely so you can easily send messages. You should also think about calling donors who you know don’t use electronic communication.

Be honest

I tend not to like the term transparency, but if there’s ever a time to be transparent, it’s now. Be upfront with your donors about how this will affect your work. Are you cutting back on services? How will that affect the people/community you serve?

The need for donations

You may need to ask for additional donations, and that’s perfectly understandable. You’re probably familiar with the concept – ask, thank, update, repeat. In this case, I recommend thanking and updating first and then asking.

Again, be upfront and honest about what you need. This is not a situation where someone mismanaged funds or didn’t plan accordingly. A few months ago, most of us were unaware something like this could happen.

Make an appeal that’s specific and easy to understand. As with most fundraising appeals, you’ll need to send it out more than once. Email is probably your best bet right now, but you can also use social media. This video gives some great suggestions. 

How to write an Emergency E-Appeal if your organization is being affected by the Coronavirus

Your donors are going through a lot and giving to your organization may be the last thing they’re thinking about. Some donors will be perfectly willing to give an additional donation and others won’t. These donors may be cautious with their finances for a while.

You could encourage donors to give monthly. This would be easier on their finances and provide you with a consistent stream of revenue.

Encourage Monthly Giving During Uncertain Times

Donors stop giving for a variety of reasons. You can’t control their financial situation, but you can control your donor communication. Do the best you can right now, and be sure to pour on the gratitude to anyone who gives an extra donation or upgrades to monthly giving.

Going forward

This is an unprecedented situation that emphasizes the importance of planning ahead. I know it’s hard for small nonprofits with limited resources, but here a few ways to be prepared in the future.

Invest in good infrastructure, most importantly a good data management system.

Have a reserve fund. No matter how small your budget is, you want to have some money set aside in times like these. 

Provide a caring, compassionate work environment that allows people to take care of themselves as needed.

I’ll keep sharing information that’s relevant as we work through this. Here a few links that may be helpful. Take care!

Essential Advice and Resources for Nonprofits – COVID-19 / Coronavirus | Recession | Remote Work

Tips for Communicating with Donors During Uncertain Times

 

Get Organized This Summer- Make Your Messages Clear and Consistent

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, marketing, writing
Image by Thiago Esser via Flickr

Over the course of the summer, I am offering tips to help you get organized during what may be a slower time, and prepare for a busy fall.  

All nonprofit organizations need a clear set of consistent messages to use in their fundraising and marketing materials, but many do not have these.  According to a recent survey by Nancy Schwartz from Getting Attention.org, only 24% of respondents said their messages connect with their target audiences. It makes you wonder how much time nonprofits invest in messaging. Marketing Consultant Chuck English wonders the same thing. Nonprofits don’t care about marketing
Create a message platform
Does your organization need a message makeover?  Putting together a set of clear, consistent messages, also known as a message platform, may take some time up front, but it will be time well spent.  Now whenever you create a fundraising letter or content for your website, you can draw material from this set of messages.  Having a consistent set of messages is essential when you have more than one person writing for your organization and as new staff or volunteers join you.  All your materials need continuity and a single voice.

The links below will help you create a message platform. Everyone in your organization – staff, board, volunteers –  is a message ambassador, and needs to be involved.  Although, that doesn’t mean they should be involved in every step of the process.

You may want to get some initial input from the staff and board.  Ask everyone a few key questions, such as:

  • What do we do?
  • Who do we serve?
  • Why are we important?
  • How are we unique?
  • What impact do we make?

If their answers are all across the board, then you have a lot of work to do.
A small group – marketing staff and board members with marketing experience – should put together the message platform and then introduce it to everyone else.  You may not be able to finish this in the summer due to people’s vacation schedules, but at least you can get started.
How To Get Everyone In Your Organization To Be Consistent In Messaging

The 4 Cornerstones of an Engaging Message Platform


Build Your Message Team
Create a style guide
Continuing on the theme of consistency, I strongly recommend putting together a style guide.  A style guide can cover both elements of your written material (editorial) and the look of your materials (design). You can put your parts of your message platform in here, too, once you complete it.
It shouldn’t take you a lot of time to put together a style guide and it doesn’t need to be long document.  However, it will save you a lot of time in the end.  It’s a huge help if you don’t know whether or not to use a serial comma, or what fonts you should use in your materials.  Again, this is important if you have more than one person writing for your organization, or if you use volunteers who aren’t there full-time.   

Overall, it ensures that your materials will have a consistent message and look.
Create a Style Guide for Your Organization
Take some time this summer to make sure that your messages and materials are clear and consistent.

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, fundraising, marketing, writing


Photo by UNE Photos via Flickr
If you are making a difference in someone’s life or in the community, you have good stories to tell. The best stories are ones about the people you serve and not about your organization. You can tell your stories in writing, in a video, and in pictures.

Written Stories
When writing a story use classic storytelling devices. Give it a beginning, middle, and end.  Good stories also include conflict or a struggle.

If you are writing about people, use names to make it personal. You can change someone’s name to protect the person’s privacy if needed.   

You need to grab someone’s attention right away. Your stories should also capture emotion. In the words of Maya Angelou – “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Keep your stories short and limit the use of statistics. You can follow up your story with a statistic, if you want to. Try something like this:

Every Wednesday Sarah wakes up at 5:00 a.m. to catch the #45 bus to try to get to the front of the line at the community food bank by the time it opens. Mornings are hectic and she also needs to get her kids ready for school.

If Sarah misses the bus, the next one doesn’t come for another hour. If she arrives at the food bank too late, she finds the shelves contain slim pickings. Sarah is just one of the X number of town residents who rely on the food bank.
Include stories in your fundraising and marketing materials. You could open your fundraising appeal with a story like the one above and then lead into the ask.  Put stories on your website. This is often a place where newcomers visit, and a story is a great way to introduce your organization.  Include a client story/profile in your newsletter. I used to work for a mentoring organization and we would a feature a different mentor/mentee match each month.

Work with your program staff to find these great stories. They can refer you to people to interview and help get any necessary permissions.

Here are some more tips on creating stories.

4 Ways Stories Can Help Build Your Cause

Six Common “Character” Flaws in Nonprofit Storytelling (Part I)

Six Common “Character” Flaws in Nonprofit Storytelling (Part II)

Put Persuasive Storytelling to Work for Your Nonprofit

Video
You can take some of your written stories and transfer them to video. Showing footage with a voiceover is the most compelling. You could film Sarah’s journey and condense it to a few minutes.  Record action footage of the people you serve, such as kids participating in an afterschool program or tutoring sessions.

You can interview clients and have them tell their story. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Not everyone is a future TV star.  Find compelling subjects who are good on camera to ensure that you have an interesting video. 

If you are going to produce a video, make sure it’s good quality. Find an experienced person to shoot and produce it. If cost is an issue, you may be able to find someone to a produce a video at no cost.

Most importantly, keep it short. Videos on your website or social media should last just a few minutes. You can create longer videos to use at fundraising or recruiting events, but stick to 10 minutes or less.

Video Resources 
8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling

Nonprofit storytelling tips from the pros

Winners From 2011 DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards
Photos
Photographs can tell a story in an instant. People may not take time to read a story or watch a video, but they shouldn’t be able to miss an engaging photo. 

Every year or two take a set of photos and use them on your website, annual reports, fundraising letters, newsletters, and social media.  It’s okay if you use some of the same ones.  It helps with your brand identity. 

Choose compelling pictures of the people you serve. When using action shots, make sure you can see peoples’ faces and not the backs of their heads. Give some thought to the layout, too. Don’t make it random. 

And make sure they are good quality. Invest in a good camera and photographer. You can often find professional photographers willing to work pro bono, if cost is an issue. 

Here are some tips of what to do and what to avoid.
Photos Rule in Content Marketing for Your Nonprofit
More information on creating good photographs,
Great Nonprofit Design from Save the Children
Two Things You Can Do to Make Your Photos Look Awesome

Nine photo tips for nonprofit storytelling
Again, if you are making a difference, you should have good stories to tell.  Share your stories!

How do you tell your stories?

How To Get Everyone In Your Organization To Be Consistent In Messaging

Ann Green brand identity, marketing, writing




.
If you got your staff or board together and asked them to write a few sentences about what your organization does, would you get a variety of different answers? You would if you don’t have a consistent set of messages to use.
   

Creating a message platform

Your first step is to create a message platform, which consists of a tagline,positioning statement, talking points, and an elevator pitch.  Before you start, ask yourself:


What do you want to achieve?

Who is your target audience?  You may need to cater different messages to different audiences.

What is important to them?

As you create your positioning statement and talking points, ask:

Who are you?

What you do?

How do you do it?

Why is it important?

What makes your organization unique?

What impact are you making on the people you serve and in the community?

Your messages should be clear and include a call to action. They should be conversational, so avoid using jargon. Most people respond better to a human interest story than to a lot of statistics.

If you have five different people writing for your organization, your messages shouldn’t look like they were written by five different people. Come up with a single voice and personality.

As far as I’m concerned, Nancy Schwartz is the nonprofit messaging guru. This link from her website Getting Attention will explain the process in more detail and give you examples. The 4 Cornerstones of an Engaging Message Platform

Using your key messages
Now that you have come up with a set of consistent messages, use them across channels  –  print, e-mail, website, and social media.

Instruct everyone in your organization
Go over your key messages with your staff, board, and other volunteers. As new people join your organization, include messaging in their orientation.

Put your key messages in your organization’s style guide. If you don’t have a style guide, I strongly recommend creating one. It’s a great tool to help you stay consistent, not only in messaging, but in writing style and design. Create a Style Guide for Your Organization

Get your board on board
It’s especially important to make sure that your board knows your message platform. Ideally, you want your board to be representing you the community. They might be meeting with a prospective funder or with the local chamber of commerce. But since board members are not part of the day to operations, they are not as exposed to your key messages. They need to be.

Everyone in your organization, no matter what they do, should be able to communicate your key messages, whether it’s part of their job or if they are having a casual conversation with a friend.

Stick with it 
You need to choose messages that you are going to use for awhile. You can revisit your messaging periodically to see if it’s still relevant. For example, if you emphasize that your organization provides services to children under 12, and you just started serving teens, your messages should reflect that.  

Don’t worry if you get bored with your messages. Your audience is getting information from a bunch of different sources besides you.  Sometimes people need to see your message six to eight times before it sinks in.

If you think carefully about the messages you come up with, they should resonate with your audience for awhile.

Elevator pitch role play exercises
A great way to make sure everyone in your organization is consistent in their messaging is to do an elevator pitch role play exercise with your staff and board. An elevator pitch is a 30 second description of what your organization does. Elevator Pitches and Consistency in Messaging 

Divide into small groups of three or four.
  • Scenario one – You are at a conference and it’s five minutes until the keynote address. The person next to you asks you where you work. How do you respond? 
  • Scenario two – Your organization is holding a fundraising event. You are talking to an attendee who asks you to tell her/him more about what you do. How do you respond? 
Come up with your own exercises and keep practicing!

Take some time to come up with a consistent set of messages and make sure everyone in your organization is using them.
Photo by  Matt Hampel via Flickr

Elevator Pitches and Consistency in Messaging

Ann Green brand identity, marketing, writing

If you got your staff or board together and asked them to write a few sentences about what your organization does, it’s likely you might get a variety of different answers.

It’s very important that all your staff, board, and volunteers know what your organization does and that they are consistent with their messaging. 

This is something that should be covered in an orientation (you should have an orientation for your board members and volunteers, too) and revisited periodically.


A 30 second pitch about your organization is often know as an elevator pitch.

If your organization doesn’t have a written elevator pitch, you need to create one as soon as possible and make it available to all staff, board members, and volunteers.  Creating one as a group can be beneficial.

General Information About Elevator Pitches
  • Elevator pitches should be short and conversational.
  • Keep it simple.
  • Keep the following in mind – who are we, what do we do, how do we do it, and why is it important?
  • Don’t recite your mission statement when giving your elevator pitch.
  • Don’t use jargon.
  • Let your audience know the impact and importance of what you do.
Putting Together Your Elevator Pitch
  • What makes your organization unique? Come up with some key words and talking points.
  • Make sure everyone is consistent in their messaging.
  • Remember to revisit your pitch periodically (maybe once a year) to make sure it’s still relevant.
Using Your Elevator Pitch
  • Engage with the person/people you are talking to and tie what you do with their interests.
  • Find a way to tell a story.
  • If appropriate, initiate a call to action. Give the person your business card and ask them to call you for more information or let them know how they can donate or volunteer.
  • Remember that you are always an ambassador for your organization and how you represent yourself reflects upon the organization.
  • Keep practicing!
Photo by robinsonsmay