Communications

Conquering Your Communication Challenges – Creating Engaging Content

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, marketing, writing

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been writing about how to conquer some of your communication challenges.  Another challenge many nonprofit organizations face is coming up with engaging content on a regular basis.

Do you find yourself saying any of the following?

We’re having trouble getting organized
Your biggest ally here is an editorial calendar.  How to Create an Editorial Calendar You can do one for the year, but also break it down into smaller components. This doesn’t need to take a lot of time, and it’s a huge time-saver overall. Each month figure out what you will include in your newsletter. Every week decide how you are going to connect with your supporters. Spend 15-20 minutes a day looking for content you can share on social media. 

Your editorial calendar will include time-sensitive content, such as events or that April is national volunteer month, as well as evergreen content – stories you can use at any time.  

We don’t know what to write about
Your content should focus on how you are making a difference for the people/community you serve.  You have good stories to tell.  Work with your program staff to create a story bank to use for your annual appeal, website, newsletter, etc.  You can also include profiles of clients, donors, board members, volunteers, and staff.   

Don’t forget to thank your donors in your newsletter and other updates.  Avoid stories that are more focused on your organization, such as obtaining new computers for your staff, unless you can tie that back to your mission.

Here is more information on creating stories.

How Story Trumps Description
Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?
Use measurement and analytics to see what types of content hit home with your supporters.  Most likely it will be success stories that emphasize how they are helping you make a difference.

We don’t a lot of time to do this
I covered time constraints in my last post, and this is a challenge for many organizations. 

Nonprofits do need to communicate often with their supporters.  Try to reach out once a week.  If that’s impossible, aim for every other week.  It’s not as daunting as you may think. Planning and strategy always helps.

Some consistency is good for your newsletter.  Use a template that you can fill in each month. Maybe you will always include a success story or a profile. Also, keep in mind that your newsletter only needs a few articles.

Your supporters are busy and will appreciate short messages. In addition to your monthly newsletter, you can reach out with a brief update, advocacy alert, or one-question survey.  Another way to connect is to share the outcome of your advocacy alert or the results from your survey.

Use the same content in different channels.  For example include links to your newsletter, as well as updates, advocacy alerts, and surveys on Facebook and Twitter.

Another good way to engage is to post a photo of your program in action on social media.  A great photo can tell a story in an instant. 
Don’t Just Post Photos. Post Stories!
I hope this helps you conquer the some of the challenges of creating engaging content.  How do you handle this challenge?

Conquering Your Communication Challenges – Dealing with Limited Resources

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing

This is the second post in my series about how to conquer some of your communication challenges.  Many nonprofit organizations have limited resources, and one thing to remember is that planning and prioritizing can help.

Have you ever found yourself saying the following?

We feel like we have no time to get anything done
If you have plans and strategies in place, you probably won’t feel as strapped for time.  I covered that in my last post.  Conquering Your Communication Challenges – Planning, Strategy, and Measurement

Find ways to help you get organized. For example, use an editorial calendar to plan your content  How to Create an Editorial Calendar and a style guide to help keep your messages and look consistent. Create a Style Guide for Your Organization
Figure out what is most important and do the best you can with the resources you have.  Fundraisng is always a priority.  So is making your supporters happy.  That includes current donors and potential donors (email subscribers, website visitors, etc.). Thank your donors, keep your supporters engaged with newsletters and other updates, and be sure your website is up-to-date.

Look at how you are spending your time.  Are you doing work that may not be that important?  Meetings can be a huge time sink.  Evaluate whether you need to have so many meetings, and make the ones you have efficient.  Use measurement to make sure you are taking on initiatives that are beneficial to your organization.  

You may feel so overwhelmed that you think you need to chain yourself to your desk in order to get your work done.  Not true.  In fact getting away from your desk and out of the office can make you more productive.

Our budget is tiny
If you have a small budget, again figure out what’s most important. Printing and mailing are two of the biggest expenses.  Perhaps you will forgo a printed newsletter and send out a high-quality electronic one instead.

You don’t need fancy materials, but you do need to look professional.  You can often get printed materials such as an event invitation or annual report donated.  Ask a print shop to do it pro bono or find a foundation to sponsor it. 

Speaking of funding, reach out to granting agencies that will cover general operating support.

Spend wisely.  You should mail out an annual appeal letter, but you don’t need to mail out an annual report to ALL your donors.  

We have don’t have enough staff
Many nonprofits are understaffed, and some organizations turn to interns and volunteers to fill in the gaps.  This can be a mixed bag.  Interns and volunteers may not be that experienced and often don’t stay around very long.   If you do take them on, make sure they are well-trained and supported. If you can find good people, it might work in your favor.  How To Ensure Effective and Engaged Volunteers 

It’s not uncommon for board members to be more involved at a small nonprofit.  This doesn’t mean they should be running the day-to-day operations, but they can share their expertise in an advisory role. Your board should have a fundraising committee, and preferably a marketing committee.  Find board members who are willing and able to give you a little boost as you try to grow.

Having limited resources, whether it’s time, budget, staff, or a combination of the three, is a challenge.  Planning and prioritizing can help you conquer these challenges. 

How do you deal with limited resources? 

Conquering Your Communication Challenges – Planning, Strategy, and Measurement

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to write about how to conquer some of your communication challenges.  Do these sound familiar to you?

We don’t have a plan or strategy
This is where you need to begin.  You need to have fundraising and marketing plans.  Not having a plan is like starting a journey without a map (or these days programming your GPS).  You need to know where you are headed and how you will get there.

How to Create a Fundraising Plan
How to Create a Marketing Plan
Not only do you need to have overall plans, but each campaign or communication tool (website, newsletter, etc.) needs a strategy. Make it as detailed as possible.  Figure out each step of your annual appeal or event.  Create a timeline.

Set goals. These include the obvious such as how much money you need to raise and how many volunteers you want to recruit, as well as what you want your newsletter to achieve.  In this case it could be to engage, educate, entertain, or a combination of the three.

Here is some more detailed information about putting together a campaign. Campaign, champagne – what’s that thing called again?

Creating plans and strategies will take some time upfront, but it will save you time in the end. And it is time well spent.

We know we should be measuring our progress, but it’s so overwhelming
It’s not as overwhelming as you might think.  Now that you have plans and strategies, use those as your basis to figure out what you need to measure.   I wrote an entire post about measuring your progress a few weeks ago, so I won’t go into a huge amount of detail.

For your annual plans, measure your progress at least once a quarter.  For engagement (newsletter, social media, website), try to look at analytics once a month.  In addition, use a more personal approach and ask questions through social media and conduct short surveys in your newsletter and website.  You can also do a longer, but not too long, survey once or twice a year.

Once you have completed a campaign or event, figure out what worked and what didn’t.  Then make changes for the future. 

If you don’t measure your progress, how will you know if you are successful?   Perhaps you’ve had an annual event for years that’s really more trouble than it’s worth.  Or, you are trying to engage with your donors on Twitter, and not many of them use it. 

Don’t get too discouraged if you encounter a setback. Think of it as a learning experience.

Time to Measure Your Progress
How to Plan When You Are Already Doing It

You don’t need to be a data geek to do measurement. You can do a lot of it on a spreadsheet.  Here are a few examples you might find helpful.

Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators
The Beyond Cash Fundraising Management Dashboard
Now That’s A Spreadsheet!
Creating plans and strategies and coming up with a system for measurement is your first step towards conquering your communication challenges.  In my next post, I’ll write about dealing with limited resources – time, budget, and staff.

What are some of your communication challenges?

Make Your Newsletter Shine

Ann Green Communications, marketing, writing

In our social media world, is a newsletter still a relevant form of communication?  It can be, if it’s done well, which it often isn’t. 

Marketing consultant Kivi Leroux Miller recently surveyed a number of nonprofit organizations and found a majority of the respondents were either somewhat satisfied or not satisfied with their newsletter.  Some of the responses she received included organizations weren’t getting the response rates they wanted and they were unclear on their goals.
Nonprofit Email Newsletter Happiness
Leroux Miller also asked a more specific question about newsletter goals and found over half of the respondents had rather vague goals  like “Keep people informed about the work of our organization.” and “Remind people we are here and doing good work,” as opposed to 10% who replied “share results and gratitude with current donors.”
I Was Afraid of This: E-Newsletter Goals
How does your newsletter fare?  Do you have strong goals?

As I mentioned above, newsletters still have a role in nonprofit communications.  Here are a few ways to make your newsletter shine.

Make it visual
Your donors are busy and don’t have a lot of time to read your newsletter, and likely won’t read all of it (sad, but true).  That’s why it needs to be visual.

Whether you have a print or electronic newsletter, use pictures.  With an electronic newsletter, you could include a link to a video.  Showcase engaging photos and video of your work in action. Tell a visual story.

Be reader-friendly
Continuing with the visual theme, make your newsletter is easy to read and scan. Use bold headings, short paragraphs, and at least a 12-point font.  Make sure your headings convey enough information to give your readers the gist of your stories.

Consider including just the opening paragraph in your electronic newsletter with a link to your website, so you are not cluttering up the screen with lots of text.

Short and sweet
The problem with many newsletters is they are too long. A monthly newsletter only needs three or four stories. Think quality over quantity.

Engage your readers
Another problem with newsletters is they are boring.  Your donor wants to be thanked and hear how you making a difference for the people you serve.  They are not as interested in hearing that your CEO received 
an award from the Chamber of Commerce.

Lead with a story that shows how you are helping people.  Use the inverted pyramid and put your most important story first. 

You can include profiles of board members and volunteers, but tie it back to how you are making difference.

Write in the second person and draw in your readers by being personal and conversational.

Be professional
No matter the size of your organization, make sure your newsletter looks professional.  Give it a consistent look, such as always having your logo in the same place.  Using an email service provider can help with that. 

Use other channels to promote your newsletter
Include links to your newsletter on social media.  This can be useful in case your donor misses your original email.  Also, include links to your newsletter on your website.

Make it mobile friendly
Many of your donors will read your newsletter on a mobile device, so make sure it fits nicely on the screen.  Here’s some information to help you with that. 
How to Format Your Nonprofit Newsletter
Measure your success
One way to monitor your success is to measure click through rates.  That may not give you all the information you need.  You can also survey your readers at least once a year to get their feedback.

Take into account what you have learned.  If you are struggling with your newsletter, figure out why. 

You will have more success with your newsletter if you produce one that’s easy to read and filled stories about how you are making a difference.  Make it shine!

The Communication Journey

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, writing

Marketing expert Seth Godin recently blogged Communication is a path, not an event 

In short, it’s not a one-time thing.  While he focuses more on sales, this also applies to all your nonprofit fundraising and marketing.  You don’t just send a fundraising letter or even a thank you letter and not communicate again for awhile.  It’s an ongoing process. 

Here are few ways to ensure a successful communication journey.

Lots of drops will help your garden grow
Godin ends his post by saying “Drip, drip, drip.”  Drip marketing is a strategy where you send a series of messages to prospects.  An example would be sending welcoming messages to prospective donors before making an ask.  The term’s origin is thought to have come from a gardening technique in which small amounts of water are fed to plants over a long period of time. 

This is a helpful analogy to consider when you communicate with your donors and other supporters.  Read on for more information about drip campaigns. How to Create an Email Drip Campaign for Your Nonprofit 

Consistency is key
Be consistent in your fundraising and marketing.  This means your messages and look must be consistent, as well as how often you send out your messages.  If you send out a monthly newsletter, make sure it goes out around the same time each month.  Don’t skip a month. 

Don’t start your journey without a map
Creating a strategy and putting together an editorial calendar can serve as a road map for your communication journey.  Here’s more information, as well as an editorial calendar link. 
Creating Content on the Topics You Want to be Known for  
The LightBox Collaborative 2013 Editorial Calendar
Communication is a two way street
Listen to your audience.  Ask questions on social media, respond to comments, and send out surveys or polls.

Take your supporters’ feedback into account and give them information they want.

Communication takes different paths
Most of us communicate through more than one channel – email, social media, direct mail, phone. Different modes work for different audiences, but often you use a combination of channels.

This is very helpful during fundraising campaigns. A multi-channel approach gives you more than one opportunity to reach your audience, in case they miss your first message.

Be known but don’t be annoying
Communicate often enough so your supporters will remember you, but not too much so that you are bothering them.  Most organizations don’t communicate enough.  Remember to be consistent.  Don’t send three email messages in one day and not communicate again for three weeks.

As a general rule, send email once a week and post on social media once a day.

In your quest not to annoy your supporters, share content where you show gratitude and demonstrate how you are making a difference for the people you serve.  Keep your supporters engaged.

One of the benefits of communicating weekly is that your messages can be short.  Shorter more frequent communication usually works better for getting your message across.

Don’t get derailed
It may seem daunting to keep up this ongoing communication journey, but good relationships, like gardens, need lots of attention.  It’s not as difficult as you might think.  Having an editorial calendar and strategy will help.  And your messages don’t need to be long.  Also, it can be fun to thank donors and share success.   

Make it a worthwhile journey for your supporters.

How Are You Making a Difference?

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, writing

When nonprofit organizations reach out to donors and other supporters to share accomplishments, I often see something like the examples below.  (All names are fictitious).

We started a community garden in the Westside neighborhood.

Youth First just opened a new activity center for our afterschool program.

We received a $50,000 grant from the Jones Foundation.

A Place to Call Home found affordable housing for over 100 families last year.

These are okay on one level, but they are more focused on activities than accomplishments.  They don’t answer the question – How are you making a difference for the people you serve?

Focus on why rather than what
When you are communicating with donors, think about why your accomplishments are important.

Instead of just reporting that you have started a community garden, emphasize how that will make a difference.  Now neighborhood residents have access to fresh fruit and vegetables, which are often not available at nearby stores or are too expensive.

Instead of just noting that your afterschool program has a brand new activity center, demonstrate that you are providing a safe place for young people to interact and learn new skills.

Of course, publically acknowledging your major funders is important, but what will that $50,000 grant be used for?  How will it help people?

What does it mean for the families who you helped find affordable housing?  Show how a family that was living in a shelter or with relatives now has a place they can call home.

Be conversational and personal
Draw in your reader with something personal.  Use stories, quotes, and testimonials, as well as photos and videos.  Go easy on the statistics and avoid using jargon.  

When you tell a story, choose a protagonist – an individual or family- and give them a name. You can change their names to protect their privacy.

This post by Katya Andreson is about mission statements, but can apply to all your communications. How do I make my mission sound more exciting?  She recommends giving your messages a heartbeat, which I think is great advice.  She also says, “Always answer the question, at the end of the day, whose life is better for what we do?” 

Many people donate because they have a personal connection to your cause.  Don’t bore them with a lot of long-winded facts.

They want to see how you are making a difference. 

Work with program staff to find stories
Often development and marketing staff don’t have firsthand knowledge of how your organization is making a difference.  This is why you need to work with program staff to create compelling stories and testimonials.  

Come up with a system that won’t make anyone feel overburdened.  Let’s Work Together – The Importance of a Good Relationship with the Program Department 

Show your donors how they are helping you make a difference
Finally, don’t forget to thank your donors and let them know that they are a key to your success.  After all, you wouldn’t be able to make a difference for the people you serve without their support.

How is your organization making a difference?

Time to Measure Your Progress

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing

We are already three months into 2013.  This is a good time to measure your progress so far.  Take out your fundraising and marketing plans (You do have written plans, don’t you?), and let’s see how you are doing. Here are a few things you should measure.

Fundraising
Are you on target with your fundraising goals?  If not, how far off are you?  You may need to give it a little more time or do something differently. Perhaps the foundations you are approaching aren’t a good match for your organization.

If you have had any events or campaigns recently, assess what worked and what didn’t.  Hopefully, you have already measured results from your year-end appeal, so you can apply what worked to this year’s campaign.

Donor relations
Besides raising revenue, your fundraising plan should include a donor relations component.  Are you thanking your donors and keeping them engaged on a regular basis?  One way to track engagement is to measure the response rates of your email messages.  Another way is to get feedback by sending out a short survey or asking questions on social media.

Volunteer recruitment
If your organization relies on volunteers, are you meeting your recruitment goals?   Keep track of which groups are more likely to volunteer.  Do you tend to get more seniors or students?  Are corporations or faith-based communities a better place to find volunteers?

Marketing/communications
This is closely related to your donor relations.  Are you sending out a newsletter and other updates?  Measure the response rates of your messages and website.

If your messages don’t seem to resonate with your supporters, figure out why.  Maybe you need better email subject lines or more compelling content.  Are your messages filled with gratitude and success stories about how you are making a difference thanks to your donors, or are you sending out something long, boring, and focused on the organization?

Looking at your number of email subscribers and social media followers is just one part of the equation.  Make sure you are keeping them engaged with good content.

Another reason your response rate might be low is that you are sending messages to people who aren’t strong supporters.
You may also want to measure media coverage.  It’s not easy to get media coverage.  You are competing with many other organizations, as well as current news stories.  Make sure you are targeting the right publications (smaller and local is often better) with the right stories.

What else does your organization need to measure?
This post by the Veritus Group offers some more suggestions. 1st Quarter Check Up!  One point they make is that it’s still early in the year.  If something’s not working, you have plenty of time to fix it and still meet your year-end goals.

Here is a great tool to help you with your measurement. Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators
Look it over. You may find some other things you need to measure.

Take some time to measure your progress. Then make a point to do it again at least once between now and the beginning of July.

Navigating the Multi-Channel Communication Stream

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing
We live in a multi-channel communication world. We send and receive messages via direct mail, email, websites, social media, and our phones. Chances are your nonprofit organization is using all these channels to communicate with donors and other supporters. All of these channels can work, and they can work better if you use them together. 


How do you decide which channel works best for you and integrate all channels in your fundraising and marketing campaigns? Here are a few suggestions.

Which channels do your supporters prefer? 

Just because you have people subscribed to your email list or following you on social media, doesn’t mean they are always using those channels.

How do you know which channels your supporters like? You ask them. Conducting surveys a couple of times a year can be very helpful. You might find out your supporters prefer print newsletters or they are glued to their mobile devices. What works best will be different for every organization, and it will often be a combination of channels.

Once is never enough 
If you only mail out a fundraising appeal, your success rate will be much lower than if you also send out appeals through email and social media. According to a study by Convio (now part of Blackbaud), dual channel donors give an average of $123.29 annually, which is 46% more value to a nonprofit than direct mail only donors.

In addition, we are all very busy and have to contend with messages from a variety of sources. We might miss a fundraising appeal when it comes through the mail or email, but have our aha moment when we get a reminder on Facebook. On the other hand, some people never use social media or email and respond better to direct mail.

Quality vs. quantity 
How often you send out messages depends on the channel. Because of the cost, smaller organizations may only send out direct mail pieces a few times a year. Generally organizations send out email once a week and post on social media a couple of times a day.

But make sure you have something good to say. Don’t just put something on Facebook because it’s been a few days since you posted anything. Make your messages clear, concise, conversational, and compelling. The 4 Cs of Writing Good Content  

I recommend using an editorial calendar to help you plan your multi-channel communication strategy. LightBox Collaborative’s 2013 Editorial Calendar

Keep track 

For every campaign, keep track of how many donors come through each channel. Do the same when you recruit volunteers or hold an event. Figure out what works and what doesn’t. You may not have that many people responding through Twitter because your supporters don’t use it, you haven’t built up a following yet, or you have a lot of followers, but aren’t using Twitter effectively.


Stay consistent 
When you are communicating across channels, make sure your messages and look are consistent. If a donor goes to your website after receiving a fundraising letter, your donation page should have the same message, along with your logo. It’s okay to use exactly the same messages. Just alter them for each channel – e.g. your social media posts will be shorter. Everything you send out needs to look like it’s coming from the same organization. 

All paths lead to your website 
Often when you send out a letter, an email, or a social media post, you are directing people back to your website. Use this checklist to ensure that whatever web page you are sending someone to is effective and engaging. A Website Checklist  

These are a few examples of ways to help you navigate the 

multi-channel communication stream. How do you use multi-channel communication?

Time For Some Spring Cleaning

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing, website, writing

Spring is here, yea!  Spring is a time for new beginnings.  It’s a time to clean up what’s old and make room for something new.

Many of you may take on spring cleaning projects in your home.  Here are a few spring cleaning projects you can do that will benefit your nonprofit organization.

Clean up your mailing lists
Did you have an influx of address changes, returned mail, and bounced emails after you sent out your annual appeal?  Now is a good time to clean up and update both your print and email mailing lists.

You should be emailing your supporters regularly, so you need to keep your list up-to-date.  Remember never to add people to your list without their permission.

You may not mail as often, but why wait until right before your next big mailing to clean up your list.   

Update your donor database
Most likely your print mailing list is part of your donor database.  Besides updating that, make any other additions, changes, and deletions you need to make in your database.  For example, if you had a conversation with a donor, include that. Your donor database is an important tool and you need it to be up-to-date and filled with accurate information about your donors.

Spring Cleaning Your Database

Check in with lapsed donors
As you are cleaning up your mailing lists and database, you may come across some lapsed donors.  These folks can be an untapped source of revenue, so don’t let them get away. Find your best prospects and give them a call.  This is something your board can help you with. 

There are many reasons these donors haven’t given recently – they were too busy to donate last fall, they can’t afford to give right now, or they may not be interested in your organization anymore.  If it’s the last one, hopefully it’s not because you aren’t engaging with them regularly.  Whatever the reason, it’s always good to get feedback.

Where to Find the Gold In Your Fundraising 

Update your website
Your website is often one of the first places a newcomer will visit.  Your current supporters may also visit regularly.  It’s very important that you keep it up-to-date, that it looks good, and it’s easy to navigate. 

Use this checklist to help ensure that you have an effective and engaging website. 

A Website Checklist

Come up with fresh content
In the spring we can open the windows and let in some fresh air.  Have you been using the same stories and photos for awhile?  Start coming up with fresh stories, quotes, testimonials, and photos to use in all your materials.  It’s fine to use the same stories and photos in different materials, but it’s also a good idea to come up with some new ones.

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?
Take advantage of this time to make any updates and changes you need to make. What spring cleaning projects do you have in mind for your organization?

Ramp Up Your Donor Relations

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising

We don’t know the outcome of the sequester, but it could be bad for both nonprofits and donors. If the economy takes a downturn, nonprofits will see more requests for services, while some donors may feel the need to cut back on their giving.   

Will your organization make the cut?
Let’s say there is a donor who currently gives to five nonprofit organizations a year including yours, but is feeling a financial pinch, and is going to cut back to three. 

Will she choose an organization that:
  • Only communicates when they are asking for money. 
  • Sends a lame thank you letter, or no thank you letter.
  • Sends out a newsletter that’s long, boring, and only focuses on the organization.
Or will she choose one that:

  • Thanks their donors by calling them or sending handwritten notes.
  • Communicates often with success stories and updates.
  • Sends a newsletter and updates that are focused on how much they appreciate their donors and how they are making a difference with the donors’ support.

You can’t control your donors’ financial situation, but you can control your relationship with them.  You should always have a strong donor relations program, but you need it more than ever in an uncertain economy.

Donor relations needs to be part of your fundraising plan. It’s usually easier and more cost effective than trying to find new donors, which of course should also be part of your fundraising plan.

Here are a few things to keep in mind about donor relations.

Spend as much time on your thank you letters as you do on your annual appeal letter
A great thank you letter, phone call, handwritten note, or any combination of the three is a good first step to successful donor relations. Thank donors within 48 hours and be personal and creative. Thank Your Donors All Year Round 

Make all your communications donor focused
Let your donors know how their support is helping you make a difference.  Give examples of how you wouldn’t be able to do your great work without their help.

Find ways to keep your donors engaged and make them feel appreciated
Donor relations is an ongoing process.  Keep finding ways to engage your donors and thank them all year round. Find Ways To Engage With Your Donors
Find out how your donors want you to communicate with them
You may be tempted to do the bulk of your communication by email since it’s both easy and cost-effective.  That’s fine if it’s what your donors want.  But what if they would prefer a print newsletter?

Just because you have an email address for a donor or they are following you on social media, doesn’t mean they are always using those platforms.  Ask your donors how they would like you to communicate with them.  Don’t spend a lot of time on channels that they aren’t using.

The February Blog Carnival was all about donor relations and donor retention.  You’ll find lots of great tips that will help you keep your donors. 16 experts tell you how to keep your donors wanting to come back