#ADVOCACY: When A Clever Concept Just Misses, It Misses By A Lot
Sometimes being close really means missing by quite a bit
Sometimes a nonprofit’s campaign can include a fine idea that, alas, doesn’t quite get it right. Like a long fly ball to the 385-foot alley of a ball park that falls in to be caught at 382 feet, the charity can be excited at what seems to be about to happen, only to trudge back to the dugout (or in our cases today ‘back to the glitzy communications agencies’) lamenting about what could have been.
Let’s return this Monday to a theme we led off with last Monday on high-concept advocacy plans that did not quite live up to expectations. The good folks at the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration (SOFII) provide us all with food-for-thought when it comes to campaigns that might have looked good in the pristine world of the conference room, but came up just short in the real world. And ‘just short’ can mean real human tragedy where the fight against hunger is concerned.
Popularity: 1% | Category Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Civics, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Graphic Design, Health, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Publications, Reviews, Social Marketing, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Mac? Windows? Need Both Operating Systems? Use Both! (Part II)
Is it a Mac? Is it a PC? It's Virtualization!
Last week we introduced the idea of virtualization and how you can run Windows programs on an Apple laptop or desktop. Virtualization goes the other way as well, but who would want to run sleek OS X software on a clunky Windows machine?! Today we turn to the two leading software packages on the market that provide such inter-platform-operability for individuals and small businesses. Our ambition is not to sell either product, but to provide our colleagues and constituents with information that can help save money yet expand options for their staffs.
Indeed, the fundamental advantage of these packages is that you buy a software package for about $80 (or multiple licenses up from that price) and you can have two computer systems (or more if you want to geek out with a couple of flavors of Windows and/or Linux). Let’s take a look.
Popularity: 1% | Category Apple, Communications, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools, Video | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#COMMUNICATIONS: Visualizing The Impact Of Social Media, Especially Email
Click To Enlarge
Human beings are wired to pick up visual cues before we pick up textual ones. Social media and the internet love visuals too, because visual communication can travel quickly through networks and beyond the original linguistic group. We did a story on the MKCREATIVEmedia Blog last week about the eBenchmark study of 2012 by NTen and M+R Strategic Services that highlighted the ongoing importance of email outreach. What better way to follow that up than with their infographic showing the power of email.
We call your attention to such metrics as the fact that 35% of all online giving in 2011 came through email, whereas all other platforms together made up the other 65%. Therefore, email remains the single biggest tool in a nonprofit’s outreach toolbox, but it should not be considered the only tool. But how to be successful with email?
Popularity: 1% | Category Advice, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Development, Donor Acquisition, E-Mail, eBook, eNewsletter, Fundraising, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Public Relations, Publications, Resource, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Video | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Craig Lefebvre, Designer of Public Health & Social Change Programs, Discusses Social Marketing
R. Craig Lefebvre, Ph.D., is an internationally known designer of public health and social change programs. He is chief maven of socialShift, a consulting practice, and is a Research Professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. His blog, On Social Marketing and Social Change,” has been ongoing since 2005. He is the author of On Social Marketing and Social Change: Selected Readings 2005-2009 and a forthcoming textbook on Social Marketing (Jossey-Bass, 2013). The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You got into blogging back in 2005. You must have been one of the first ones.
CRAIG: I was in there pretty early.
MKC: Does the blog get much response? Is there a conversation going on?
CRAIG: I would say there are periodic conversations going on. In the neighborhood of 4,000 people a day are coming on to it. It’s a long way from six years ago, when we were getting readers by the ones and twos!
(more…)
Popularity: 11% | Category Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Facebook, Health, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Posterous, Scoopit, Social Marketing, Social Networks, Special Series, Special Series, Tumblr, Twitter, Wellness, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#FUNDRAISING: Maximizing Your Organization’s Return on Fundraising Events
We are pleased to welcome back Susan Emfinger of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. For her previous posts on institutional fundraising, please click here.
In today’s post, I ask readers to imagine a world in which fundraising staff and programmatic work closely together with a variety of “programmatic” events in order to expose the organization to those very individuals who have the financial capacity to enhance and/or to ensure the organizations’ future. My prediction: your fundraising results will surprise you.
Given how much time, energy and effort tends to go into organizing fundraising events, I thought we might start with one question: Just what is a “fundraising” event?
Popularity: 1% | Category Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications, Community, Conference/Congress, Development, Events, Fundraising, Gala, How-to, Marketing, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Planned Giving, Planned Giving, Public Relations, Resource, Sustainability | | 0 Comments
Written by: Susan Emfinger
#ADVOCACY: Make Sure Pitch Has Call To Action, Not Just High Concept
What happens when you get corporate assistance to launch a new campaign, or pro bono development from a commercial ad agency? You can get some fabulous ideas and some valuable insights on establishing your brand. You can get your materials into some of the best publication and on some of the most visited sites on the web.
But as some of our colleagues at Sofii.org have discovered, you can also get a good deal of expensive nothing. The commercial backer or ad agency might not be sensitive to the constituents who want to be involved with various types of nonprofits. They might encourage outreach through channels that are quite unlikely to reach the people your charity traditionally reaches. They might give you a fabulous product on the design board (Indeed, I think it’s safe to say that they certainly will give you a fabulous design.) that falls flat in the real world. Let’s look at a couple of examples from Sofii.
Popularity: 2% | Category Advertising, Advice, Advocacy, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Copyrighting, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Graphic Design, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Media Review, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Publications, Publications Design, Resource, Reviews, Sponsorship, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Study, Writing | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Debra Askanase, Socialbrite.org Strategist, Offers Useful Advice To Nonprofits Using Social Media
Debra Askanase, founder of Community Organizer 2.0, is an “engagement strategist” who consults with nonprofit organizations on digital media. She is also a strategist for Socialbrite. Her background includes a decade of community organizing experience, followed by seven years in community economic development. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: How did you get into digital media? Did you reinvent yourself?
DEBRA: Yes, but it also seemed a pretty natural progression. I started off as a relatively traditional community organizer with multi-issue/low-income organizations. I moved into tenant organizing as well, then into economic development. I saw many of the same skills in leadership development that I saw in community and economic development. I worked with low-income immigrant entrepreneurs to start businesses. After doing that for seven years, I became very interested in business, from the perspective of how business can change society. So I went to business school and there seemed to be a confluence at that point. Social media was just gaining traction – this was 2007 and Facebook had just opened up beyond the college crowd – and I made that leap, intuitively, that social media is really community organizing. Here’s an opportunity where I can use my expertise in business strategy that I had been doing for seven years and my understanding of how people come together to change things. And I wanted to bring that interest to nonprofits. My entire experience had been working with nonprofits, so I understood that world from the ground up.
Popularity: 2% | Category Advice, Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Development, Donor Acquisition, Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Interview, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Social Media, Social Networks, Special Series, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Twitter, Twitter, Writing | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#COMMUNICATIONS: Make Your Next Fundraiser An Online Conversation Too
A Twitter Wall adds dynamism to even the smallest event
Though weather in the mid-Atlantic continues to flirt with spring while staying surprisingly loyal to winter, it is the season to be planning summer festivals, fundraisers, and rallies. And if you really want to stay on top of your nonprofit’s schedule, start planning your end-of-year banquet as well (and use Tungle). But in this day and age, a nonprofit’s fundraising festival should be but one component of a multi-media plan to engage constituents, volunteers, and supporters both at the event and in the social networks of those attending.
We have recommended ‘Tweet Tables’ in previous posts, and today we draw on a really useful compendium of ideas from Trevor Jonas at Mashable.com.
Popularity: 2% | Category Advertising, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Events, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Gala, Geo-Location, How-to, iDevice, iPad/Tablet, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Mobile, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SOCIALMEDIA: Online Communication Is A Team Sport
Prep your staff for social media success
Difficult not to start this post with a shout-out to the Baltimore Orioles, who beat the Red Sox at Fenway last night after 17 innings. One of the best of the many anomalies of the game is the fact that the O’s Designated Hitter, Chris Davis went 0-for-8, with 5 strikeouts − and was the winning pitcher, throwing two shut-out innings when the rest of the staff was used up. It takes a team, and everyone contributes something critical to the overall success.
And it should be that way for your nonprofit or charity as well. Whatever the extent of your staff, you need to structure a social-media team who are dedicated to listening, contributing, and monitoring your outreach both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Popularity: 2% | Category Advertising, Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Development, eBook, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Public Media, Public Relations, Publications, Resource, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Strategic Marketing, Writing | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Get Guidance From Google On Simple SEO Success
Is your site worth searching for?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a social media buzzword: gotta have it, gotta work at it, gotta pack it in to your website or blog! And it is true that SEO needs to be a part of your nonprofit’s online and outreach strategies. Why develop a new site or even update your outdated one if people will struggle to find it, much less relevant information on it? The go-to standard for web searches (including images and videos) is, of course, Google. Even as the e-behemoth develops Android and G+ and even augmented-reality glasses, millions of us use it simply, almost exclusively, for web research.
So why not find out what the folks at Google recommend to bolster the searchability and discoverability of your website?
Popularity: 2% | Category Advice, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Resource, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Video, Web and Print, Web Design, Writing, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Chris Forbes, Co-Author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits, Offers Great Advice to Groups
Chris Forbes is the co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits and a certified guerrilla-marketing coach. His varied background in marketing includes experience in the faith sector and work on five continents, and he has pioneered several media initiatives in public relations, television, radio and the Internet. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What drew you to the marketing field?
CHRIS: I grew up in a marketing family. My mom had a product-administration service and worked with grocery stores and established networks with, say, free samples of food. When I was 14, she wanted me to dress up as Twinkie the Kid in a big foam-rubber costume to pass out Twinkies. When I was 15, she wanted me to dress up as Freddy the Fresh Guy from Wonder Bread. Then at 16, she asked me to be the Planter’s Peanut guy, but you have to wear leotards for that costume. I drew the line there.
Popularity: 11% | Category Advertising, Advice, Book, Branding, Campaigns, Case Study, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Pinterest, Public Relations, Research, Resource, Social Media, Social Networks, Special Series, Special Series, Strategic Marketing, Tumblr, Twitter, Twitter, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#INTERVIEW: Sean Triner, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Pareto Fundraising
Sean Triner is co-founder and “chief evangelist” of Pareto Fundraising, a direct marketing firm working in Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand exclusively with nonprofit organizations. Sean is a frequent speaker and consultant at international fundraising events. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a regular contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: How is your direct marketing model different from the U.S. model?
SEAN: The key difference is volumes. The whole population of Australia is about 20 million. Also, the costs of things are extraordinary. Cars are 40%, 50%, even 60% more here. Petrol is 50% more than in the U.S. With such small populations and such extraordinary costs, to get a direct-mail package out costs literally three times as much. The printing is three times as much. The postal stamp is three times as much. The mailing-list purchase prices are up to three times as much.
Popularity: 2% | Category Communications, Community, Copyrighting, Cross-Post, Development, Donor Acquisition, E-Mail, eNewsletter, Fundraising, Interview, Major Gifts, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Publications, Special Series, Special Series, Storytelling, Writing | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#FUNDRAISING: 2011 Was A Good Year For Email Outreach By Nonprofits
With all the excitement about all the social networks and all the purchases that Facebook has been making lately, it’s worth remembering that not only do more ‘traditional’ media exist but they also can be of greater value than the newest platform that has all the media and investor eyeballs. Such should be especially remembered by nonprofits who might not have the resources to establish a presence on the latest Pinterest trend.
According to the latest eNonprofit Benchmark Study by NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) and M+R Strategic Services, a substantial email list and a well-crafted email campaign remain the most valuable fundraising tools in your charity’s box. Just how valuable?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advertising, Advice, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Donor Acquisition, eBook, eNewsletter, Facebook, Fundraising, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Mobile, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Publications, Report, Resource, Reviews, Social Media, Technology, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SOCIALNETWORKS: Kony 2012 Covered The Night. Did It Jump The Shark?
Youth cover some of the evening
The sensation that is/was ‘Kony 2012′ has been a part of the nonprofit social-media landscape for six-plus weeks now. The hundreds of millions who made the original video a viral sensation in March were not all supporters of the message, though, and challenges to the drive launched by the San Diego nonprofit ‘Invisible Children’ continue to be made. The original and ostensible goal is to have Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) brought to justice by making Kony ‘famous’ enough that world leaders will be inspired or shamed to dedicate the resources to get him. The effort to make him famous has been done and the culmination of the effort was this past weekend’s ‘Cover The Night’ campaign. How well did it go? Whether the night got ‘covered’ probably depends on where you are and what you want ‘covered’ to mean, but Invisible Children have ratcheted up their campaign with, frankly, the oddest video yet.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Cause Marketing, Civics, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Event Review, Events, Fundraising, Marketing, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Public Media, Reviews, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Video, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Setup A (Free) Scoop.it Magazine For Your Community
We introduced Scoop.it and Pinterest earlier this week because we think these information-sharing sites offer a great platform for nonprofits and charities to share their own news as well as related images or stories in their sectors. As promised we have returned to round out this mini-series with a guide to help you setup a Scoop.it e-magazine site. Unlike Pinterest, you need not wait for an ‘invitation’. In fact, if you have a Twitter or Facebook account, you are already good-to-go. And if you don’t, where have you been these past five or six years?!
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Dashboards, eNewsletter, How-to, Marketing, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Research, Resource, Reviews, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Mark Van Gurp, Osocio Blog — Showcases the Best Advertising & Marketing For Social Causes
Mark van Gurp is the founder of Osocio, an international blog devoted to showcasing the best advertising and marketing for social causes. Mark began an earlier blog, Houtlist, in 2005 as a personal collection of nonprofit ads. Overwhelmed by the response, he began Osocio in 2007 with more than a dozen regular contributors. He has kept his day job. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: Can you explain what you do in your day job?
MARK: I’m webmaster and web designer for a big publishing house. At the unit I’m working for, we write about advertising and marketing. It is like Ad Age.
MKC: What first inspired you to curate nonprofit advertising and create Houtlust?
MARK: It was a coincidence. I was thinking about working as a freelance designer. And because I’m interested in designing for non-profits, I started collecting inspirational examples in the field. Those were the days before Pinterest and other networks, so I started a blog just for myself. It was my online album accessible from anywhere.
(more…)
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Interview, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Social Networks, Special Series, Special Series, Storytelling, Writing | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#SM4NP: Scoop.it! For Information ‘Curation’ & Social Interaction
Yesterday we explored Pinterest, a social network that puts a premium on visuals and offers ‘pin boards’ of topics collected/bookmarked/’pinned’ by the user. The metrics on the platform show amazing growth over the last few months, and many are still waiting for an invitation to join up. Scoop.it! has, on the surface, a strikingly similar mission: to provide a webspace to present ‘magazines’ of (hopefully) related materials based on a user’s interests and what information she or he has ‘curated’ for his or her site.
Let’s look at Scoop.it, and to do so we must appreciate what this notion of ‘content curation’ means.
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Design, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Research, Resource, Reviews, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Are Pinterest & Scoop.it Part Of Your Social-Network Arsenal?
Staying up-to-date with developments in the social-networking world is no easy task. Facebook engages most of our oxygen/eyeballs, but plenty of other services are available. Most of them are designed around a particular kind of presentation rather than a particular set of topics or audiences (Of course, certain kinds of presentations − photos, for instance − will draw markedly from certain kinds of audiences). Part of our vocation and business mission is to keep tabs on such evolution so you don’t have to (quite as much). This week, we want to focus on Pinterest and Scoop.it, with a How-To follow up on Scoop.it later this week. Interest in Pinterest has exploded only in the last few weeks, so let’s catch up with that one first.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Design, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Resource, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#VIDEO: Freelance Producers & Reporters Wanted for Brooklyn Independent Television
Brooklyn Independent Television (a division of the Community Media initiative of BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn), makes TV programs for and about Brooklyn, NYC, covering news, arts, culture, sports, health, business, and what’s happening in Brooklyn’s diverse neighborhoods.
Marco Kathuria, Creative Director and Social Media Strategist at MKCREATIVE happens to be one of their freelance instructors, so when he heard that BIT was expanding their programming and were looking for talented filmmakers who want to tell stories, he felt it was something worth sharing.
Popularity: 2% | Category Community, Cross-Post, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Opinion, Storytelling, Video, Video Production | | 0 Comments
Written by: mkcreative
#FUNDRAISING: Paul Jolly Warns Fundraisers To Expect The Unexpected
We are proud to welcome Paul Jolly of Jump Start Growth, Inc. as a new contributor to the MKCREATIVEblog. Paul has spent 25 years as a development professional and consultant to small and mid sized non profits. His focus is helping organizations create transformative relationships with their top donors. You can contact Paul at [email protected].
About twenty years ago, I was walking across the living room and saw something flying across the room just behind my shoulder. As I turned, I saw that my three year old son Travis had leaped off the armrest of the sofa, and landed on the floor behind me and burst into tears. I picked him up to comfort him, and through his sobs, he said, “I forgot to warn you.” (He hadn’t mastered the “r” sound yet, so it sounded like “woan”.) Which got me thinking about how donors sometimes do things that the charities they are supporting didn’t expect. But we still want to catch them!
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Nonprofit, Nonprofit | | 0 Comments
Written by: Paul Jolly