That is the subject of an email I received yesterday from the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee). It's one of seven emails I've received from them in the last 48 hours asking for money, and mostly they read like text book examples of what not to do.
Setting aside the all-caps yelling, telling your potential donors that "all hope is lost" is a terrible idea. If all hope is truly lost, why would I give you money? Wouldn't that be futile? My instinct was to delete it right away without opening it. The only reason I read this email was to write about it.
Just like everything else about this election cycle, this was an extreme example. Nonprofits make similar mistakes every day. Much of the work we do involves big, complex, heartbreaking and terrifying issues. The problem is that too much scary or sad makes people close their wallets and stop listening. So, if you talk about a big, scary problem, you better follow it up quickly with the solution you offer and the prospect of a happy ending. And, even if you feel it sometimes, don't ever say it's hopeless.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Too Soon?
At 7:00 a.m. this morning as I sat blurry-eyed at my computer hovering over the "Post" button on Facebook, I hesitated for a few moments about publishing a post related to Hurricane Sandy. Would people object? Would they think I was taking advantage?
The Facebook page is for my employer, The Immigrant Learning Center, and we use it to publish information about how immigrants strengthen the U.S. The post in question was a quote from Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi about how immigrants helped his state recover from Katrina. I decided to go for it. So far, the results have been good - eight likes, one share, and no negative comments. (We recently launched the page and only have 78 fans so far.)
I was reminded of an interview I saw with the comedian Louis CK where he said merely waiting until some time has passed after a tragedy to say a joke is like "fake decency." "If I wait a while, why is that better?" I think the same thing can apply to marketing.
So, the test is not "is it too soon" but "is it too self-serving?"
For example, my bank and credit card companies know I live in the Boston area. As soon as Sandy swept through town they sent me emails offering assistance with things like cash advances, waiving fees, customer service reps waiting to help me, etc. Yes, they did it to make money, but I didn't mind because, if I had needed any of those things, I would have been grateful.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has been slammed in the press and social media for his attempts to "help" storm victims. I'm not saying whether what he did was good or bad, but the campaign clearly did a poor job of managing perception, and, from where I sit, the backlash looks completely predictable.
In my situation it was a pretty safe bet because our Facebook fans want and expect content that talks about immigrants and their contributions.So, sometimes it is appropriate to use current events to further your message. Just be careful you understand your audience first.
The Facebook page is for my employer, The Immigrant Learning Center, and we use it to publish information about how immigrants strengthen the U.S. The post in question was a quote from Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi about how immigrants helped his state recover from Katrina. I decided to go for it. So far, the results have been good - eight likes, one share, and no negative comments. (We recently launched the page and only have 78 fans so far.)
I was reminded of an interview I saw with the comedian Louis CK where he said merely waiting until some time has passed after a tragedy to say a joke is like "fake decency." "If I wait a while, why is that better?" I think the same thing can apply to marketing.
So, the test is not "is it too soon" but "is it too self-serving?"
For example, my bank and credit card companies know I live in the Boston area. As soon as Sandy swept through town they sent me emails offering assistance with things like cash advances, waiving fees, customer service reps waiting to help me, etc. Yes, they did it to make money, but I didn't mind because, if I had needed any of those things, I would have been grateful.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has been slammed in the press and social media for his attempts to "help" storm victims. I'm not saying whether what he did was good or bad, but the campaign clearly did a poor job of managing perception, and, from where I sit, the backlash looks completely predictable.
In my situation it was a pretty safe bet because our Facebook fans want and expect content that talks about immigrants and their contributions.So, sometimes it is appropriate to use current events to further your message. Just be careful you understand your audience first.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
What Happened to About Us?
From time to time someone will tell me about a cool new website (usually trendy or social media-y) and when I go there I can’t tell what it is or why I should care about it. Sometimes, these sites don't even have an “About Us” page. Just to be clear, every website should have an “About Us” and a “Contact Us” page. Without them, the user is left to assume either (1) you are hiding something (like a scam or trying to look larger and more experienced than you are) or (2) you are talking to yourself (because you don’t know how to talk to strangers or you assume you are so cool everyone will already know about you).
This is just an extreme example of mistakes that most everyone makes with their website when they, for example, use jargon or assume a given level of subject matter knowledge. Your website should be interesting and understandable to those who know you best as well as those who have never heard of you before. Try to pretend you don’t know you and read your website. Can you easily tell who this is, what they do, and why you should care? Better yet, ask a stranger to read your website and then tell you who you are. You might be surprised.
This is just an extreme example of mistakes that most everyone makes with their website when they, for example, use jargon or assume a given level of subject matter knowledge. Your website should be interesting and understandable to those who know you best as well as those who have never heard of you before. Try to pretend you don’t know you and read your website. Can you easily tell who this is, what they do, and why you should care? Better yet, ask a stranger to read your website and then tell you who you are. You might be surprised.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
False Promises
The recent news about the failed merger (or should I say re-merger because they used to be one organization) between SmileTrain and Operation Smile reminded me of a blog post I’ve been meaning to write for some time. So, here it is.
One of the trickiest things for a fundraiser to figure out is how often to communicate with donors and prospects. Contact them too often and you risk losing money and alienating your supporters. Too few contacts could mean you’re leaving money on the table. Usually the decision criteria include things like dollars raised vs mailing costs or, for new donor acquisition (which frequently involves an initial loss), it may be average cost per new donor compared with lifetime value. Both of these approaches make sense from an ROI standpoint and both leave out the individual donor experience.
I know more than one person who has complained to me about being a long-time supporter of an organization and giving up because they saw all their donations return to them in the form of direct mail. So, that calendar or tote bag you just mailed may have netted you more income, but did it lose you some formerly loyal supporters? I believe that many people think twice before donating to a cause that interests them because they don’t want to get on the mailing list.
That’s why I was so intrigued when I first saw SmileTrain’s “donate to us and we’ll go away” pledge starting in early 2009. Once a quarter they would send me a letter that said this:
“…Smile Train only needs to ask our donors for just one gift. Now don’t get me wrong, we love to communicate with our many supporters. ... But we don’t want to be pushy. So, if you want to make just one gift to help us save one or more children, just check the box on the enclosed reply form when you send in a tax-deductible donation. We’ll honor your wishes and never ask you for a gift again.”
And here’s what the reply form looks like:
I was impressed when I first saw this. It’s a bold move. SmileTrain already has a compelling value proposition - $250 changes the life of a child forever. This approach could be seen as blackmail (give us your money or we’ll keep sending you mail) or it could be seen as giving people a chance to make a valuable contribution with the confidence that their funds will go toward the mission and they won’t be bombarded with requests for more money. It could entice many more people to make an initial donation and motivated donors have a chance to opt-in on future mailings. Even though it could save the organization from wasting money on future mailings that dont get results, it’s still awfully hard to give up on the idea of future solicitations. It’s a risky move.
I watched and waited for someone to study this bold experiment. Did this unique approach work for SmileTrain? I found nothing. So, I decided to do a little experiment of my own. In June 2010 I sent them $10 and I checked the box that said “Please don’t ask me for another donation.” I figured I would at least save them the expense (and the trees) of future mailings. In return they sent me a mailing that included a DVD of a documentary called “Smile Pinki” and a buck slip inviting me to order more DVDs and donate more money. There went a big chunk of my $10 and all of SmileTrain’s credibility with me.
I received two more letters from SmileTrain in September and December of 2010. The December letter acknowledged that “we promised that we would never ask for another donation again. And we won’t.” Technically, neither of these letters included the words “please donate.” But really - is that what you thought I meant – go ahead and send me as much mail as you like just don’t ask me for anything? This strikes me as really disingenuous. The good news is that I haven’t gotten any mail from them in 2011.
It turns out that I could have saved myself $10 if I had waited a little longer. This article from the August 2010 Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report from the American Institute of Philanthropy indicates that at least one other donor had a similar experience. They are clearly not fans of SmileTrain. Just to be clear, I am not writing this story to discourage anyone from supporting SmileTrain. If you feel motivated to help children with cleft palates, this might be a great way to do it. Just know what you’re getting into.
So what is the moral of this story? I’d still be fascinated to find out how well this approach works for them. I don’t have the magic answer of how often to mail what to whom. But consider this – no matter how many pieces you send, you’re not doing a mass mailing. You are sending one piece of mail to one person at a time. So, in addition to running the numbers, take into consideration the experience of individual donors. Remembering the basics of segmenting, testing, and listening doesn’t hurt either.
One of the trickiest things for a fundraiser to figure out is how often to communicate with donors and prospects. Contact them too often and you risk losing money and alienating your supporters. Too few contacts could mean you’re leaving money on the table. Usually the decision criteria include things like dollars raised vs mailing costs or, for new donor acquisition (which frequently involves an initial loss), it may be average cost per new donor compared with lifetime value. Both of these approaches make sense from an ROI standpoint and both leave out the individual donor experience.
I know more than one person who has complained to me about being a long-time supporter of an organization and giving up because they saw all their donations return to them in the form of direct mail. So, that calendar or tote bag you just mailed may have netted you more income, but did it lose you some formerly loyal supporters? I believe that many people think twice before donating to a cause that interests them because they don’t want to get on the mailing list.
That’s why I was so intrigued when I first saw SmileTrain’s “donate to us and we’ll go away” pledge starting in early 2009. Once a quarter they would send me a letter that said this:
“…Smile Train only needs to ask our donors for just one gift. Now don’t get me wrong, we love to communicate with our many supporters. ... But we don’t want to be pushy. So, if you want to make just one gift to help us save one or more children, just check the box on the enclosed reply form when you send in a tax-deductible donation. We’ll honor your wishes and never ask you for a gift again.”
And here’s what the reply form looks like:
I was impressed when I first saw this. It’s a bold move. SmileTrain already has a compelling value proposition - $250 changes the life of a child forever. This approach could be seen as blackmail (give us your money or we’ll keep sending you mail) or it could be seen as giving people a chance to make a valuable contribution with the confidence that their funds will go toward the mission and they won’t be bombarded with requests for more money. It could entice many more people to make an initial donation and motivated donors have a chance to opt-in on future mailings. Even though it could save the organization from wasting money on future mailings that dont get results, it’s still awfully hard to give up on the idea of future solicitations. It’s a risky move.
I watched and waited for someone to study this bold experiment. Did this unique approach work for SmileTrain? I found nothing. So, I decided to do a little experiment of my own. In June 2010 I sent them $10 and I checked the box that said “Please don’t ask me for another donation.” I figured I would at least save them the expense (and the trees) of future mailings. In return they sent me a mailing that included a DVD of a documentary called “Smile Pinki” and a buck slip inviting me to order more DVDs and donate more money. There went a big chunk of my $10 and all of SmileTrain’s credibility with me.
I received two more letters from SmileTrain in September and December of 2010. The December letter acknowledged that “we promised that we would never ask for another donation again. And we won’t.” Technically, neither of these letters included the words “please donate.” But really - is that what you thought I meant – go ahead and send me as much mail as you like just don’t ask me for anything? This strikes me as really disingenuous. The good news is that I haven’t gotten any mail from them in 2011.
It turns out that I could have saved myself $10 if I had waited a little longer. This article from the August 2010 Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report from the American Institute of Philanthropy indicates that at least one other donor had a similar experience. They are clearly not fans of SmileTrain. Just to be clear, I am not writing this story to discourage anyone from supporting SmileTrain. If you feel motivated to help children with cleft palates, this might be a great way to do it. Just know what you’re getting into.
So what is the moral of this story? I’d still be fascinated to find out how well this approach works for them. I don’t have the magic answer of how often to mail what to whom. But consider this – no matter how many pieces you send, you’re not doing a mass mailing. You are sending one piece of mail to one person at a time. So, in addition to running the numbers, take into consideration the experience of individual donors. Remembering the basics of segmenting, testing, and listening doesn’t hurt either.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
If you lived here, you’d be home by now
I borrowed this title from Lisa Williams who spoke at Tuesday night’s Ethos Roundtable. It turns out not only was this saying on a billboard, it’s also the title of a book and a TV Show. Williams’ talk was about the “hyper local” movement and how motivated bloggers try to use modern communication techniques to make the places we live feel more like home.
I often meet with nonprofit groups at Marketers Making a Difference who want to know how to get press coverage. Specifically, they usually want to know how to get into The Boston Globe. The Globe is a great publication but it’s not always the best choice. For example, one group served the Medford/Somerville/Cambridge area exclusively. They needed to focus on media that covered their service area. In addition to focusing on the traditional media that their target audience is most likely to read, I usually suggest they identify blogs that appeal to their constituents.
In the past, the best ways I knew to identify relevant blogs were Google and Technorati.com. Tuesday night, I learned some great new ways to find local content. Lisa Williams is the creator of Placeblogger, the largest searchable index of local weblogs. If you’re looking for someone who writes about your neighborhood, this is the place to look.
Local content seems to be popping up everywhere. There’s also Patch. This is a project funded by AOL that employs journalists to write local content for their “Patch.” There are currently 75 Patches in Massachusetts. Then there’s Wicked Local which is specific to Massachusetts and currently covers 162 locations. (But not Boston, Lowell, or Worcester. This is for content that might be missed by the major media outlets).
So, if you’re cause is local, you now have more tools than ever to meet your constituents where they live.
I often meet with nonprofit groups at Marketers Making a Difference who want to know how to get press coverage. Specifically, they usually want to know how to get into The Boston Globe. The Globe is a great publication but it’s not always the best choice. For example, one group served the Medford/Somerville/Cambridge area exclusively. They needed to focus on media that covered their service area. In addition to focusing on the traditional media that their target audience is most likely to read, I usually suggest they identify blogs that appeal to their constituents.
In the past, the best ways I knew to identify relevant blogs were Google and Technorati.com. Tuesday night, I learned some great new ways to find local content. Lisa Williams is the creator of Placeblogger, the largest searchable index of local weblogs. If you’re looking for someone who writes about your neighborhood, this is the place to look.
Local content seems to be popping up everywhere. There’s also Patch. This is a project funded by AOL that employs journalists to write local content for their “Patch.” There are currently 75 Patches in Massachusetts. Then there’s Wicked Local which is specific to Massachusetts and currently covers 162 locations. (But not Boston, Lowell, or Worcester. This is for content that might be missed by the major media outlets).
So, if you’re cause is local, you now have more tools than ever to meet your constituents where they live.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Help A Reporter Out
At today’s Marketers Making a Difference meeting I learned about a great resource called Help A Reporter Out (HARO). It’s a service that reporters can use to find sources and you can use to find reporters who are looking for experts in your knowledge areas.
This is the kind of service that used to only be available to PR professionals through expensive subscriptions to services like Cision. HARO is advertising supported and therefore free to users. I can’t speak to the relative quality of the leads, but it seems to me that this part of the ongoing democratization of information made possible by the internet.
The good news is, this makes it easier for you to get media contacts. The bad news is, it makes it easier for everyone else to get access too. Maybe that’s not bad news after all. It means that instead of putting resources into getting access, you should be putting into having something to say.
For more cool marketing-related resources, check out our Delicious resource list: http://delicious.com/mmdboston
This is the kind of service that used to only be available to PR professionals through expensive subscriptions to services like Cision. HARO is advertising supported and therefore free to users. I can’t speak to the relative quality of the leads, but it seems to me that this part of the ongoing democratization of information made possible by the internet.
The good news is, this makes it easier for you to get media contacts. The bad news is, it makes it easier for everyone else to get access too. Maybe that’s not bad news after all. It means that instead of putting resources into getting access, you should be putting into having something to say.
For more cool marketing-related resources, check out our Delicious resource list: http://delicious.com/mmdboston
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
BOGO!
If you know that BOGO stands for “Buy One Get One” then you already have a sense of how much this concept has been ingrained in the American psyche. Even the government is getting in the act with programs like the Social Innovation Fund where grantees must match government funds with private donations 1:1 or even 2:1 or more. Programs where a supporter is offering to match private contributions up to a specified limit for a particular period in time are known as “challenge grants” and are a great deal if you can get them.
“Matching Funds” usually refers to corporate programs that provide matching funds to employees for nonprofits that meet their guidelines. Even in tough economic times, many companies still offer matching funds and they are available 365 days a year. All you have to do is ask. But, many nonprofits don’t because of one thing that everyone hates – paperwork. The donor has to file paperwork with the employer to get the matching funds and the nonprofit has to process paperwork to receive the gift. But, now there are some tools that can help. Matchinggifts.com from HEP Development Systems offers a searchable database of matching gift companies and tools for processing them.
Fancy tools or not, everyone can (1) identify the major employers in your area that offer matching funds (2) collect data about where your donors work, and (3) publish information about matching gifts in thank you notes, on your website, etc. Why? Well it’s obvious that matching gifts represent money you could be leaving on the table. Research also indicates matching gifts can increase revenue per solicitation and the response rate, as indicated in this article from AFP.
But it’s not just about maximizing a single transaction. I don’t have research to back me up, but I believe that matching gifts can be another way to cement your relationship with your donors. Yes, you are asking them to do a little extra work. But, they are giving you money in order to do good in the world and this gives them the opportunity to double what they can do. Everyone wants to do more with their money. Help them help you.
“Matching Funds” usually refers to corporate programs that provide matching funds to employees for nonprofits that meet their guidelines. Even in tough economic times, many companies still offer matching funds and they are available 365 days a year. All you have to do is ask. But, many nonprofits don’t because of one thing that everyone hates – paperwork. The donor has to file paperwork with the employer to get the matching funds and the nonprofit has to process paperwork to receive the gift. But, now there are some tools that can help. Matchinggifts.com from HEP Development Systems offers a searchable database of matching gift companies and tools for processing them.
Fancy tools or not, everyone can (1) identify the major employers in your area that offer matching funds (2) collect data about where your donors work, and (3) publish information about matching gifts in thank you notes, on your website, etc. Why? Well it’s obvious that matching gifts represent money you could be leaving on the table. Research also indicates matching gifts can increase revenue per solicitation and the response rate, as indicated in this article from AFP.
But it’s not just about maximizing a single transaction. I don’t have research to back me up, but I believe that matching gifts can be another way to cement your relationship with your donors. Yes, you are asking them to do a little extra work. But, they are giving you money in order to do good in the world and this gives them the opportunity to double what they can do. Everyone wants to do more with their money. Help them help you.
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