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For many years, I have used Pinterest to gather ideas for big, personal projects: planning events, renovating my home, collecting dinner recipes, and–perhaps my biggest project of all!–raising my daughter. It occurred to me only in the last year that I could also use Pinterest to plan my nonprofit. #facepalm  Now there are not nearly as many nonprofit pins as there are, say, hairstyle or home decor pins, but they are there. And their number is growing.
In that spirit, I have started curating boards just for nonprofit leaders like you who could use easy access to the best communications + board development ideas out there. I have a board for newsletter tips, a board for storytelling, a board for social media, and more. I invite you to join me over on Pinterest. Follow my boards that resonate with you, that can help you to solve the communications + board development challenges you are facing. Check in often–I add new pins and boards on a weekly basis. And better still, create some boards of your own. If you are new to Pinterest, here are two suggestions for maximizing your time and the resources you find:
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'Tis the season for EDs and Development Directors to begin crafting their organization's year-end campaign. If you are like most, your campaign will include an appeal letter from the ED or Board Chair that will walk the fine line between, "Look at how amazing we are!" and "Please, please, please give us money so we can keep the lights on. Please." If you have ever written such a letter–or had to sign it, fold it, and stuff it in a handwritten envelope 200+ times–you know how much work goes into this aspect of your campaign. Given your investment of time, energy, and papercuts, shouldn't you get a great a return?  Before you waste any more paper and ink on a lackluster, formulaic appeal letter, check out this list of ways to upgrade your correspondence and receive more contributions in return.
1. Name Names Fundraising is ultimately about building relationships. But it is difficult to cultivate a relationship with someone if your letter greets them with a generic salutation, such as Dear Friend or Dear Donor. Moreover, the psychology of giving tells us that folks are more likely to open their wallets if they feel like they, and they alone, are being asked to give. If they perceive they are part of a group of people being asked–as a generic letter might imply–they will just leave it up to other people to donate. Presumably, if someone is on your mailing list, you have their name. You can use mail merge in Microsoft Word to create and print personalized letters. The additional expense of printing these letters versus copying them en masse at your local office supply store is a worthwhile endeavor. 2. Show, Don't Tell Instead of telling your recipients that your program has enriched the community in some way, how about showing them through storytelling? Stories have the power to inspire and motivate people to act, in a way that statistics cannot. To wit:
3. Don't Ask for a Donation I know. This sounds counter-intuitive. Hear me out. Instead of asking your dear reader to "make a tax-deductible contribution" to your organization, invite them to join you in the good work you are doing. For example:
4. Make It Easy to Give Easy is subjective, of course, but you should offer your recipients at least two ways to give. Whatever methods you might suggest, you should facilitate those processes as much as possible. For example, many people still prefer the old standby of writing checks, so you ought to include a return envelope. I once heard a seasoned fundraiser say that not including an envelope is like putting a pool of crocodiles between the donor and their contribution. For other people though, writing a check requires an act of Congress, and possibly an errand to buy stamps. Yet more pools of crocodiles! Consider alerting them to an online or mobile giving option. Bonus: Put 'You' Before 'We' Here's something that might put a little spring in your step today: it's all about you! Well, not you per se, but 'you' as in the person to whom you are writing. It is very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of "we did this and we did that; we will do this and we hope to do that." In the examples I offered above, I modeled this best practice as much as possible. Sometimes a 'we' is unavoidable, but you should try to make the letter about the recipient and the positive impact they can have their community. What am I missing? Share your best practices for writing appeal letters in the comments below. Your questions are welcome, too! If you are a nonprofit leader who has spent any amount of time on social media lately, you know the internet is ripe with tips, tricks, do's, don't's, mistakes, and best practices for successfully executing your organization's #GivingTuesday campaign. And you have likely heard that in 2016, nonprofit organizations around the world received $177 million in a single day. I know when I hear that statistic, I think, "I want a piece of that pie!"  But let's take a step back for a moment: is #GivingTuesday right for your organization? That depends...How big is your nonprofit? Is your community active on social media? Have you had success with online giving in the past? Do you have the resources to develop a thoughtful, effective #GivingTuesday campaign? And more.
There's a lot to think about. And so to help you with your thought process, I have rounded up some of my favorite essays that address the factors you need to consider before you ask for a slice of the #GivingTuesday pie.
Is your organization planning to participate in #GivingTuesday? Why or why not? Do you have any favorite articles that have informed your thinking about this day of giving? Share in the comments. Your questions are welcome, too! It's not every day that you get to meet your heroes. I still haven't met mine, but I did get to be a guest on her podcast! I had the pleasure and honor of joining Joan Garry on a recent episode of "Nonprofits are Messy" to talk about what it's like to be the only staff member of a small nonprofit.  If her name is not familiar, Joan is the former CEO of GLAAD, a regular panelist on NBC's Emmy award-winning show "Give", and a consultant and published author on nonprofit leadership. Joan knows nonprofits!
One of the things that I enjoy most about Joan–apart from her endless wisdom and generous spirit–is her ability to maintain a sense of humor about the nonprofit sector and also remain in absolute awe of the good work we are all trying to do. This feels like a healthy balance to me. During our podcast conversation, Joan and I covered a lot of ground: elevator pitches, a day in the life of a solo Executive Director, board roles and responsibilities, volunteer engagement and management, and trying to grow when there aren't a lot of resources. You can stream our episode online, or download it to your mobile device with your preferred podcast app. And don't stop with that one! Joan has had a lot of amazing guests over the years. Here are just a few of my favorite "Nonprofits are Messy" episodes... (What about incorporating this one into your new board member orientation?) |
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