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Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

A Nonprofit Doing Donor Communication Right

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My wife and I have been proud of supporting MassCOSH for many years because they keep workers safe on the job. Now, I am proud of them because they’ve sent me two shining examples of how to do donor communication the right way.

Inform first, ask later. Click To Tweet

The Nonprofit, in the News

MassCOSH has a great program called Teens Lead @ Work. If an adult tells a state legislator that a workplace is unsafe, sometimes the legislator wonders if that adult has a hidden agenda.

Teens are straightforward and believable. When they speak up, their voices carry a lot of weight. Especially when they combine research with personal experience and make a passionate presentation, they can be the best advocates for a cause.

MassCOSH mailed me an article showing how fifteen-year-old Josh Ramirez and his fellow Teens Lead advocates are spreading the word at their schools and preventing teens from being killed at work. Attached to the article was a sticky note, saying simply, “We wanted to share this with you!”

No request for donations. Not even a reply envelope. This time, they’re giving something to me.

The Summer Intern, in the Story

Abigail Barton came to MassCOSH as an intern at the beginning of the summer. I know because she wrote and told me so.

Throughout the summer, I heard from Abigail in the mail: about the skills she was learning and about the values that working at the organization was solidifying within her.

I am so excited to see what the future holds, but I also know that I have a responsibility to fight for a future that’s fair and just. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.

Again, no “ask.” No appeal letter. But when MassCOSH sends its year-end appeal, I will remember Abigail. Wouldn’t you?

In fact, if the organization doesn’t mention her in its appeal letter, I’ll be very much surprised!

Donor Communication Done Right

Before you ask your donors for any money, first ask yourself: what have I shared with them? Did I let them know the impact of their gift? Did I make the donor the hero of the story?

If not, take a leaf from MassCOSH. Send your donors something they’ll value right now.

See how much of a difference it makes in December!

 

Don’t Worry about Facebook (More Than Before)

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facebook hoaxOkay, now I’m mad. Some scammer is trying to take advantage of…our fear of being scammed!

If you’re on Facebook, you should always think twice before accepting a friend request. Specifically, if the thought crosses your mind, “I thought I was friends with her already?, you probably were. And it’s probably not her.

This was true last week, and last month, and last year. All of us should always be checking to see if a friend request comes from someone we’ve friended previously. That’s nothing new.

The Latest Facebook Hoax

This past weekend, tons of us got messages from people we knew saying their Facebook accounts had been cloned. This is a bad joke perpetrated on the public. Here’s how that hoax happened, according to Time Magazine.

The message says that the sender has received a duplicate friend request from the recipient. Then, it tells the receiver to forward the same message to their friends. Many have apparently taken that to mean that they should forward the same message to all of their friends, prompting dozens or even hundreds of others to believe that there may be a problem with their accounts as well.

BUT THESE MESSAGES ARE A HOAX.

There is no epidemic of cloned accounts. There is an epidemic of people wasting each other’s time and confusing one another by sending out these bogus messages!

So what should you do if you receive one of these hoax messages? Nothing. Delete the message and move on.

Why You Got Fooled

If you took these hoax messages seriously, there’s a reason for that. As Snopes rightly remarks:

This message played on warnings about the phenomenon of Facebook “pirates” engaging in the “cloning” of Facebook accounts, a real (but much over-hyped) process by which scammers target existing Facebook users accounts by setting up new accounts with identical profile pictures and names, then sending out friend requests which appear to originate from those “cloned” users. Once those friend requests are accepted, the scammers can then spread messages which appear to originate from the targeted account, luring that person’s friends into propagating malware, falling for phishing schemes, or disclosing personal information that can be used for identity theft.

You care about your friends. You don’t want to get them into trouble. So, you end up doing something that protects nobody, wastes their time, and annoys them. It also creates a paranoia about using Facebook…and distracts us from the real problems, and the real solutions.

What You Should Do Instead

  1. Always check new friend requests to see whether the person apparently sending them is already your Facebook friend.
  2. If they are, then the new request is a fraud. Report the fraud attempt to Facebook.
  3. Always check frightening rumors with a reputable fact-checker like Snopes. Do not pass on unsubstantiated information.
  4. Take 15 minutes to review your Facebook settings to protect our own privacy and that of your friends. (That is a much better way to show you care than passing along hoax messages!)

 

Fundraising Tuesday: How to Pay for Nonprofit Advice You Need

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Your nonprofit organization does great work. You’d like more people to know about it. So you squeeze time for writing newsletters, sending email, and posting to social media into your schedule.

And still, people don’t know what you do.

You realize you need outside help…but there’s a problem. How are you going to pay for the help you need?

Nonprofits often operate with restricted funds. The grant you received to offer concerts to schoolchildren, or feed elders, won’t pay for your consultant. You know you need to spend the money to make more money, but where do you get the money to invest in the first place?

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Four ways, in fact.

Here are four approaches you can take to find money without strings attached, money you can invest in the future of your organization.

Each of them is something you can do, even if you’re a small nonprofit. And none of them will break the bank.

Ask a donor.

Most people give to your organization to produce immediate results. A few of your supporters understand that better communications now means a stronger organization later. Find a major donor like that, and ask him or her to give you the seed money you need.

Write a proposal.

Communications is “capacity building.” Foundations will give grants if you show them what difference your improved communications will make. Businesses will also invest if you make a strong case.

Do some crowdfunding.

Zach Brown raised $55,000 online by making potato salad.. How about you? Be very human and a little bit funny, and you just might get enough small gifts to pay your consultant.

Build it into the budget.

Communications are just as important as staff training and other items you budget for every year. It will be a lot easier to pay for help if you’re planning for it.

When you have the money in hand, here are seven tips on what to look for when you’re hiring a communications consultant. And I’d love to talk with you about your project. Drop me a line at [email protected]: maybe we can work together!

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