Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Fundraising Tuesday: Appeal Letter Sent? Time for Email!

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fundraising by emailWhy email? You work so hard on writing the ideal fundraising appeal letter. At last, after Thanksgiving, it’s printed and folded, stamped and addressed, and sent on its way.

You breathe a sigh of relief. Then, you worry.

How can you be sure the donor will pay attention to your letter? Will he or she respond with a gift?

Don’t Worry, Use Email

I understand why you’re worried. Just look in your mailbox. How many organizations have sent you an appeal? In just one week in mid-November, twenty letters asking for money arrived in my mailbox…and the pace is only going to pick up as we reach December!

But you don’t have to just sit and wait. There are things you can do now to make the donor pick that envelope out of the pile, read your letter, and donate online (or send in a check).

One of them is to follow up your fundraising letter with email.

Find out how to use email to make your fundraising more effective. Read my guest post at JohnHaydon.com.

3 Ways Nonprofits Find Time to Do Social Media Well

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we can do itBy this time, nonprofits are getting the word: we can’t afford to put social media off any longer. And we have to do it well, if we’re going to connect with our supporters. There are just too many other things to look at on the web!

As a consultant on nonprofit communications, the biggest question I’ve heard from nonprofit leaders is:

“How do I find the time to do social media well when my staff and I are so busy already?” Share on X

It’s a fair question, but there are answers.

Do Social Media Well in the Time You Have

One: start small. Give yourselves at least six months to become really good at connecting with your supporters on just one of the social media you use.

Two: make sure you have a strategy, so the time you do put in produces the best results. (At the link you will find seven statements that make up a communications strategy.  Read them.  It will take one minute, and pay off forever.)

Three: get good outside help. You can make better use of volunteers if you have a strategy in place–and you still might want a consultant to guide your social media or to do the work for you.

Social media are not a cure-all, and they don’t replace your website, email, or the written word, but you can use them to build and strengthen relationships–and that leads to the six ways to succeed on social media. And yes, that includes making money.

It’s a good use of your time.

TY Thursday: Thanks to You, Nonprofits, Especially Today

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My regular readers (whom I appreciate!) will know that on Thursdays, I’ve been giving advice to nonprofits on how to say thanks and express their “attitude of gratitude” to their donors.

Thank-yous can go far beyond a letter. They can include videos, gifts, and even acts of kindness that make the donor feel you are truly grateful and truly friends. You can see all those TY Thursday posts by clicking on the link.

Today, I’d like to turn it around. Instead of advising you on how to thank your donors, I want to send you my thanks.

I’m Grateful to You, Nonprofits

Thank you to the nonprofits that help my neighbors meet basic human needs.

Thank you to the nonprofits that help people worldwide appreciate art and literature.

Thank you to the nonprofits that give free legal advice to people in a jam.

Thank you to the nonprofits that work to change policy so people won’t need legal advice so often.

Thank you to the grassroots groups that are mainly friends and neighbors with a 501(c)(3).

Thank you to the huge corporations with big budgets and complex organizational structures who don’t forget that they’re there on a mission.

Thank you to the nonprofit organizations (called synagogues) that gave me my Jewish education, a place to worship in community, and a way to continue the 4,000-year-old tradition that has shaped my life.

Thank you to the nonprofit organizations (called universities) that changed the way I think and taught me life lessons, inside and outside the classroom.

And to the people of nonprofits

To the people who spend their days working hard for these agencies, way beyond what nonprofits can ever afford to pay them to do, thanks!

To the people who spend their evenings and weekends volunteering for these agencies, whether they lick envelopes, serve meals, or serve on the Board, thanks!

To the receptionists, the face of each organization…

the frontline staff, who see the faces of the people they serve…

the interns passing through, who may remember their time there life long…

the Executive Directors, carrying too much weight on their own shoulders…

and especially, to the fundraisers and communicators who make sure that donors hear about the great difference the work of your organization makes (as I did), and become grateful (as I have), so they continue to support you with their creativity, time, and money…THANK YOU.

It’s your job to thank the donors, and I will keep on sending you tips on how to do it well. But once in a while, you deserve some appreciation too. And you’re welcome.

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