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Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Fundraising Tuesday: Hooked on a Feeling

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Why do people give time and money to nonprofit organizations?

Most of us would like to believe it’s our noble mission that moves our supporters to act–or our high-quality programs, or our expertise in our fields.

Sorry.  That’s not it.

emotion chart

How does it feel to be part of your organization?

People choose to join, volunteer, and donate to your organization because of the way it makes them feel.

For-profit businesses are well aware of this.  To attract customers, they offer a specific emotional experience that makes a promise (as Pamela Wilson tells us):

  • Nike promises health, vitality, speed and an active lifestyle.
  • McDonalds promises quick, consistent food at a reasonable price.
  • Apple promises sleek, user-friendly technology that empowers your life.

Non-profits, do your supporters know what you are promising them? 

It could be the excitement of being part of a movement.  It could be the pride of knowing they have saved a life.  It could be inside information and analysis that makes them feel like an expert.

Whatever you are promising, make it clear to them–and always keep it at the forefront of your own mind.  Ask every day: How will my product or service empower, delight, entertain, or solve a problem?

Answer that question in all your messages, and keep the promise through your actions.and your supporters will be hooked on a feeling.  They’ll come back for more.

How NOT to Market Your Services

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My wife, realtor Rona Fischman, was listening to a webinar when her phone began to ring. She didn’t recognize the number, but it might have been another realtor calling about a transaction in progress.  She decided to answer.

“Hello, this is [fill-in-the-blank] Media calling about your website.”

Woman grimacing at phone

Not the reaction you want.

Rona groaned. This company had been leaving messages on her voicemail for days.  “I’m listening to a webinar right now. If my website is on fire, tell me so.  Otherwise, call me back after the webinar.”

“Do you know that half the links on your home page are broken and that people who click on them will see 404 errors?”

“No, I didn’t know that. After the webinar, I will check on it.”

In fact, Rona checked her website–on Chrome, IE, and Firefox, just to make sure–and there were no broken links.  Later, she received an email from the company that had called her.  They apologized for “startling” her and listed several other “problems” with her website.  Some of them did not exist.  Others are not problems for Rona because her business model does not require a huge volume of clients.

In short, they lied to her and never took the time to find out what she really might need.

This is the internet age.  Wouldn’t it be easy to spend a little time looking at Rona’s website and finding comments about her on Angie’s List, etc., and figure out where you could really add value to her communications?

Whether you are out to make a profit or looking to recruit support for your good cause, you owe it to yourself to treat the client with respect and personalize your message.

Have you ever encountered a sales pitch like the one Rona heard? How did you react when you heard or read it?

TY Thursday: Your Nonprofit Organization’s Best Friend

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loyalty

Who is your organization’s best friend?

Every nonprofit organization has one: the most loyal supporter.  The person who gives as often as she can, or as often as you ask.  The one who volunteers for all your events and brings her friends.

You’d like a thousand like that.  You’d like to clone her.  What if you could?

Businesses have time-tested strategies that create loyal customers.  Some of these strategies work especially well on social media. Nonprofits can adapt and adopt these strategies to thank our donors, volunteers, and supporters.

Danny Maloney, CEO of the social media firm Tailwind, lists “4 Ways to Turn Social-Media Fans Into Raving, Loyal Customers”:

  1. Use a targeted approach.  Find the people who are already talking about you on Facebook, Twitter, and the web at large.
  2. Let your fans know you’re listening.  “If they took the time to share a blog post you wrote or to give you a positive review, be listening for it and thank them.”
  3. Target your special offers.  Businesses give loyalty discounts.  What can you give your most loyal supporters that they would enjoy: a chance to write for your blog? lunch with a celebrity who also supports you? an award?
  4. Curate compelling content.  That’s jargon for finding and sharing information that interests your supporters.  It could be an insider analysis of where their favorite legislation stands in Congress. It could be a video that explains the issue you and they both care about.

Sharing this content with your most loyal supporters makes them feel smarter and happier because they’re associated with you.  It shows them your gratitude. It keeps them coming back to your social media.

And it keeps them advocating for your organization, increasing awareness of you among their friends…who may become your next most loyal supporters.

 

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