Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

How to Go on Vacation

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You’re responsible for all the accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, the works.  You post–and just as important, you listen–on every platform.

You do it for your clients. You do it for yourself.

How do you go on vacation?

You could be lucky and have a partner, or staff, to pick up the slack.

You could be super-organized and have all your posts set up in advance.  (But then what do you do when they bomb the Boston Marathon and you’re still tweeting cat videos?)

You could go radio silent.  Will you still have a job (or a business) when you come back?

Whatever you choose, let people know about it in advance.  Say, “For the next two weeks, my partner Pamela will get to read and respond to what you post.  You will love her. See you when I get back!”

Or, “I’m taking a vow of internet silence for the next two weeks. It’s good for the soul.”

You deserve that vacation, so take it and do not look back.  Just let us know.  We’ll miss you…and look forward to your return.

 

 

Use Social Media to Set the Mood for Giving

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Giving to charity, word cloudOnce your appeal letter is in the mail, what can you do to help donors decide to give?

Reaching out directly through the phone or by email is a good idea… especially if you make your calls and emails warm and personal.

The Wrong Way to Use Social Media

For most organizations, asking directly for money through social media is not a good idea. Here’s why.

Picture yourself on Facebook. What are you doing there? You went online to catch up with your friends, and perhaps to see a meme that would amuse or outrage you. You didn’t go to Facebook to do business. And that includes giving away money.

There are exceptions. If you’ve tried asking online before and it worked for you, congratulations! If you want to experiment with fundraising via social media, ask for donations for a specific cause, with an immediate impact. Think of it as crowdfunding.

In general, though, “making the ask” is the wrong way to use social media to back up your end-of-year appeal. There is a better way.

Put Your Donors in the Mood for Giving

in a giving moodA donation is an act of love…and like other acts of love, it goes better if you set the mood. Too bad you can’t offer your donors a glass of wine, a fireplace, and romantic music on social media!

But here is what you can do to make them feel like giving:

    1. Give their pleasure your full attention. Between now and December 31, post pieces that will make donors feel good about themselves when they give.
    2. Tell stories. Create good memories that you and your donors share. It will bring you closer.
    3. Share the love. Post stories–or even better, videos–of donors like them saying why they love giving to your organization and how it makes them feel.

It Takes Two to Tango

For the donor to feel the love, you have to be feeling it too. And that’s difficult in December. You’re watching the numbers on the end-of-year appeal and worrying about what happens if you don’t meet your fundraising goal. Performance anxiety is making you tense.

May I make a suggestion? Before you write for social media this month, slow it down. Breathe. Think about why you care so much: the good results your organization bring about that makes you want it to succeed.

Now, think about the donor.  She cares about those good results too. You’re together in this. That’s what brought you together in the first place.

You just have to speak the language of love with your donors, and watch them respond.

What a Toddler Taught Me about Communicating

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My nineteen-month-old niece was crying as if her heart would break.

toddlers communicate

What is she saying now?

Her heart was fine, actually.  It was her grandfather’s heart that was cracked open for a triple bypass, in a hospital an hour away.  So her mother had gone to the hospital, and I was spending the day taking care of her.  Alone.

“Honey, what do you want?” I pleaded with her.  And I thought, “If only she could tell me what she’s thinking.”

But she could.  She did tell me.  And your audience is telling you too.  Look and listen to what they do online, and you will find out what they want.

How does a toddler tell you what she wants?

Pointing.  My niece knows the milk is in the refrigerator, the bananas are on the table, and the TV remote is on the couch.  If she points at the table, you know she wants to eat a banana.  If she hands you the remote, it’s time for Bubble Guppies or Sesame Street.

Your audience knows where to find what they want online.  If they’re visiting your website or social media pages often, there’s something there they want.  So, find out where they’re pointing!  The pages, posts, or tweets they visit will tell you what will keep them coming back again and again.

Making happy noises.  My niece laughs, squeals, and talks excitedly in full sentences in a language I don’t understand when something makes her happy.

Your audience likes, shares, retweets, or recommends the content they like the best.  So, listen to their communications with other people to find out what kind of content will keep them gurgling with delight.

Keeping to a routine.  My niece gets up around the same time each day.  Five hours later, it’s time for her nap.  If it’s around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon and she’s rubbing her eyes, I know it’s time to take her to her crib.

Your audience is online at certain times more than others.  Find out their pattern and you’ll know when to post.  They like reading more serious articles at certain hours and they go for distraction at other hours.  Keep track of that and you”ll know what content you should post when.

Listening to You

Oh, my brother-in-law is fine.  Thanks for asking!  And my niece is now three years old, and still adorable (as is her baby brother).

So on this blog, I’m listening to you as intently as I listened to my niece. When most of you readers are online,  in the before-work, after-lunch, and early-evening hours, that’s when I’m posting. And I hope this story made you as happy as a child.

What else would you like to see on this blog?  You could let me keep figuring it out.  If I can do that with a toddler, I can do it with anybody!  But if you’re a grown-up and know how to “use your words,” write me and let me know what you want.

Thanks for reading!

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