If your nonprofit organization is large enough, you may have staff specifically assigned to social media.  (If it is new enough, you may have started online before you opened an office!)

But many nonprofits are small, few are rich, and only a tiny number have social media in their DNA.  You may be one of the many saying to yourself, “I know I need to do something with social media, but how do I start?”

I’ve been there.  A few years ago, I was the only communications person at a community-based nonprofit organization.  (I was also the development person, and the outcomes person…but that’s another story!)

I knew that my agency couldn’t possibly do Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, and the next new thing that came along–let alone do them well.

Here’s what I think will work for you: start small.

1. Start with your website.  It’s not social media as such, but everything you do leads back to it.  When someone arrives on your website, will they find something that’s valuable to them?  Is your site attractive and easy to navigate?  And a really simple thing that too many of us overlook: do all your links work?  If you can do only one thing online right now, it should be to improve your website.
2. Know your audience. You don’t have time to send out messages at random hoping some of them will touch your readers’ hearts. Click on the link for a humorous guide to audience research.
3. Think about your objectives. Let’s imagine you succeed beyond your wildest dreams in getting the audience you address actually to pay attention.  What do you want them to do as a result?  Try to narrow it down to one primary objective for each specific audience.  I know how hard that is.  Do it anyway.
4. Now, pick one medium.  Ideally, it should be the one your supporters use. If they’re on Facebook, choose Facebook.  If it’s Youtube, choose Youtube.  Practically speaking, you will probably pick a medium that your organization uses already.  However you pick, do pick one, and only one–and then concentrate single-mindedly on learning how to use that medium better.

Give yourselves at least six months to become really good at connecting with your supporters on just one of the social media you use.  That’s do-able, isn’t it?  Try starting small, and watch your influence grow.

Today is the fourth Thank-You Thursday since the end of the year. If you’re a nonprofit, have you sent a thank-you letter to all your December donors yet? If not, how long will it take?

Donors, how many gifts did you give that still haven’t been acknowledged? How does that make you feel?

December Matters

Nearly one third (31%) of annual giving occurs in December. In fact, 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year, according to our friends at Neon CRM.

So it’s no surprise if December feels like a blizzard at your nonprofit. You love watching the white envelopes swirl in (or your online totals mount), and you dread clearing them off your desk.

Thank-You’s Matter

Clearing those donations, by sending thanks to each donor, is like shoveling your sidewalk. You have to do it if you’re ever going to get anywhere!

Every donor that you can call is a donor you’re likely to hear from again. Penelope Burk, author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, has proven donors care about promptness.  In one test with board members calling within 48 hours, those called gave an average of 39% more than those not called – and they gave 42% more after 14 months!

If you can’t call every donor, you can still send the ideal thank-you letter. One element of the ideal letter is promptness. Yet here it is, four weeks later, and many of the organizations my wife and I gave to in December have still not sent that letter–or any letter at all.

Are you one of those organizations? Then you are putting next year’s donation at risk.

Donors, Your Voice Matters Most

Fellow donors, do you agree? Tell your favorite organization what it feels like when you give online and get an automatic email and then…crickets. Or when you put a check in the mail feeling a nice warm glow at making a difference…and then find out the organization didn’t bother to thank you for months at a time.

You can use the comments section below, or you can get in touch directly. Or you can use Twitter, like @thewhinydonor does.

The Whiny Donor

 

Seriously. How long are you going to make me wait for that thank you letter?

 

 

 

But whichever medium you use, please do let nonprofits know how much it matters to hear the words “thank you”!