Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

TY Thursday: Friends Don’t Let Nonprofits Treat Them Like ATMs

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ATMWhen your personal friends speak to you, do they only recall the gifts you gave them?

No. They wouldn’t be your friends if they did.

Your real friends know what matters to you and what hurts you. You have a history of shared memories…and in that history, “I got this flower vase from Jen” is much less important than “Jen and I go on the Walk for Hunger together every year, and then we go out for pizza.”

You treat your friends with the same love and care they show to you.

Does your nonprofit treat donors like ATMs? Or do you treat them like friends? Share on X

You can. You should. And a good database will make it easier.

Find out how. Read my guest post, 5 Ways Nonprofits Can Treat Donors Like Friends, on the Bloomerang blog.

Lead by Telling the Story

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where you are going

Somebody has to lead

“The best way to get people to venture into unknown terrain is to make it desirable by taking them there in their imaginations.”

-Noel Tichy, co-author, The Leadership Engine

You get people moving by telling them stories.

Storytelling can be a form of leadership. So sit back and think:

  1. Where are you trying to get your organization to go?
  2. What’s the story that shows what the world will look like when you succeed?
  3. What’s your travel story about how you will get there?

Ready? Start! “Once upon a time…”

For more about telling the story of where you are going, read http://www.trippbraden.com/2015/03/31/lead-by-telling-the-story/

TY Thursday: Should You Write Like You Speak?

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Write like you speak?

Write like you speak? Yes–and no.

Writers often hear the advice, “Write like you speak.”  But is that good advice when you are writing a thank-you letter to your donor?

YES: if it means you avoid jargon, write with your audience in mind, and reveal a bit of personality in your writing.

NO: if it means you compose your letter without thought or effort.

If you’ve just flipped the lid on the top of your head and poured out whatever was top of mind at the moment, don’t expect me to read it.  If you haven’t worked at finding matter that will interest me and a way of expressing it that will draw me in, don’t waste my time…or yours.

Write (and revise, and write again) so that what you finally send me sounds like you’re speaking to me, directly, and telling me what I most want to hear.

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