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Fundraising Tuesday: Is Your Nonprofit Acting Like a Telemarketer?

September 27, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

telemarketerMy friend Tema Nemtzow wrote me, “I just got a call asking if I’d like to have a new source of selling insurance. When I told him that I don’t sell insurance, he asked me if I’d like to start!”

You may groan at this terrible telemarketing. But think a moment. Is your nonprofit acting the same way?

  • Do you send the exact same message to longtime supporters and new acquaintances?
  • Do you add people to your mailing list just because they live in the neighborhood and they have a lot of money?
  • Are you constantly talking about what your organization does instead of what your audience cares about?

Too many nonprofits are “making cold calls,” even in our writing.  We’re pitching “products” the person on the other end doesn’t want…and making it clear to her that we have no idea who she is.

We need to stop being lame salesmen like the one who called Tema.

Get to know your audience, talk to them about what matters to them, and  they will listen.

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Listening: the Secret to Success on Social Media

September 26, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

The secret to social media success isn’t in talking – it’s in listening.Image

That’s what Dave Kerpen, the author of Likeable Social Media, wants us to know.  Dave tells the story of the time he arrived in Las Vegas after a six-hour flight only to wait another hour at his hotel, just to check in.

Frustrated, I did what any social media nerd would do – I pulled out my phone, and tweeted the following: “No Vegas hotel could be worth this long wait. Over an hour to check in at the Aria. #fail”

He goes on to  say, “The Rio Las Vegas tweeted the following to me: ‘Sorry about your bad experience, Dave. Hope the rest of your stay in Vegas goes well.’ Guess where I ended up staying the next time I went to Las Vegas?”

Listening for Nonprofits

Now, if you work at a nonprofit organization, you might be thinking: “How does this apply to me?  I don’t run a hotel.  I don’t even have customers.  Why should I spend time listening on social media?”

  • You may not have customers, but do you have donors?  Listen to social media to find out what interests them and what bothers them.  Then , when you’re thinking what to say in your newsletter and your funding appeals–and yes, your social media–you’ll have a much better idea what donors will read.
  • Do you have clients?  Suppose you’re an organization to promote better parenting and prevent child abuse.  On Facebook, a low-income parent agonizes because she must go to work and can’t afford reliable childcare.  You give her a list of childcare providers who will accept state vouchers and offer to help her apply.  Will the word get around that your organization is a great place to go?  What do you think?
  • Do you have programs?  Maybe you’re an art museum (like the Portland Museum of Art) that offers teachers the chance to bring art into the classroom–and students to exhibit their own art at the museum. Wouldn’t it be great to know what the teachers are posting about you on Facebook or Twitter, and see the pictures the students are putting up on Instagram?

If you thank them online, you will be like the Rio Las Vegas in Dave’s story.  You won’t be doing outreach to get people into your programs: they’ll be reaching out to you.

You Have One Mouth and Two Ears. Listen!

Don’t just post, tweet, blog, email, snap photos, or distribute videos.  Make sure someone at your organization is on social media listening.

Then, listen to what they find out.

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TY Thursday: Send Your Donor a Poem

September 22, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Poem for donors

Have you heard the advice that you should thank your major donors seven times before you ask them for the next gift?

People dispute it. Pamela Grow says you should ask again during the honeymoon period after the first gift. But there’s no denying that you need to thank your donors early and often–and in many different ways.

Here’s one way you might not have thought of. Send them a poem.

Poems that Say “Thank You”

If you want to find a poem that expresses gratitude, you can find plenty to quote online. Choose the verse that fits your donors the best.

If they like inspirational messages, you might try this one:

For what you have done,
for what you have said–
For what you have helped me with,
thanks seem not enough.
I want only to tell you one simple phrase,
Yet I feel the need to ensure
that the emotion is conveyed.
If I could just say it, and ask you, please,
multiply my thanks by infinity.

Perhaps your donor is slightly more literary. You could send her this excerpt from the poem Giving, in Khalil Gibran’s book The Prophet:

And you receivers – and you are all receivers – assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

No matter what kind of poetry you borrow and share, this is vital: add your own thoughts at the end, by hand. (For instance, if I sent the Gibran verse, I might add, “You are exactly the type of generous person that the poet is talking about. Let’s continue to rise together!”)

Writing Your Own Poem

A hand-made gift can be more precious than anything bought in a store. When you write a poem yourself, it says–better than any famous poet can–“I love what happens when we’re together, for a cause.”

You hesitate. You’re not a writer? It doesn’t matter, really. The feeling is more important than the words.

For instance, here are a few words from me to you:

Who says “thanks” to you? You toil all year,
each day (long days) to bring the money in
so people seeking help will find it here
and not be stopped before they can begin.

You meet the donors, send out your newsletter,
Share stories face to face and through email;
write posts and then rewrite them, make them better,
bring
them to life: find the vivid detail

to win the memory, photos to catch the eye.
And when the precious gift does finally arrive,
you thank the giver: right away, reply
so the love they’ve shown will be returned, and thrive.

I send my gratitude to you, fundraising pro.
Donors would too, if they knew you as I know.

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