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Is Your Nonprofit Event as Exciting as a Blizzard?

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I live in New England, where people line up for ice cream in the middle of a snowstorm. This year, though, people are snow-shy. Every time the white stuff is in the forecast, people are remembering a month of being snowed in last winter.

The Blizzard of 2015 had great publicity, and it was all free. Can your nonprofit do as well?

A Storm of Free Media

A blizzard has no bank account. It has no marketing budget. Without paying a cent, however, the storm that hit New England on Tuesday had its own hashtag…and hundreds of unpaid photographers.

I went on Facebook one Tuesday morning last January and found this:

Car covered with snow

And this:

Clearing snowy street

And even this:

Dog looking at snow

The Secret of the Storm’s Success

It snows every year. Why do people rush out each time it snows and snap photos?

I think it’s because a storm is a shared event. By taking pictures and posting them, people say, “I was here. I was a part of this.”

Can You Do As Well as a Blizzard?

Are you making people feel that your events are shared events? When they attend your events, do they want to claim them and show they were there? You invite them to show up in person. Are you inviting them to show up online, with their photos?

 

TY Thursday: I Wrote This Poem Just for You

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Poems 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 poetry 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 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

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.

Fundraising Tuesday: The Tale of the Rigged Raffle

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storytelling boardThe organization had a lot of money to raise: for an elevator, a new roof, and to pay salaries.

The Board President wanted the Board members to practice telling their stories to potential donors. But all she was hearing were generalities and grand narratives.

So I told the Board a story.

The Tale of the Rigged Raffle

When my wife and I first set foot in our synagogue in 1990, shortly after we moved to Somerville, MA, it was because two friends separately invited us. Rona and I are very different kinds of Jews. I tutor kids for bar and bat mitzvah. She goes to shul when there’s a wedding, a bar or bat mitzvah, or a holiday. Not just any place would suit both of us.

We went to a Sunday brunch first, to see if we’d like the people.

They sat us down across from two of the older members, Morrie and Ada. Morrie was the type who, five minutes after he met you, he’d know where you grew up, where you lived now, what you did, and what committee you should be on. In the same amount of time, Ada would know all about your family, and make you feel like part of hers.

During the brunch, we were invited to buy tickets for a raffle, and being the warmly welcomed guests, we thought we’d pitch in for a ticket or two.

The people who managed the raffle made sure that we won. Our prize? A bottle of Manischewitz sweet red wine, as big as my head!Manischewitz bottle

Rona and I looked at each other, bemused. What were we going to do with our new-found treasure?

Then Morrie leaned across the table and said in his hoarse Yiddish-accented voice, “The custom is to donate it back to the Temple for kiddush (the blessing over wine after services).”

“We will be happy to donate the bottle back to the Temple!” we said.

Shortly after that, Rona and I became members. We’ve been there over twenty-five years. And the Board was the current governing body of that same synagogue.

Now That’s a Story!

What made my anecdote memorable?

People–Rona and me–with a problem: would we ever find a synagogue that fit us?

They meet new characters (and I do mean characters): Morrie and Ada.

They encounter a new problem: how to make ourselves at home with a place that thinks a giant-sized bottle of Manischewitz is a prize.

They receive advice and help (donate it back) and reach their destination (a place where we could belong).

Are You Telling Winning Stories?

Storytelling connects your organization with the supporters you want–especially if you make the donor the hero of the story. But don’t leave the success of your storytelling to chance.

Rig your stories with people, problems, helpful characters, challenges, and solutions. That way, you know who will win: both you and your donor.

And if you want more great advice about telling a memorable story: The Storytelling Non-Profit Virtual Conference begins tomorrow, February 10, 2016!

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