Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Take a Hard Look at Your Nonprofit Facebook Page

by Leave a Comment

Facebook like

Our nonprofit is considering doing a targeted Facebook campaign for more “likes” and to expand our mailing list. Has anyone used it, and has it worked for you?

Maybe you’ve heard this question before.  Maybe you’ve even been the one who asked it.

But there’s another question that any nonprofit organization should ask before investing more time on Facebook. Why should anyone like your Facebook page?  What’s in it for them?

We’re All Busy People

Remember that people are busy.  Even if they know you–even if they care about the problem your organization is trying to solve–they have limited time.  Spending some of it on you may mean spending less time on their friends.  Or their hobby.  Or sleeping.

Why is liking your page worth their while?  Will you make them smarter?  Will you make them smile more often?  Can they find unique information on your page?  Can they find other like-minded people actively discussing issues that interest them all?

What to Do First

Before going for more likes, take a hard look at the Facebook page you have.  If very few people have liked or shared your posts, and almost no one has commented,  does your base of supporters find it useful now?

If you’re not sure, ask them. That might give you the information you need on how to attract new supporters. It will surely tell you how to get your current supporters more engaged. 

Because you want more than “likes.”  You want a page that people can’t wait to visit again!

3 Ways Your Facebook Page Can Attract

Here’s a few ideas that might make your Facebook page a magnet for supporters:

  1. Post a provocative question, and prime a couple of your supporters to respond to it right away. Once they get the ball rolling, more people who follow your page may join in.
  2. Do a poll, and promise to let everyone know the results. (Again, plant a couple of quick responders in your audience.)
  3. Get someone who’s well-known in your community to tell the story of when your services (or services like those you offer) saved their life. Get local journalists to cover the story too, including the link to your page.

Frankly, it’s a waste of time trying to get new people to like your page until you have more reasons for them to come back to it regularly. “Because we want them to participate in our auction” is YOUR reason. You have to find THEIRS.

Fundraising Tuesday: Who Are You Calling “We,” Nonprofit?

by Leave a Comment

When it comes to fundraising appeals, we in the nonprofit world are stuck on ourselves.

How can that be, we wonder? We’re not self-centered. We care about our mission. We care about our clients.

We’re not in it for personal gain–or we surely would have chosen another profession! How can it be that we’re constantly writing about ourselves?

Yet take a look at the last appeal letter your agency sent out. Did it contain:

  • Statistics on how many people “we” helped?
  • Explanations of “our” programs?
  • Stories about what “we” did that changed client’s lives?

We, the nonprofit vs. they, the donors

What we’re trying to do with those letters is make a case for the donor’s support. What we’re succeeding at doing–far too often–is making them feel insignificant.

Saying “We need your help” is not convincing when the rest of the letter is about what “we” did without the donor even knowing. Worse, it puts us on opposite sides of the fence: “we” who do, and “you” who admire.

Yes, that organization sounds great, the donor thinks. So what? What’s that got to do with me?

That’s the question your ideal appeal letter must answer.

All of us, together

Think back to the end of 2016. At home, in the mail, you got a ton of letters asking for money. Was there one that made you excited about giving?

If so, I’ll bet it got the little things right. It called you by your name. It referred to your giving history. It packed some punch in the postscript.

But that’s only what it took to get you to read the letter. What made you remember it, and feel excited about it, and want to give?

The letter that makes you feel like you were there in the midst of the action all along.

The letter that says the success stories are your successes.

The appeal letter that makes the donor the hero of the story.

That’s the one that stays in the memory. That’s the letter that donors want to keep, and quote, and show to their friends.

And that’s the letter that your nonprofit organization wants to write.

Fundraising Tuesday: You’re My Hero

by 2 Comments

Every Tuesday this season, I’m offering a tip on how to write better fundraising appeals. The first post, about greetings, was Call Me By Name. The second was about postscripts: Last Things First.

 

Let’s try an experiment. You’ll need your latest fundraising letter, a blue pen, and a yellow highlighter. Put them all on your desk. Ready?

highlighter

Highlight your donor, not your organization

Pick up the pen and circle every mention of your organization. It could be the agency’s name. It could be the word “we,” used to refer to your organization. How many blue circles do you see? A lot, I’ll bet.

Now, pick up the highlighter and underline every mention of your donor. Yes, you can count the salutation if you called them by name. You can also highlight the word “you”–if that means the donor who’s reading the letter.

Is there more yellow on the page than blue? If not, you’re losing donors with every letter you send.

To Renew Their Support, Focus on Donors

A lot of us in the nonprofit world are under a misconception. We think that the reason donors give to us is because we do good work.

No, that’s the reason we’re proud of our organizations. It’s not the reason people give!

If doing good work were enough, you wouldn’t have to worry about getting donors to renew. They’d get to know, like, and trust your organization, and then they’d keep on giving into the indefinite future. But about 70% of the people who gave to you in 2014 didn’t renew their gift in 2015.

Don’t focus on what you do. Focus on how the donor feels.

Make the Donor the Hero of the Story

Seth Godin writes:

Why on earth would a rational person give money to charity–particularly a charity that supports strangers? What do they get?

A story.

It might be the story of doing the right thing, or fitting in, or pleasing a friend or honoring a memory, but the story has value. It might be the story that you, and you alone are able to make this difference, or perhaps it’s the story of using leverage to change the world. For many, it’s the story of what it means to be part of a community.

For your donor to renew, she or he has to feel like the hero of the story. You are the one who is going to make donors feel like heroes. And the fundraising appeal letter is just one of the many times during the year you have an opportunity to do that–but it’s a crucial time.

Spiderman emblemUse your fundraising powers for good.

Write fundraising appeals that tell the donor, “Because of you, this happened. You are my hero. And you are needed, now.”

 

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Yes! Please send me tips from Communicate! Consulting.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.