Communications audits: Media Analysis

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Last week I provided guidelines for assessing the communications that you control. But that’s only half of the story–especially in today’s conversational Web 2.0 environment.

This week, attention turns to what the media is saying about you, and next week—what the Web is saying about you, and what your peers and competitors are up to.

Media Analysis

You all know your local media outlets, and you should be continuously tracking coverage of your organization and issue in them through Google alerts. But for this exercise, collect all the major coverage you’ve had in the past year—online and in print. (If possible, make this exercise an annual one so you can track trends over time.)

Don’t just read through the coverage, create a spreadsheet and answer the questions below for each story. There are two ways to approach this: 1) start with the media that you most wanted coverage by and work down to the media that covered you that you didn’t aim for, or, 2) start by tracking the coverage generated by your specific media relations efforts/news releases and work down to coverage that you didn’t generate yourselves. Both of those collection methods will yield insights.

For each story:

• Where did it appear? (name of specific medium plus whether it was print, electronic, or online)
• What date did it run?
• Who wrote or produced it? Do you have any kind of relationship with that person?
• Was it long, medium, or short?
• Did it feature a photo, or a side bar?
• Was is positive or negative about your organization or its work?
• Did it include a quote from your organization? Who was quoted?
• What was the main message about your organization that came through? (state this message in one simple sentence)
• Was that the main message you wanted to come through? If not, what was the message you were aiming for?
• What was the genesis of the story? Your news release, a call to a reporter, etc.
• Were any parts of your news release repeated in the story?
• Was the issue framed in the way your organization is framing it? Did media use any of the same language you are using in your frame?
• Was there any measurable ROI for each of your major media pushes, e.g. attendance spikes at media-promoted events, a sharp increase in website hits from a media article, a rise in donations following a media feature, etc. Always try to track tangible results for your organization during and after a media push.

Glean trends and insights

Now, look over the spreadsheet for insights into how effectively you met your media relations objectives.

• Are there any reporters writing about your issue, especially on a regular basis, that you haven’t built a relationship with? If so—start a relationship now, when you aren’t pushing a story. These relationships are as much about helping reporters/bloggers as they are about getting a story.
• What was the biggest source of coverage—your news releases? your phone calls? other kinds of media networking you did? partners’ media relations? etc.  (If the biggest source wasn’t your organization, think about the implications of that.)
• How does the coverage match with your strategic communication media goals? (e.g., If you’re trying for big hits every quarter—did you achieve that? If you’re trying to up your coverage in one particular media outlet—did you achieve that?)
• Are there any media “holes” that you need to focus on: media popular with your key audiences that aren’t covering you at all.
• Did your photos end up being used? (If not, consider why that may be. Are they of high enough quality? Are they compelling and relevant? Do they include human beings, especially faces? Do they tell a story?)
• What’s the ratio of negative to positive stories? If there were negative stories you think were unfair and inaccurate, try to analyze what happened and consider how you can improve your credibility with those reporters.
• Is there a recurring negative message or meme out there about your organization or work or issue you need to be aware of and try to correct? Is there a recurring positive message you’d like to reinforce?
• Are the positive messages that appeared actually the most important messages you would want people to hear about your organization and its work? If not, you need to work on your message platform so you’re repeating the most important positive messages every chance you get.
• Who is most often interviewed from your organization by the media? Does that person do a great job every time, or could they profit from media training?
• Is your frame is gaining traction?  Are your language and metaphors being used by the media.
• Were the correlations between media channels and ROI what you wanted and expected? e.g., did smaller, niche media deliver more than mass media? did online perform better than print? did TV disappoint?
• Does the media seem more interested in some topics than others? Ask yourself why that might be and how you can use that knowledge.

You may even want to write a little summary of the image of your organization as it’s portrayed in last year’s coverage to clarify what you need to focus on changing. This whole analysis gives you a rich context to start planning the media relations component of your next strategic plan.

If you have additional ideas for things to watch for in a media coverage analysis, please add them below!

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Nonprofit database = Golden goose

flickr/mykl roventine

A nonprofit’s database is the goose that lays golden eggs. Feed it, groom it, keep it healthy.

I read on a blog yesterday that now that social media’s here, nonprofits really don’t need to have an email database. I think that’s way premature. Email—and even direct mail—aren’t dead. And they may never be. So don’t stop caring for and honing your database. Start adding social media information to it, too.

It’s very rewarding to create fabulous communications; but it’s just as important to communicate with the right people. You have to know who they are and be able to reach them—through social media, email, snail mail, telephone, etc. And you have to know their history with your organization, their preferences and interests.

Maintaining and growing your database is the way you’re able to establish and build long-term relationships with donors, clients, supporters, volunteers, and others important to your cause. That’s crucial to your sustainability.

Databases are living bodies of information. It takes constant work to keep one in tip-top shape, but the alternative is wasted time, effort, and money…and occasionally, irritated supporters. (How many times do I receive two or three of the same communications from a nonprofit that hasn’t purged its list to remove duplications?)

Even if, as a communicator, you’re not in charge of your organization’s database management, get involved. A good database is fundamental to your success. I’ve rounded up a few good articles that can point the way. Invest some time and thought into making sure that your database is accurate, effectively segmented, easily accessible and searchable, and consistently well managed.

10 Commandments of data management for nonprofits (John Kenyon)

Five symptoms of list decay (Frogloop)

Best practices for managing a database (Robert Weiner)

8 tips to strengthen your database (Network for Good)

If you have any relevant advice from your own experience, or other resources on this topic to recommend, please add them below.

CC photo credit: Mykl Roventine

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Free tool of the week: VoiceThread for nonprofits

flickr/ //amy//

When I first found out about VoiceThread a while back, it struck me as something that foundations and nonprofits could make good use of. It’s a cool way to capture people’s engagement with a topic and image—to weave the threads of their voices into the story being  told.

A VoiceThread is a multimedia slideshow of photos, video, or documents that allows people to easily leave comments and join the conversation. Visually, it’s a slideshow screen surrounded by a mosaic of little avatars of all the people who comment on the image. When you click on the avatar you hear them or see what they’ve written or drawn. People can comment in five simple ways: by telephone, by computer microphone, by web cam, by writing text, or by drawing.

Once you’ve created the central slideshow story—you can invite people to view it and comment on it. Thus the conversation grows.

Wondering how you might use this free tool?

• How about getting your donors to add their voices to a story about a common cause they all support, telling why they support it?
• How about showcasing your grantees’ work by asking them to add their comments to a VoiceThread story you create about an issue they’re working on?
• How about showing how real living human beings are affected by the work you do? Ask them to add comments to a VoiceThread about how one of your programs has helped them.
• Honoring someone special? Create a VoiceThread testimonial to them including all the voice of people whose lives they’ve touched
• Trying to build a social movement? Here’s a very visual way to start—tell your VoiceThread story and ask supporters to add their supportive comments. Watch the little avatars multiply!

These ideas should help you get started thinking about ways you might incorporate VoiceThread into your website, social media platforms, emails to help achieve strategic communication goals.  It’s very easy to share—embeddable, emailable, etc.

Now, for a little introduction from the Voicethreads folks. And here’s a great step-by-step how-to slideshow, and an example of how educators are using VoiceThread to carry out conversations with students. It’s a very versatile tool…as you’ll see as you browse through the collection of existing VoiceThreads; everything from podcasting tutorials to art exhibitions to children’s voices about what’s happening in Darfur.

As usual, I played around with this free tool—just enough to create a very simple 1-slide central story about the issue of homeless teens. When you get to the page, just click on the lone avatar for the ABCD Foundation to hear the story. (I pretended I was a foundation interested in highlighting the work of its grantees working on that issue.) You’re going to have to IMAGINE other little avatars surrounding it—each from a grantee talking about the impact of their work with homeless teens. (It would be terrific to have some of those voices be the teens themselves.)

There are a few different pricing levels beyond what you can get for free (3 min. maximums on recordings, max. of 50 comments, etc.). But, even the Pro account, which gives you the most creative freedom is only $60 per year.

I see a lot of potential of this tool for the nonprofit sector–and not just for educators. Nothing is more fascinating to us than other people–what they think, what they say and do, what they support. VoiceThread is a unique way to combine your organization’s voice with the voices of your supporters or beneficiaries. It makes for richer, more inclusive, more credible storytelling. Plus—it’s pretty darn easy to use! Try it.

CC photo credit: //amy//

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Webinars for Nonprofits: Getting Started

flickr/TechSoup for Libraries

By now, most of us have participated in a webinar, but it’s one thing to participate and another to produce one. So, here’s  a quick guide to getting started in webinar production for nonprofits.

In light of current budget blues, traveling to a conference or workshop isn’t always possible anymore for your key audiences. Webinars can help your organization tighten its belt by helping share its knowledge and best practices without incurring travel costs for your staff or participants.

The first big step in deciding whether to do a webinar is completing your strategic communications plan. Your goals and strategies always determine your tactics and channels, not vice versa. So, don’t start by deciding you want to do a webinar and then coming up with an idea of what it might be about.

However, if—as part of your overall plan—you find your organization needs to communicate with a particular, far-flung audience in a fairly in-depth way (for example, to convey information or to explain a process) it might be worth considering a webinar.

Webinars don’t lend themselves to every topic, so keep that in mind. If eye contact or body language is important to your topic, you may want to look at another medium. Likewise, if you need more than an hour and a half to cover the subject, think about a series of shorter webinars or use another tool. Attention spans are challenged by webinars that last more the 90 minutes. Also, for small audiences within a short geographic distance (including internal audiences), face-to-face meetings may build stronger relationships than a webinar. Weigh all the pros and cons before you decide.

Anyone who’s taken a webinar knows they’re not all created equal. Some falter because of technical problems, inadequate planning, or poor presentors. Good webinars may look seamless and easy to do, but they’re the ones that have taken the most time to plan and carry out well.

Here are a few great resources to make sure that—if your nonprofit  chooses to conduct a webinar—it’s a raving success.

• First, look over these two wonderful articles from TechSoup on how to plan and how to conduct an effective webinar.
• You’ll also need to understand the range of available tools—here’s a list by Idealware that spells out what capabilities you can have in webinars, and reviews some of the webinar products you can use, including prices (scroll down to the section called Online Seminar Tools).
• And finally, HubSpot’s 10 best practices for webinars.

You nonprofits and foundations who already have experience  at conducting webinars—please share your experiences and add any advice you have below!

CC photo credit: TechSoup for Libraries

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The best fundraising advice I’ve ever heard!

Absolutely every nonprofit executive and development or communications director should listen to this 45-minute audio presentation–The Language of Change.

No exceptions.

No excuses.

You need to hear Tom Suddes‘ brilliant advice about framing your fund raising…not just the way you talk and think about it, but the way you do it. He focuses on 20 common words and meanings, all of which need to be replaced by new ones. For 90% of you, this talk will turn your world on its head.

It may be the most important thing you listen to all year.

We owe big thanks to Network for Good for bringing this to us all free!

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Giveology: Does neuromarketing research have anything to teach nonprofits?

I just got around to reading Buyology by Martin Lindstrom (one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2008) and although it’s aimed at peddlers of consumer goods and services, it’s a fascinating (if chilling) read. Mostly because it reveals how our buying decisions are manipulated by marketing techniques that reach us unconsciously—in ways we don’t see or understand.

I’m not talking about anything as straightforward as advertising. Scientists have now done enough research on the human brain to provide marketers with much less obvious ways of triggering a purchase. Armed with results of the largest neuromarketing study ever done—which this book summarizes—they can reach us before the rational part of our brains even kicks in.

I tried to get past my discomfort about the insidious way that marketers are using this new research to build brands and sell more, winnowing out a few insights that might be useful to nonprofits. Giveology, rather than buyology.

The eyes don’t have it (all)

Visual stimulation—while still very powerful—is only one path to getting people’s attention and helping them remember you. And that path is getting less powerful due to the saturation of visual stimuli in our lives. For a long time, marketers have relied on grabbing people by the eyes, but this new research shows that grabbing them by the ears or nose or fingertips is just as effective. More and more brand marketers are abandoning their obsession with logos and engaging in what the author calls “sensory branding.” That means playing to all the senses in order to cut through the clutter of experience and create memorable brands people feel passionate about.

Nonprofits don’t sell products, but we’re still trying to create a unique and rewarding experience for our supporters. Maybe we should try harder to appeal to all the senses in our communications work, not just the eyes. For instance, we could use audio more (podcasts), combine audio with visual more frequently (double whammy, and there’s certainly no shortage of tools out there), or write more vivid sensory descriptions in our copy. Think about how this might apply to special events, direct mail, even fund-raising premiums. Try to provide more than eye-candy.

I remember you wore red

Related to this is the importance of color. Research shows that color can increase brand recognition by up to 80%. When someone makes a subconscious judgment about an environment, a person, or a product within 90 seconds—60-80% of that assessment is based on color alone.

If first impressions depend so heavily on color, it’s probably worth it for nonprofits to more thoroughly explore the colors you’re going to use in your lobby and office spaces as well as in your print and electronic communications. Marlboro (not a role model!) has transformed entire bars into subliminal advertising through the use of red and white, and shapes that echo their packaging—no logo in site. OK, OK—no foundation or nonprofit is going to do that. But if color is this influential, it’s worth thinking about how and where it’s used, especially as part of an organizational identity. Information about the emotional meanings of color is available on the Web. For instance, here’s a primer about the emotional meaning of colors in Web design.

Me wanting what you have

One part of the book is devoted to mirror neurons, a part of the brain that often makes us unconsciously want to have what others have and imitate what they experience…despite ourselves. One example given is how we all thought Croc shoes were ugly when they first came out. But after seeing them on everyone else, lots of us have changed our “minds” about that and bought a pair.

If mirror neurons rule, then maybe the nonprofit sector should do a more compelling job of portraying the  passion of their supporters. Not just staid donor profiles, but fresh first-person storytelling that makes others want to experience the same joy of giving back. Show, don’t tell. Let supporters say it in their own words and their own way. This is where Facebook and other social media could make important contributions. Maybe we need to think of ideas in the same way— more exciting wOOts for practitioners who are succeeding with innovations that nonprofits or foundations would like to bring to scale. Might as well aim those mirror neurons at human behaviors that promote the common good rather than the common goods.

Rituals r us

One research finding was unexpected—that the human brain perceives strong brands in almost the same way it perceives strong religions–with the same passionate loyalty. In a fast-moving, unpreditable world, humans cling to things that make them feel in control. Rituals fulfill that need; they’re familiar and stable. They give us a sense of belonging, and have even been shown to have a positive effect on emotional health. Lindstrom cites examples of consumer brands that have built in rituals that make them stickier than other brands (a lime wedge in the neck of a Corona bottle; the slow pour of a Guinness, etc.)

It’s interesting to think about rituals in terms of the nonprofit sector. Are there ways we can better meet the human need for familiarity, stability, and belonging through our organizational practices and communications products? One area that may hold some potential is donor cultivation and relationship building. Are there other ways to use simple rituals to good effect—staff meetings, board meetings, special events, interactions with beneficiaries of our work?

If all of this seems far-fetched, it may be. But it’s also the future of consumer marketing—based on scientific research. It doesn’t hurt to contemplate ways that neuromarketing research might be used to help strengthen the nonprofit sector.

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The road to remarkable emails

flickr/mzelle-biscotte

Last week at NTC, Katya Andresen and Mark Rovner commented that before nonprofits start investing heavily in social media, they need to make sure that their blogs are fantastic and their emails are remarkable—because that’s where the technology comfort level probably is for most nonprofit supporters.

Great emails can help build your brand, drive offline or online action, and raise funds. It pays to devote attention to their purpose, appearance, subject lines, content (especially what the first few lines say–that may be all that the readers see in their preview windows), and frequency.

Keep in mind that emails need to be part of a larger strategy that uses other communications tactics. Recent research shows that only one in four recipients opens nonprofit emails, so don’t put all your eggs in that basket.

Here are some thought provoking links that provide advice for your organization on creating remarkable emails.

• Seth Godin on How to send a personal email
• Nancy Schwartz on Nonprofits most missed marketing tool—email signatures
• Jeff Brooks on Why email newsletters don’t work
• Kivi Leroux Miller on Best email subject lines and Quick tips for better nonprofit email newsletters
• Convio’s best practices guide on Nonprofit email marketing
• Frogloop’s 10 fast tips to boost enewsletter performance
• Idealware’s A few good broadcast email tools
• How the Washington Post personalizes its emails and connects them to social media
• Frogloop free webinar on Using email to engage activists
• Emma’s slide show (lots of examples) on Beyond newsletters: Five essentials for crafting an engaging email marketing program
• Network for Good on Quick tips for building a clean email list
• Greg Oldring on Mobile email rendering

CC photo credit: mzelle-biscotte

Nonprofits: Create “customer pathways” to build loyalty

flickr/eggonstilts

Recently, I was sent a free copy of You’ve Got to Have Heart, a new book about how to achieve success in the nonprofit sector by Cass Wheeler, longtime CEO of The American Heart Association (AHA).  I went right to the “Big Brass Bands” chapter on marketing.

Wheeler talks a lot about AHA’s growing customer focus, both the methods it employs to understand customer needs and how it uses that information in designing programs and communications.

One of his ideas in particular struck me as relevant to communicators—the recommendation that nonprofits consciously create “customer pathways” to make it easy for people to deepen their relationship with the organization.

The example he shares is AHA exploring how an initial contact—like a Web site visit—can be turned into call to a call center, which can then turn into participation in a Heart Walk, which can then turn into a lifelong relationship and possible donations.

Think about how your supporters typically come into first contact with your organization. Is it through your Web site, another Web site, a social networking site, an ad, a newsletter, attendance at an event? (If it’s your Web site, track analytics to find out which pages they land on most. In the age of search engines, they can zoom right into a subsection and never hit your homepage.)

Then think about the next step you’d like those new supporters to take to get more involved with your organization. (Don’t necessarily leap to donation, you’re building a long-term relationship here. Put their interests, needs, and comfort level first.) Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter, add their name to a mailing list, get more information on your cause or organization, visit your Web site, call with a question, sign up for your Facebook fan page?

How can you intentionally prime your initial contact points to encourage new supporters to take those next steps?

• Do you need to add an enewsletter sign up to your most popular Web pages?
• Should you feature an information line phone number in your newsletter?
• Do you need to promote your Web site more in your printed pieces?
• Do you need to add a social network widget to your enewsletter?
• Do you need to create a tailored landing page for the link from your social network page or the link from a charity hub Web site?

Make it easy for them to get to know you better, in ways that are meaningful to them. This is an offer of friendship, not just a sales pitch. Provide them with simple ways to satisfy their need to be connected to a worthy cause that has personal significance, and to learn how they can support that cause with their social and financial capital.

Now, go even further. What would you like them to do after that—participate in an event, become a volunteer, refer their friends, comment on your blog, contribute content to your communications, raise awareness or funds through their social networks, provide a testimonial, donate money?

Create clear, convenient paths for them to move forward, making sure at every touch point they have a satisfying, consistent experience. Seek their feedback, answer their questions immediately and honestly, don’t be stingy with thank you’s, and remember the power of even small incentives. When they sign up for your enewsletter, offer them a free, short, well done, up-to-the-minute report on something they might be interested in related to your work. And in that report, offer them a link to your institutional blog or Web site as a way to keep up with other news and events. Maybe you can offer them free or discounted entry to an event or conference if they refer 5 friends.

The best way to start creating customer pathways is with a simple segmentation of your potential supporters—so you can develop paths specific to each major segment. That assumes you’ve done research on those segments and have a good idea of their preferences, needs, and interests. Getting back to the book, the American Heart Association has identified six major customer market segments and assigned staff to each. These staff are responsible for creating customer profiles through data gathering and annual surveys, then creating loyalty action plans. The goal—very satisfied customers.

Not every nonprofit can undertake that level of commitment to finding out what supporters want and need, but there are free or inexpensive ways to gather that information. I’ve suggested several in a past post.

Don’t be satisfied with just putting a big donate button on your homepage. (Yes, you should have a big donate button on your homepage.) Think creatively about how to integrate all your points of communication in ways that encourage your newest supporters to become your lifelong friends.

I’m going to be sending this hardcover book to someone free! If you’d like it, tell me why in the comments below by Thursday, April 30.

CC photo credit: egg on stilts

Nonprofit branding and the role of organizational culture

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I’ve watched the evolution of nonprofit branding since the topic first hit The Chronicle of Philanthropy years ago.

Thankfully, a group of marketing thought leaders—including people like Seth Godin and Chris Brogan—have helped shift branding from a selling strategy to more of an organizational development strategy, with emphasis on exceeding customer demand, being a good community member, and creating loyal tribes.

I’m just one of many “thought-followers” on this topic, but I’m intrigued by the important role that organizational culture plays in nonprofit brands. So, I’m adding my two cents to what greater minds have already shared. Be sure to check out some of their insights in the links below.

Modern branding places control of your brand with your supporters and potential supporters. Their feelings and perceptions about your organization are your brand.

Their perceptions hinge on 1) how well their interactions with your organization meet their needs—not just tangible needs, but intangible needs like connection, participation, contribution, trust, even delight; and 2) the opinions of people they trust.

Let me add, your supporters are networked, smart, and can spot “spin” a mile away.

So, if they’re smart and their perceptions are your brand, how can you influence them? One way is by looking to your organizational culture; how you behave. As brand expert Marty Neumeier says: “A living brand is a pattern of behavior, not a stylistic veneer.”

Your print and electronic communications are your organization’s appearance.  How your organization behaves is its character. Appearance is important, but solid, long-lasting relationships are based on character, and the best gauge of that is your organizational culture.

Should you behave in dishonest, irresponsible, thoughtless, greedy, self-centered ways—today’s smart markets are going to know it. They won’t trust you and they won’t support you—no matter how emotionally moving your annual report, how well differentiated your market position, or how consistent your messages. There are no secrets, no hiding places, no rugs to sweep broken promises under. The culture of your organization is transparent, whether you want it to be or not. It shines through in every interaction.

Here are a few things to consider as you think about how your culture affects your brand.

• The branding process is a two-way conversation between the inside (your organization’s staff/board) and the outside (your organization’s supporters). Two sets of real human beings. Your staff/board makes a promise to your supporters to accomplish a specific social change within a specific population and geography. (It’s important to be clear and focused about the promise you’re making. Make sure you have the capacity to fulfill it. ) At the same time, you make a promise to yourselves—and to your supporters—that you will live out a particular set of values in your work. Hopefully, those values include honesty, responsibility, fairness, generosity, reliability, and compassion. Every participant in your organization needs to know them by heart, and clearly understand what value-based behaviors are expected of them. Not just for the good of your supporters, but for the good of your internal culture. Your CEO plays an essential role in setting the tone and modeling your organizational culture, and the marketing department helps create communications products. But your “brand team” is your entire board and staff. Your “brand voice” is the human voice. Ideally, there should be no difference between internal and external behavior.  Staff and board treat each other as generously as they treat supporters. What you see is what you get. That’s authenticity.

• It’s important for your staff/board to understand all the dimensions of this two-way conversation, which extend far beyond printed and electronic communications. Whether it’s the receptionist greeting a visitor, the voicemail message that callers get after hours, the magazines on the table in your lobby, a meeting between a board member and a potential donor, a site visit or client interview, a small group tutorial, a large conference, a chance meeting with a supporter outside of work—every interaction related to your work is a moment of relationship-building and branding. In those moments you make the choice to act on your organization’s values; you make the choice to keep the promise. This even extends to the choices you make about your office space.

• Take responsibility for what goes wrong or falls short. Remember, this conversation is between human beings. No human being is perfect, and most of the time owning up leads to forgiveness and even support. Carlo Questa, of Creation in Common, suggests you set milestones for yourself along the path to your promise, and let staff/board and supporters know that at those junctures you’re going to be providing status reports. When you hit a milestone, if your success isn’t what you hoped it would be, let people know why you think that happened and how you’re going to make a mid-course correction. Either try a different tack or revise your promise. Be flexible and humble enough to embrace new ideas. Carlo also advises not making excuses about “external forces” beyond your control more than once. And, make sure to tell your supporters how you’re going to adjust to those forces in order to succeed.

• Align your appearance with your character. Make sure your values come through loud and clear in the design and the content of your communications. Try to avoid exaggeration, vagueness (from either laziness or the desire to hide something), claiming victory too soon, withholding information in the hope that no one will notice, and trying to look like something you’re not. Don’t assume you know what your supporters want from your communications—ask them every chance you get (without becoming a nuisance.) These few communications are under your control—unlike much of the rest of the conversation. Don’t waste the chance to meet the needs of your supporters while clearly demonstrating your progress on the promise.

• Open your ears and doors. Show supporters that you’re interested in them as people not just wallets or volunteers. Think about how your work and your promise can help them fulfill their own aspirations. Ask their opinions and preferences through polls on your Web site and social media sites, or make sparing use of online instruments like SurveyMonkey. Use results to help guide your decision-making. (Author and PR strategist Geoff Livingston recommends developing a process for collecting and vetting all your stakeholders’ feedback–not just with the communications department, but with the entire organization.) If your supporters are on FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., have a convenient presence there. Communicate with them when you’re not asking for money or support—check in, invite them to visit or to call with questions, make sure they know about your events, ask them if there is any way you can help (information, referrals). When you’re interacting with them, be fully attentive. Be the kind of friend you want them to be.

Nonprofits are not corporations. Their work will never be, nor should be, entirely shaped by consumer opinion and demand. But, working as they do on programs to promote the common good, shouldn’t nonprofits be modeling behavior that contributes to the common good? Take a closer look at your organizational culture—does it really reflect the kind of values you embrace?

Your culture is a great place to start living your brand. In fact, it may be the only place you can.

What are your ideas about nonprofit brands?

The Brand Gap, Marty Neumeier, Neutron LLC

Nonprofit Branding, Carlo Cuesta, Creation in Common

Worried about your branding? What exactly are you worried about? Steve Cebalt, Main Street Marketing

Cheap authenticity > chic advertising

flickr/oddsock

Every week I volunteer at a local free store to sort through donated goods and put them on shelves and racks. The next day 500 “shoppers” come through this very small space and get what they need. The place operates on a shoestring budget and relies heavily on volunteers.

Every month I get a four-page, black and white, laser-printed newsletter from this free store. It’s not particularly attractive–no big photos, no beautiful typography or lay-out, no fancy envelope. But I read every word. The same is true for the newsletter of another very small nonprofit I support that runs organic gardening programs for low-income youth.

I’m someone who winces when I see a poorly done nonprofit newsletter. But there’s a difference between poorly done and cheaply produced. Both these newsletters have tremendous impact on my loyalty to these two organizations—although they are probably the cheapest, least “slick” publications I receive. They’re a great reminder to me that: 1) print still has a place in marketing and 2) authenticity trumps sophistication.

They are models of “impact” storytelling, offering a first-person glimpse of the effect a small organization has on its beneficiaries. You can see very clearly what your support makes possible. The free store newsletter is written by the director—every word. In addition to less-than-perfect, fun, impromptu photos of volunteers, she shares two or three stories about the people who’ve been helped by the store that month—including their moving reactions of gratitude.

She writes like she’s talking to you, and each story takes you into a world where the smallest kindness can tip the scales, can literally save someone’s life. The homeless woman who needed warm clothes, sleeping bags, and yes—a few toys—for her children. The man who needed clothes for a job interview, who upon leaving—asked why the store’s workers were being so nice to him. The woman who returned with donations two years after the free store helped her get back on her feet. The family that marveled at unexpectedly being given free Easter baskets for their four children. The many magical instances where just what someone desperately needs is donated the next day.

The gardening newsletter packs the same punch. Amid homey recipes are interviews with kids who do the gardening—again, written by the director. You hear in the kids’ own words how the experience has led them to eat better, become good cooks for their families, understand basic business practices, and think about their future with more hope and direction. (Some even invent recipes!) There are wonderful, amateur, black and white photos of planting season, the harvest festival, and the program’s booth at the farmer’s market. And, like the free store newsletter, there’s always a “wish list” of in-kind goods the organization needs at that moment. A donation response envelope is included, but there’s no other ask…only proof of impact.

It’s so real. That’s all I can say. These newsletters focus on changes in everyday lives, not lofty missions or sweeping programs. I get dozens of professionally created nonprofit newsletters every month and toss most without a second thought. But these two poor cousins—in all their humble enthusiasm—are read and remembered. Small nonprofits—take heart!

This is not to say that nonprofits should abandon well designed, well written publications—only a reminder not to rely on high production quality in an age where content, impact, and authenticity rule.

CC photo credit: Oddsock

NEWS: In a few weeks, I’ll be publishing my second free eBook here–Best Practices: Nonprofit Direct Mail.