On Katya’s Non-profit Marketing Blog, Katya Andreson shares her list of must-have elements of a good nonprofit homepage and takes a look at a recent successful nonprofit website makeover. Ineffective websites are so last summer.
While we’re on the subject, how will you know when your nonprofit’s website is due for a new look? eJewish Philanthropy highlights some of the reasons it might be time for a redesign.
And don’t forget to accessorize: no website is complete without a great URL. If you’re venturing out into the World Wide Web for the first time or just relaunching your site, these tips from Marc Pitman at The Fundraising Coach on choosing an effective URL might come in handy.
Social media is the future, and Shannon Aronin shares some reasons why on Buzzmarketing Daily. (At a panel this afternoon for social media week, Ari Wallach suggested that asking whether nonprofits should be on social media is like asking whether nonprofits should have websites back in 1995.)
A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Check out myDelicious bookmarksfor more noteworthy links.
The average online gift in December 2009 remained relatively the same as it was in December 2008. The average gift processed via Network for Good was $153 (a 4% drop), and the average gift processed via Blackbaud was $244.17 (a 2% drop)
Because most nonprofits raise nearly 50% of their online donations during the October-December time period, we follow year-end campaigns closely. (We even created a few year-end campaigns for our clients, but more about that in a future Duck Pond issue.) Read the rest of this entry »
They say a picture is worth a thousand words—a rare opportunity in a 140-character world. Are you using social media to share photos of your organization’s mission in action? Social Media 4 Goodoffers some tips and lessons learned about using Flickr for nonprofits.
Twitter trends have gone local, which means that your issue hashtag can get some attention even without hitting the global top ten. Will this change the gameplan for your next online outreach campaign?
The carnival is back in town! The nonprofit blog carnival, that is. This month’s theme: online outreach on a budget, hosted by IssueLab. Meet you at the midway.
The disaster in Haiti has mobilized thousands of new donors. But how can organizations turn crisis fundraising from a one-time interaction into a lasting relationship? Mark Phillips examines several organizations’ conversion strategies on his Queer Ideas blog.
Steve MacLaughlin shares some thoughts on what not to do when sending an email fundraising appeal. ‘Fess up: is your nonprofit guilty of any of these email “crimes”?
Many years ago, I attended a conference for creative professionals organized by “How” Magazine. The keynote speaker got on stage in front of the 3,500 people and began with these words: “Powerpoint is sucking the life out of us all”. Within seconds, almost everyone in the auditorium was on their feet, applauding and cheering wildly. It was a moment of solidarity: the tedium of preparing presentations is something many people suffer from.
If you’re one of those people who dreads creating presentations (or even if you’re simply uninspired), I suggest you watch Al Gore or Steve Jobs in action. When Steve Jobs announced the highly anticipated iPad (can we talk about that name some time??) on January 27, 2010, he did so with a Keynote presentation (Keynote is the Mac equivalent of PowerPoint).
Steve Jobs introducing the iPad to the world
But did you feel you were watching a slideshow? Definitely not. Same thing with Al Gore’s film, “Inconvenient Truth”, which is basically two hours Al Gore talking through a really fancy Keynote presentation about climate change.
Recently, Lake Superior State University published its 35th annual List of Banished Words for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. It included terms from 2009 such as friend (as a verb—thanks, Facebook); Tweet (good luck not using that one, nonprofiteers); and chillaxin’ (which I’m pretty sure isn’t a word to begin with, but yes, it’s tremendously annoying and disturbingly ubiquitous).
Well, that got us thinking… What words do we nonprofit people overuse or misuse, and what terms are generally useless or shouldn’t be used?
So without further ado, here’s a short list (in no particular order) along with the reason(s) for its inclusion here:
System—This is a word of many meanings and yet no real meaning. We’re guessing there’s probably a clearer, more specific term within your English arsenal of words. Perhaps you use system to mean your organization’s workflow, or perhaps you mean the government. Consider using workflow or government.
Infrastructure—Unless you’re speaking of roads, rail, bridges, tunnels, power lines, or other public works, this is a word worth avoiding. Using infrastructure to discuss the people of your organization, for example, takes the humanity out of your work.
Are you a conversationalist? Forrester Research has just updated its social technographics ladder (a visualization that maps out some of the ways in which people participate in social media) to include Conversationalists: the Twitterers and the Facebook-status updaters. As they say, social media is all about conversation.
Relief efforts for Haiti continue, and text messaging is still the story of the season. Texting makes it so easy to give, but is it easy enough for nonprofits to actually get the pledged funds? The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on how cell phone companies are working with organizations like the Red Cross to speed up the process, which usually take two to three months.
Don’t forget: today is your last chance to vote for your favorite nonprofit to win a million dollars in the Chase Community Giving competition on Facebook. Five runners-up will win $100,000 each, so even if the group you support isn’t at the top of the table, it could be worth a click.
It’s Friday, so today is already pretty darn great, but it gets better: the puppy cam is back!
A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Check out myDelicious bookmarksfor more noteworthy links.
If your fiscal year is the calendar year, chances are, someone in your office is thinking about your annual report right around now. Or are they?
The February 2010 issue of Print Magazine features an article called “The Incredible Shrinking Annual Report” by Liza Featherstone. (I’d link to it here, but the good people at Print don’t offer their content online. Maybe that’s why the magazine is still called Print??)
In the piece, Ms. Featherstone talks about how the business of producing corporate annual reports has essentially withered and died- leaving a wake of writers, designers and printers looking for work. Before 2007, explains Ms. Featherstone, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) required shareholders to be mailed an annual report- but after 2007, the could be posted online. Trees were saved (yay!), jobs were lost (boo!). Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been quite a week for social media, as the online community reacts and responds to the devastation in Haiti. If you’re looking for information or ways to help, Mark Glaser has compiled a comprehensive list of resources and opportunities on Mediashift.
Donations through mobile platforms have been pouring in this week in support of the disaster relief efforts, setting records along the way. Text-to-give campaigns, like the one set up by the Red Cross within hours of the earthquake (text “Haiti” to 90999 to give $10), brought in a grand total of over $7 million in less than two days.
If these recent developments in mobile giving have started you thinking about how to use text messaging in your organization’s next fundraising campaign, check out this handy how-to from Allyson Kapin on what’s involved in setting up a mobile campaign.
Do you FourSquare? The location-based social networking service has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent months, so if you’re feeling inspired to explore some new frontiers for nonprofits in social media, Nonprofit Tech 2.0 has has a few tips. (My colleague Farra and I are in a heated race to be mayor of Big Duck. I’m winning. For now…)
A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Check out myDelicious bookmarksfor more noteworthy links.
Today is the first day people can vote in the final round of the Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook. Between now and January 22, people who add the application can vote up to five times for five individual charities.
A friendly reminder to vote at the ATM
Much has been written criticizing the contest and the initial selection of 100 charities who already received $25,000 and are now vying for the grand prize of $1,000,000. But, despite the controversy in the first round of results, I think there are some positive lessons that can be learned for nonprofits of all sizes.
1. What’s your big idea?
The top 100 charities each have a page where you can vote for them. On that page the nonprofit organization is given a forum to first explain their issue and their mission. In just a few sentences, they have to plead their case to millions of people who may not have ever heard of them before.
2. Why should someone support you?
The next section asks the competing charities to rationalize why they should win the big prize. All nonprofits need to ask for financial support. The ones that do it best build a donor’s trust when they can explain how they’d use the funds given to them. I know I’m personally much more likely to give to an organization when I think they not only need my support, but will use it well.
3. What is your ultimate vision for success?
The last part of each organization’s write-up is about the outcome their organization hopes to achieve–the change they want to see in the world. If an organization or donor were about to give you $1 million could you tell them what you’d do with it? If a program participant was questioning whether they should sign up with your org or another, how would you convince them to join you? The more you might hesitate to have an answer, the less you might be to get their support or involvement.
4. What is your story and how do you tell it?
Organizations in the contest are also able to post videos and pictures of their work–and their community–in action. The power of storytelling can help nonprofits not only communicate their mission generally, but it can help raise awareness, engage activists, and generate support. Do you have a short and sweet video or set of pictures that could motivate someone to connect with you?
Here’s the video that one of our client’s Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy produced for the contest. The messaging is strong and the visuals are compelling–all boys and families from their community (no stock photos here!) They use the video to reinforce their mission and the need for support: to end Duchenne, a rare but devastating genetic disorder that robs the lives of at least two boys and young men each day.
Whether you or your favorite organization made it to round two, consider what your page would say if it did. Good luck to all the organizations participating in the contest. Now, go vote!
It seems like everywhere you look these days someone is writing about Leno, Conan, and NBC’s Late Night debacle. I don’t really watch late night television, but my sister interned for Conan before he moved to LA, and has been enjoying keeping me up to date as the drama unfolds.
Basically, NBC has decided to cancel Jay Leno at 10 p.m., move him to the 11:35 spot, then push back The Tonight Show back to 12:05 a.m., knocking Jimmy Fallon and the Late Night Show to 1:05. This idea has caused an uproar to say the least.
Conan released a statement on Tuesday (click here to read the entire statement) that outlined his feelings about moving to 12:05 a.m. In it he says, “I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.”
He spent the majority of his career working and striving to sit at the desk made famous by Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and Jay, but he’s not just concerned about himself.
My sister and I hanging out on the Late Night set last spring
Conan is talking about the Tonight Show brand—what it stands for and what it means to represent the long history of the 11:35 time slot. Conan is not willing to abandon the vision, mission, and values of the show. Sound familiar? If not, then you haven’t read Sarah’s book.
Conan is willing to give up his dream job to protect the Tonight Show brand. A few things to consider: What are you willing to do protect your brand? Would you damage a 60-year history to accommodate the whim of a major donor? What are you doing now, so that 60 years down the road, people still feel a deep connection to your organization and what it stands for? Are you building a brand worth fighting for?
Nobody knows how this is going to end up or what is going to happen to the Tonight Show, but Conan has a few options.
