Keeping in touch with your donor base, volunteers, and supporters is an ongoing job for nonprofit directors. It seems that just a few years ago, printed and mailed newsletters were the mainstay communication method for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). These days, we’re more likely to see emailed newsletters or shorter email “blasts” that keep interested folks informed.

But what about keeping your supporters engaged?  Marketing has migrated from making numerous impressions to creating ongoing dialogs. To do this successfully, you need to rethink your strategy and method of communication.

Have you considered writing a blog? Blogs are not only easy to keep updated with fresh content and event listings, they also provide a way for your donors and supporters to communicate with you.  By allowing your audience to follow, subscribe to, and comment on blog posts, you’re giving them the opportunity to make a deeper connection. After all, if they’re on your mailing list, they are already supporting the cause, and likely to engage even further.

Here are some tips to get started with a blog:

Be Consistent: Check in with your NPO’s marketing team or graphic designer before you start. They may want to be help you set up the blog to ensure it stays within the established standards for your organization’s brand, logo, colors, etc.

Do a Little Research: There are thousands of articles on the web that will show you how to start a blog. WordPress and Blogger are two popular platforms that make it easy, with templates and customizable plug-ins that can have you up and blogging in minutes.

Check Out the Competition: Look around on the web to see how other nonprofit organizations handle their blogs. You may get some great ideas about what to do—and what NOT to do—with yours.

Write to Your Audience:  Blogs can be as formal or casual as you want. Using a standard newsletter format is a good way to get started. Include items of interest, news updates, and reminders of upcoming events. You can even add surveys, photos, book reviews, and lots of other features that your readers may find helpful.

Post Often: Don’t have a “dead” blog. People want to hear from you. But how often is enough? How much is too much? You’ll find your rhythm, but for starting out, one post per week is the minimum frequency you should aim for.

Be Patient: It takes time for a blog to gather steam. You might feel that nobody is reading your posts, but check the statistics and you’ll likely see a growing audience. Just stick with it, promote it to your donors and supporters, and your readership will grow!

2008 was not a good year for charitable donations. Giving declined by 2 percent last year in the US, according to a report released this week by Giving USA Foundation^TM. The decline in donations was the first since 1987, and the largest since these records have been kept.

While nearly every sector saw big decreases in giving in 2008, human services and foundations were hardest hit, down 13 and 19 percent respectively. The declines stem from decreases in individual giving, but fewer foundation endowments and grants had a big impact as well.

Nobody knows for sure when the economy will turn around, or when charitable donations will rise again. But things could change rapidly if the economy strengthens and people regain confidence in their employment and financial situations.

In the meantime, there are still ways you can encourage your donors to give as much as they can—but you might need to mix up your approach a bit. Try these ideas for reminding your supporters that your nonprofit organization still needs their help:

1. Ask. It’s that simple. Don’t be afraid to ask for donations.

2. Write clearly and concisely. When communicating with your support base, state your NPO’s needs clearly, and include a call to action (see #1, above). Assume they will give and thank them for their contribution.

3. Be consistent. Don’t make the mistake of reaching out often for six months, then not at all for the next six, only to follow with a flurry of communication again! Set up a regular schedule so your donors know what to expect.

4. Report results. Donors want to know their contributions are changing things. Be sure to tell them how you’re doing on a regular basis. They will look forward to hearing from you.

5. Timing is everything. Make your outreach pay by avoiding July and August, when summer activities keep giving to a minimum anyway. Four to seven times per year is about right for most organizations.

6. Ask for feedback. Once per year, ask your donors if your outreach efforts are in line with their expectations. Are they hearing from you too often? Not enough? Do your donors prefer phone, mail or email? You’ll get plenty of valuable suggestions if you just ask for them!

Even though the foreseeable future is not a completely rosy one for nonprofits, the good news is that people are still giving—and this bad economy cannot last forever!

All Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) rely on their volunteers. But some NPOs, by the nature of their work, sometimes put their volunteers in harm’s way. You want to know you’re doing everything you can to keep your volunteers safe—and not only because it’s the right thing to do. It’s important to the financial health of your NPO to minimize all risks, including risks to volunteers’ safety.

Share these tips with your volunteers. Then, enforce them every day.

Don’t be a target. Regardless of the area your volunteers are working in, it’s important not to draw attention. Have volunteers leave their jewelry at home, and their purses or backpacks in locked storage at the office. They should carry only a driver’s license or other ID, plus the keys they need to operate the vehicle they are driving.

Buddy up. Have your volunteers work in pairs at minimum. Partner older or frail individuals with someone younger and stronger.

Be aware of surroundings. It’s important to keep looking around when walking down unfamiliar streets. Warn volunteers not to walk with eyes focused on the sidewalk or they’ll be easy to sneak up on. Help them identify safe havens like stores, fire stations, or service stations in the neighborhood they’ll be working where they can seek help if necessary.

Avoid walking, driving, and stopping on poorly-lit streets. If they must stop, your volunteers should do so in a well-lighted parking lot at a busy place, such as a department or grocery store.

Cop an attitude. Tell your volunteers to walk with heads held high, to look like they mean business, and to maintain a healthy degree of mistrust. It may be against their nature to be rude, but it could be important to their safety in certain situations.

Parking safety:  No leaving keys in the ignition. Try to park under a streetlight on a busy street, or even better, in staffed parking lots or garages. Don’t park next to large trucks or RVs. Check the back seat before entering the car. Do not leave valuables in the vehicle.

Check-ins are a must. Everyone must call into the office at regular intervals when working in the field. Record your volunteers’ cell numbers so you can call them if they miss a check in. Consider having a couple of extra cell phones added to the organizational account to give to cellular-free volunteers. Everyone should have the means to make emergency phone calls at all times. If a volunteer is working in an area with no cell coverage, have them call from a landline and then record that number.

These basic safety tips can keep your volunteers from becoming targets or victims of crime when working on behalf of your organization. By practicing caution each time they are in the field, it becomes second nature. And don’t anyone slack off on safety; remember that minimizing your NPOs financial risk is part of good management. And for an even higher level of protection, screen potential volunteers before you allow them to work with your clients, volunteers or staff.

Good volunteer coordinators see their nonprofit organization’s (NPO) volunteers as more than just bodies filling positions. Knowing names and personal histories is the first step in fostering good relationships when managing people. It’s also important to know what motivates your volunteers, so you can keep them engaged and enjoying their service to your organization. It’s far easier to keep happy volunteers than to replace burned-out or disinterested ones!

So, what makes people volunteer their time and energy to service and charity organizations?

1. People like to make a difference. Whether focused on their street, their neighborhood, community or the world, people want to know that their efforts are actually making a difference to another human being. Remind your volunteers of the changes they are bringing about through their work. They may be changing one life or making the entire world a better place to live—and they should know it.

2. Volunteering makes people feel better. Giving to others without expecting anything in return is reward enough for many volunteers. Many report feeling their mood brighten by seeing how others are affected by their work. Some volunteers get “addicted” to these good feelings—a real bonus for their chosen organizations. Do what you can to help make your volunteers feel good, and they’re more likely to stick around.

3. People like to learn. Many folks look to volunteering as an opportunity to learn new skills, or do something completely different than their profession. Keep this in mind as you assign tasks to your volunteers; don’t assume they’d like to perform the same tasks they’ve been doing for years! Switch things up when you can to keep people fresh.

4. Volunteers are “people people.” Many volunteers report their love of meeting new people as a big reason they offer their help to service organizations. If you have extroverts among your volunteers who are not getting enough people contact, you could lose them.

5. People love to support their favorite causes. Step inside an animal shelter and you’ll see animal lovers volunteering their time. Look no farther than the Boys and Girls clubs and you’ll find volunteers who relish the idea of turning around the life of a kid. If you need more volunteers, a great place to start looking is at your donor base. After all, these people have already demonstrated and interest in your cause!

6. Volunteers love to be active. Most volunteers aren’t good at the couch potato thing. These folks love to be out and about in the community, knowing what’s going on, and contributing to society. Keep your volunteers busy before they get bored and move on.

7. Everyone like perks. Some people are ushering at the local theater because they want to see plays for free. Others volunteer at art museums to get their fill of paintings and sculptures. Still others just like to be included in the annual volunteer appreciation luncheon. Bear in mind any perks you can offer your volunteers to keep them happy and show your thanks.

8. Some folks love seeing how things work. Certain volunteers get a kick out of seeing how a food bank or health clinic works. Others are more event-oriented and love working on parade floats, or setting up food booths and music. These behind-the-scenes people are vital to many NPOs’ success stories. Remember that not all your volunteers want to be on the front lines.

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) need every advantage they can get. Fundraising is a constant challenge. Finding new volunteers and board members is, too. And then there’s the day-to-day management of running a nonprofit: employee issues, client challenges, regulatory headaches and grant writing.  

If there are ways to make it easier, why not take advantage of them?  Tools are available to make your website more engaging—and could make other aspects of running a NPO a little (or a lot) easier, as well.

Look at your nonprofit’s website with a critical eye. Check each of these areas and consider how well your current site is working for you, and where you see a need for improvement:

Newsletter/information sign up: Ideally, this feature should appear on your website’s home page. Don’t make interested parties search all over to give you their contact information! Make it easy for users to engage, so you can start a long-term relationship through newsletters or email updates.

Donations: If there is no tool on your current website for donors to give to your NPO, that is a big no-no. These days, online is only way millions of people shop. And it’s the way millions prefer to give to charity. When it comes to online donations, if you don’t build it, they will not come. They will go away and your NPO will lose that donation.

Easy answers: Can visitors easily find good information about your organization? Is the site well organized? Do you have an FAQ page or area on the site? If a visitor comes away with more questions than answers about what your NPO does, what it stands for, whom it serves, and what you need, then the site has failed at least that person. They are unlikely to come back, or tell their friends about your NPO’s work. And there are likely many, many more who’ve had the same experience.

A Compelling Story: Is the website making a personal connection? Do visitors get a sense of the ways your organization improves the lives of real people? Or is visiting the website a dry, impersonal experience? Tell the stories of the lives your organization has touched. Use photos of real people (not real clients, of course, if that would be inappropriate or legally risky) to make a human connection with your website’s visitors. Tell them what you’ve done well, the challenges you face, and what you need.

Updated Information: Is your website still featuring an event that occurred last week? How about last month or six months ago? Get rid of that old information—nothing makes a website staler. Visitors expect fresh content each time they enter your site. Why would anyone come back if it contains the same story month after month? Consider adding a blog, which can be updated frequently with stories, events, successes, and calls for action. And, if you can’t update your website yourself, then it’s time for a redesign. Ask around your community of donors and volunteers for someone with programming experience who would be willing to build a simple content management system (CMS) for your website. 

Fresh content, easy sign-up, well-organized information and compelling stories are just a few ways to add a lot of punch to your nonprofit organization’s website. You’re sure to see an increase in traffic, engaged users, volunteers and donors as a result!

A quick trip around the internet reveals that online fundraising contests are more popular than ever. It’s easy now for even smaller non profits to have a big presence on the web, spreading their message to more interested people and increasing their support base.

Mega-retailer Target is currently holding a contest where Facebook members get to help decide how the Minnesota-based retailer splits $3 million among ten charities. Target has long advertised that it gives away $3 million every week, but this is the first time it has created an interactive method of distributing the money, which will be according to the percentage of votes received by these then charities: National Parks Foundation, Feeding America, the Salvation Army, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, HandsOn Network/Points of Light Institute, Kids in Need, the PTA, Operation Gratitude, and the American Red Cross.

The Bullseye Gives contest, which runs through May 25, is a great way for these organizations to mobilize their supporters to vote for them and affect the amount of money they will receive. It stands to reason that the charities with good social networks and channels in place to quickly and easily communicate with their base will lead in voting.

By almost forcing organizations to utilize digital communications and social marketing, a contest like Target’s can help even smaller non profit organizations (NPOs) put tools in place that will ultimately improve their fundraising efforts for the long term.

GlobalGiving is an online clearing house that connects donors with community-based projects that need support. Their current offering is a contest called the American Open, which gives U.S. nonprofits the chance to be featured on the GlobalGiving website, increasing their fundraising opportunities. In addition, the site offers these NPOs connections to a network of donors, corporate giving programs, and foundations.

Two celebrities recently announced online fund raising campaigns using Twitter, the popular online message service. In April, actor and Oscar ceremony host Hugh Jackman created a Twitter contest asking his followers to convince him (in Twitter’s signature 140-character messages) why their favorite charity should receive a $100,000 donation from him. He ended up splitting it between Operation of Hope and Charity Water. And Bob Woodruff, the TV news reporter seriously injured while covering the Iraq War, hopes to raise over 1.5 million dollars over Memorial Day Weekend using Twitter. The money will go to his foundation, which aids injured veterans and armed service personnel.

Smart non profit executives keep their eyes open for contests like these, which pop up on both the local and the national scene. Online contests and initiatives can be an easy way to add funds to charity coffers—even in tough economic times like these.

Economy Puts Nonprofits in the Red
A survey of 986 nonprofits by Nonprofit Finance Fund reveals that only 16 percent expect to cover their operating expenses this year. And 52 percent say the recession will have a long-term negative effect on their organizations, while nearly all—93 percent—expect an increase in demand for their services.

It is not an easy time to run a nonprofit organization (NPO). Increasingly, charities are cutting paid staff, reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and delaying or eliminating services. Often, these cuts directly and negatively affect served populations.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund, which provides loans and access to grants to NPOs, encourages charities to be innovative in their thinking when facing these challenges and to partner with donors in order to continue serving the needy.

Ask For Help
Ask your vendor/partners for help in spreading the word about your organization. If your insurance or real estate agent publishes a print or e-newsletter, ask for some room. They would probably be happy to donate space for an article about your cause. Speaking of space, check out the schedule for trade shows or home shows in your area. Perhaps a construction company, appliance store, or other local business will share some booth space with you. These donations help the giving companies, too—they get the goodwill that supporting charitable organizations brings.

Stay in Touch with Donors and Volunteers
People who are passionate about a cause will continue to give if they can; their donations may be less than usual, but it’s vital to stay connected so they have an ample opportunities to give.  Show appreciation to your donors and volunteers. Invite them to events, and ask if they are interested in doing any new or additional hands-on volunteer work.  Keep everyone informed with detailed reports on where their donations go.

Build that Buzz
Continue free marketing efforts, like social media outlets (Facebook, twitter, local community websites), e-newsletters, and email updates.  Build awareness anywhere you can: show up at community events, walk in the 4th of July parade, or staff a booth at a church bazaar; putting a face to your organization’s name makes a big difference. Learn all you can about online donations, like on Amazon and Google Checkout. Lots of small donations from lots of people equals more awareness and more money at a time your organization probably needs it most.

Remember that thorough volunteer background screening will help you recruit and retain the best volunteers for your organization.

In our last post, we suggested polling your volunteers to find out how they want you to communicate with them.  For many non profits, email is the best ways to communicate with both volunteers and donors. Here are some marketing tips for more effective email communication:

Reverse the order of your usual email writing process. Hit “attach” first instead of last, and you’ll avoid sending out emails without the intended attachments.

Ask for action. There is a school of thought that says no email should be sent without a request for action. Keep this in mind as you begin to compose your email: if you’re not asking for a review of a document or to confirm a meeting, or to pass on an important piece of information, is the email really necessary? And remember: ask, don’t tell. Don’t tell people what to do; ask them for their help.

Turn the “Subject” into keywords. For clarity and time savings, let your recipients know exactly what the email is about by choosing 3-5 key words for the subject line. 

How much email is too much? Amnesty International used to send 19 – 25 messages per month to their email list. That’s too many for any nonprofit email strategy, even if your supporters love and support your cause. Research from M+R Strategic Services shows that reduced email volume actually improves response rates.  Focus your email strategy on a regular schedule for fundraising, event invites, and general awareness campaigns.

Effective email communication can be reduced to three topics: a crisis, an opportunity, and how taking action will resolve the crisis. People want to know what they can do to help.

Keep it short. No matter what you have to say, say it briefly or your recipients will not bother to read your email. Respect your recipients’ time and they will be more responsive.

  

 

 

Volunteers Filling Sandbags in Fargo, ND

Ask your volunteers how they prefer to receive communication from your organization, and you will likely get a variety of answers. But you’ll also get some appreciation. Being flexible and putting your volunteers’ needs first is vital to keeping them around. One-sided communication definitely does not fit all these days.

With Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well email, instant messaging and texting, you can communicate with all of your volunteers faster than ever–and in the way they prefer. But check in often—it can change from one day to the next!  The folks who faithfully checked their home answering machines might not even have a home phone anymore. The frequent emailers have turned to Facebook or Twitter to keep up with their circles of friends, and might now consider email an inconvenience.

If you are not up to speed on all the Social Media networks, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, your volunteers are—so ask one to help set up a page for your organization. With a sentence or two, you can communicate to everyone at once, and instantly receive their feedback, questions, and suggestions. Volunteers can interact and create a community through these websites, enhancing the bond they feel for your organization, while they spread the word about your cause. 

Social Media Tips for Volunteer Organizations:

• A Facebook page is a must have for any charitable organization.

• Gather cell phone numbers for all your volunteers immediately, and input them into your phone. See if your phone can save groups of numbers together.

• To communicate quickly about meeting times or events, text or online messages can easily be sent to groups. Flood-fighting volunteers in Fargo, ND used Facebook extensively just last week, keeping in touch and spreading the need for help.

• Twitter is the latest way for groups to communicate quickly and easily.

• Remember that many of your volunteers have web-enabled mobile devices (also known as cell phones), so they don’t have to be in front of their computers to receive your communication. 

Volunteering is about community building—and so are the new Social Media sites. Become familiar with them and how they work, and you’ll become more valuable to your volunteers!

Remember that proper volunteer screening will help keep your organization and clients safe.

When government budgets are slashed at local, state and federal levels, it’s a triple whammy for non profits. Add to that your donor base’s reduced ability to give and you cannot escape the pressure to cut your own budget. Look for cost effective solutions to find new and retain existing donors, and you’ll weather the economic downturn, no matter how long it lasts.

Don’t stop reaching out to donors. You must replace those who fall off your rolls—and new donors will be worth even more to your organization in years to come, so get them involved now.

Direct requests for donations, rather than paid awareness campaigns, are a better use of scarce marketing dollars. But do be creative and involve the media whenever you can.  Even better, leverage the power of the Internet and Social Networking to raise awareness for your non profit. You can easily create a blog and a Facebook page for your organization—you’ll be surprised at the response! People are much more responsive to messages and donation requests when they’re delivered by their friends. And best of all, it’s free!

Review your existing marketing materials, especially your website. Do you make it easy for donors to find your website?  To donate to your cause? Ask for help in optimizing your website (Search Engine Optimization, or SEO) so search engines can easily find it. Put a “Donate” button (also known as a “widget”) front and center. Make your website work harder for you by making it easy to give.

Now is not the time to be lazy. Are you sending out regular e-newsletters? Or did you let that task slide right off your desk?  Dust off your email list and get busy again.  Keep past and future donors aware and informed, and your organization will stay top of mind.  And again—it’s free!

There are lots of online resources and tips on how to get started and be successful with online marketing for non profits.  Spend some time getting familiar with them, then get started!  It takes initiative, but you can successfully fundraise on a smaller budget.