Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog

There are more than 1 billion smartphones on the planet.  That means one in seven people on the earth have the ability to do so many things at their fingertips. Here we have an unprecedented opportunity to unleash generosity through technology and make what people want to do, easier and more compelling.

Because this is so important, I teamed up my organization Network for Good with PayPal to create a guide for nonprofits on how mobile can and should affect your work this year.

We set out to answer:

• Why is it so imperative that your cause be experienced through a smartphone or tablet?
• What are the benefits of using mobile for deeper engagement?
• How can you optimize your organization’s mobile website for giving and pledging?

You can download the guide here (free but registration required).  Enjoy!

Imagine this. You’ve had a bad day at work. For months, you’ve been trying to persuade everyone to recycle. No one is complying. In frustration, you send out a mass email. “Only 5% of staff is putting paper in the recycling bins. We need to do better,” you say.

Bad move.

Why? When we are deciding whether to do something, we typically look to see what others are doing (“social proof”). As Robert Cialdini has thoroughly documented, we’re compliant creatures. If we see everyone else is ignoring the recycling bins, we’ll ignore them too.

If you lament that no one is listening, no one will listen.  By emphasizing inaction, you discourage the very behaviors you’re seeking.

If you want action, make people feel they are are part of something positive: “We’re aiming for 100% of paper recycled by Friday - and we’re on our way there.”

If you’re at a nonprofit that’s attracted hundreds of donations when you wanted thousands, don’t say, “Fewer people have supported our cause this year. So many kids are going without lunch. We really need your help.”

Say: “Your donation will provide a school lunch to Jason every day this year. Join the hundreds of donors supporting kids like him.”

Here are three tips for turning your frustration over what isn’t working into a message that compels action - instead of more inaction.

1. The number one thing you can do to overcome resistance is to celebrate and publicize the people who are taking action. It will help inspire the ones who aren’t.

2. If you don’t have enough people to highlight, try getting just one - preferably a person who people respect (or who has authority). Ask that person to explain why he or she is taking action. Maybe you’re not the best messenger and that person would be better.

3. Last, if you can’t succeed on those fronts, try to convert just regular one person. Then ask that person to explain why they changed their mind. Converted skeptics are the most motivating of any messenger for the people who have failed to act. The people who aren’t on your side are more likely to relate to someone who once felt like them.

Bottom line? Accentuate the positive if you want a positive reaction.

M+R had a fascinating post* last week about political fundraising.  It highlighted insights from the digital team who sent out fundraising emails for the Obama campaign.  While political fundraising is its own animal, I do think many of these insights apply to all forms of fundraising.  So whether you’re a political activist or a nonprofit fundraiser, or of the red or blue or purple persuasion, you will find this interesting.

(The whole post is here.  These are some highlights along with my commentary.)

1. It’s hard to predict what will work - so testing matters.  There were 18 very smart people on the email team alone, and they often predicted the wrong winners among versions of emails.  And just when they figured out what worked, it stopped working.  So they tested again.  Keep testing!

2. The best segmentation was based on what donors did - not how they voted or their demographics. Segmenting their message according to the ways people responded worked far better in yielding strong fundraising results than any other variable. What have people donated in the past?  In response to which appeals?  Segment accordingly.

3. Length didn’t seem to matter a lot, until the end of the campaign, when shorter did better (reminds me of my advice to write very short appeals on December 31!).  What did matter was the content and relevance of the message.

4. For fundraising, setting a big goal for number of donations worked, but little, very local goals (we need six more donors in Washington, DC) did not.  Those only worked for advocacy.  Interesting.  Something to test?

And my favorite finding?  The best appeals also had the highest unsubscribe rates. Like Mark Rovner always says, evoking passion means you get strong opinions on all sides.  Bland is safe - and gets NO reaction.

For more findings, check out the full post, “Surprises from Obama’s New Media Staff.”

*Hat tip to Jono Smith of Event360 for sharing the post.

A reader of this blog, Joe, asked me the following question in response to my post on diagnosing message problems.

He says:

Can you point us toward some resources for understanding our audiences’ mindsets? Good questions to ask, good ways to ask questions, etc. For organizations without the resources to hire an expert researcher, where can we start learning how to do it right?

Here’s my answer based on my chapter on the topic in Robin Hood Marketing.

If you have no research budget at all, try to glean what you can from those around you in your daily work.  What trends have staff or volunteers noticed among our members, clientele, or donors? We and our colleagues can use all interactions with our audiences to gain insights. If we run a homeless shelter or a legal-aid organization or a health clinic, we should listen carefully to how our clients answer questions such as “How have you been doing?” or “What do you need?” If we are fundraisers meeting a major prospect, small talk can tell us a lot about what’s inside that person’s head: “How are things at your foundation?” “What are people focused on these days?” If we are knocking on doors as a canvasser or answering a toll-free line, we should listen as much as we talk. Find out how people feel about their lives, our issue, and current events. We can also gain important insights by simply observing our audiences. I worked on a project where policymakers were a key audience; I wangled an invitation to a health-policy forum and heard them discuss their priorities firsthand. The forum provided a gold mine of information.

Go wherever your audience congregates. If we work at a museum, we can observe the people coming in the door. Who are they? Greet them and ask them how they are. Try to figure out why they came or how they learned about our exhibit. If our audience members are online, go to their social networks, blogs, and websites and read what they are saying. Watch the television shows they watch and read their magazines.

An important point about what to ask:  Our research questions should not probe directly for the information we want, which is why people think and act the way they do and what we can do to change their thoughts and actions. Unfortunately, our audiences cannot easily explain their thoughts and behavior nor predict the messages that will cause them to change. Human behavior is complicated, and most people are unaware of why they are the way they are. They can often provide a logical explanation for why they behave and think as they do, but, unfortunately, that self-justification has more to do with what they believe the “right” explanation to be than with their true motivations. Asking “why” will not tell us “why.” People are emotional, busy, and preoccupied with paying the mortgage, losing weight, helping their children with homework, and being loved—often all in the same moment in the middle of the night when they can’t sleep. All those thoughts are influenced by a host of factors, such as the events of the previous day, their social and economic status, or their sense of self-esteem. We can find out what’s going through their head in the middle of the night and what they’ve been up to lately, but we can’t expect them to make sense of this information for us. As marketers, that’s our job.

We can understand “why” by listening to their stories and getting at their feelings. The psychiatrist does not ask patients, “Why are you depressed?” but instead talks to them about how they decided to come for an appointment and elicits from them stories about their life that contribute to a picture of who they are. In hearing a story, an attentive listener comes to see the truth. The person who tells the story, in turn, benefits from that attentiveness and may see life in a new way through speaking about it; in this way talking about experiences can be therapeutic.  Good research gets at the truth in a similar way, for different purposes.

Just as people aren’t reliable sources about the reasons for their behavior, they are also poor predictors of how they will behave in the future. They may readily express intentions to take action if they believe taking action is “right,” but we cannot be sure they will follow through. Most of us would say, yes, we will try to exercise more this year. But will we? Good research recognizes that gap between promise and action.

When framing questions, ask people about their daily lives, their priorities, their experiences, and their stories. Then ask how they perceive our issue in this context. This changes the type of information we get. If we had surveyed people about what they thought about the Hummer or the iPod or a $4 cup of coffee at Starbucks when these products were first conceived, we would not have necessarily discovered whether those products would sell. But by learning that people seek relaxation, power, convenience, or social contact, we could have known these products had the potential to meet unmet wants.

Hope this helps!  Good luck.

The whip-smart Kristen Grimm of Spitfire Strategies has a great piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review about how we can more effectively influence others - and what blind spots get in the way of those efforts.

Read the whole piece here.  I share here the highlights.

The first point Grimm makes is that we fail to influence others because we have blind spots.  She identifies the common mistakes we make that lead to ineffective efforts to persuade others:

—moving forward without thinking through who needs to be influenced and how
—forming coalitions without a strategy that would inform who should be partners
—focusing only on allies rather than opponents in thinking through strategy
—assuming decision makers will be willing to step out on a difficult issue
—filtering out facts and evidence that suggest not everyone is on board or shares a sense of urgency
—assuming what motivates you about an issue motivates others - and misinterpreting what is in their perceived self interest
—refusing to recognize efforts aren’t working for one of the above reasons - and the need to act accordingly

Instead, organizations should focus on the following four factors, says Grimm.

—A clear sense of the decision(s) that need to get made;
—An understanding of who makes these decision(s);
—An informed hypothesis about how the decision(s) will get made; and
—An understanding of how the organization can influence the decision-making process and a game plan for making that happen.

For more on how to work through those steps, read the article here.  If you’re in the business of persuasion (and aren’t we all!), take the time to check it out.

If your messaging isn’t getting through or your marketing campaign isn’t making a difference, it is probably for one (or all) of these three reasons.

1. Falsely assuming that information results in action.  It’s tempting to assume that if people have information, they will act on it.  But sadly, information doesn’t equal action. We know it’s healthy to exercise every day - but that doesn’t mean we’re going to do it.  Inertia is a strong force.  Good causes are forever in conflict with the status quo and business as usual.  We can’t just lay out information.  We need to create a compelling reason for taking action that beats doing nothing.  In marketing terms, we need to improve our reward and lower our price.

2. Forgetting that we’re not the audience.  The messages that appeal to us aren’t the ones that necessarily resonate with others.  Every assumption should be suspect until we understand our audiences’ mindsets.  When we assume our audience thinks the way we do, we are at odds with the principles of marketing.  We must think like the people we want to reach if we want to succeed.

3. Treating marketing as an afterthought.  Marketing and communications are often tacked on to a good causes’s efforts at the last minute. In treating marketing as an afterthought, we deprive ourselves of the great benefits that marketing can bring to all our work.  A marketing mindset throughout every dimension of our cause can help us design more effective projects, better meet the needs of people we want to help, win us more resources and support, and motivate people to act.

If you feel the need to strengthen your financial management savvy, check out StrongNonprofits.org, a new website featuring free tools, how-tos and guides.

Developed in partnership between The Wallace Foundation and Fiscal Management Associates, the site contains more than 64 resources for anyone involved in nonprofit financial planning, monitoring, operations or oversight, and particularly nonprofit afterschool program providers. Features range from a nonprofit accounting guide, to an article on sensible growth strategies, to a podcast on how to understand the true costs of programming. The site also offers an array of helpful tools, including the “Go or No Go Decision Tool,” a questionnaire that helps an organization decide whether accepting a contract would help – or hurt – the group’s bottom line.

The site includes:

• A Five-Step Guide to Budget Development—a presentation that describes a team approach to budgeting essentials such as setting financial goals, forecasting results and monitoring progress.
• Budgeting and Financial Planning Tools—Excel-based templates to provide organizations with a framework for building program-based budgets, projecting cash flow, and evaluating revenue scenarios.
• Guide to Effective Board Leadership—an easy-to-follow description of how nonprofit boards can do the necessary financial oversight of their organizations.

You can find the site here.

There are more than 1 billion smartphones on the planet.  That means one in seven people on the earth have the ability to do so many things at their fingertips. Here we have an unprecedented opportunity to unleash generosity through technology and make what people want to do, easier and more compelling.

Join me and my friend at PayPal (the leading mobile payments solution), Tanya Urschel, for a discussion of where mobile stands in 2013, why your organization needs to have a sound mobile strategy and how to make it happen.  Plus I’ll talk about how Network for Good has wrestled with mobile and what we decided to do.

We will cover:

  Why is it so imperative that my cause be experienced through a smartphone or tablet?
  What are the benefits of using mobile for deeper engagement?
  How can I optimize my organization’s mobile website for giving and pledging?

Register here.

While nonprofits may be behind the curve in some matters, we’ve done a swift job of adopting social media.  As I’ve noted here before based on past surveys, the vast majority of nonprofits are actively using Facebook and Twitter.

Some new research featured in eMarketer bolsters that view:

Interestingly, these numbers put nonprofits ahead of their for-profit counterparts in the small business world: “Ninety-six percent of nonprofits said they were on Facebook vs. 90% of small businesses. And 80% of nonprofits on Facebook reported posting on the site multiple times per week, vs. 66% of small businesses,” says eMarketer.  Nonprofits said they were increasing their marketing spend on social media by 10% this year.  Though to put matters in perspective, that may not be a lot in real dollars.  Studies last year found 43% budget $0 for their social networking activities (aside from staff time).

I think that the embrace of social media is wise for nonprofits for several reasons.  While it may not drive big return on investment in fundraising dollars, it’s a relatively inexpensive and effective way of raising visibility, generating social proof around a cause and inspiring future actions in support of a cause.

At the end of the day, most people come to learn and love a cause via friends and family.  Through social media, nonprofits can facilitate and amplify that natural word of mouth.  No wonder droves of nonprofits are doing just that.

 

I continue to work my way through the many great reader questions!  Thanks for all of them.

Today’s question: I’d like to create copy for the subject line for emails that will encourage people to open them.  Amazing Results .. Update .. News .. doesn’t seem to work well, especially when trying to reach potential donors.  The space is very limited so there’s no room for an explanation of what’s in the email.  Any suggestions?

Here are some ideas for better subject lines.

1. TEST: Before you send out an email blast, test two different subject lines with a smaller subset of your list.  Do this always,so you get smarter all the time.

2. PERSONALIZE: Use something personally relevant to the reader to grab attention.

3. BE INTERESTING: Make your subject line oddly short, long or different.  Above all, make it interesting. My friend Kivi Leroux Miller talks about bad subject lines being a wrapper (example: September Diabetes eNews) and good subject lines being the candy in the wrapper (example: 6 ways to manage your diabetes).  Make it interesting, so people open the message in the first place.

4. BE FRESH: Don’t say “update” or “news” each time.  Focus on what’s actually new!

5. BE BRIEF: Put key information right up front since subject lines get cut off. 

6. INSTILL URGENCY: Make it clear why your email matters now—“three days left to give”

7. BANISH SPAMINESS: Run it through a content-checker, avoid all caps and shun exclamation points.

If I had to choose just one of these to convey, I would think it’s #3.  My best advice for building a following is to create wonderful content and reflect it in the subject line.  People open the emails they know will contain something of value.  Provide that value.  The rest will follow!

For further advice, I recommend Copyblogger’s tips for better email.  You can find that here.

Here’s a recent reader question.

I have two board members that I like and want to keep as supporters, but clearly they don’t have the time or don’t make the time to be good board members.  Elections will be here soon, should I just call them and tell them that it appears they don’t have time for the board and ask them not to run or do you have a better idea?

This is an interesting one.  I find myself asking, what does it mean to be a good board member?  I think there are a range of qualities.  Good board members are generous - with money, skills, time or preferably all of the above.  They are engaged at the right level—they lay out a vision and then let the executive director define the path toward it, without micro-managing.  They are reliable, showing up for most meetings and speaking thoughtfully when they are there.  They ask for and track results.  And they are public champions of the organization, lending their voice to your message and recruiting new supporters. 

So let’s assume your two board members are none of the above.  That’s a problem.  Or maybe they only have some of these qualities.  I don’t hear you saying they are toxic - in which case, I would offer different advice than I do here.  Basically, I glean that they are checked out.  So before calling them up and calling them out, I’d think about why they might be disengaged.

Are they lazy?  Is their heart not in the mission?  Or do they simply not have the time to make your organization a priority?

Or could it be something you are doing?  Maybe you haven’t clearly told them what you expect.  Maybe you haven’t asked them to do more. Do you keep them closely updated on your organization?  Are you giving them well-organized, clear materials before meetings?  Do they get enough time to prepare beforehand?  Do you run lively, interesting and engaging meetings? 

My advice would be to call them up on a fact-finding mission to get the answer to these questions.  Or ask a fellow board member to do it. This is the problem of the whole board, not just yours.

Say something like this:

“I am calling to thank you for your support of ABC nonprofit.  We depend on people like you to help us (talk about your mission here).  You’ve been with us as a board member for some time, so I wanted to check in and see how you are feeling about your board service.  Elections are coming up, so I’m exploring with each board member their interest level in continuing with us.”

Then listen.  You may get a simple “Great.”  Or you may get a confession (“I’m so sorry I haven’t been to meetings, I just don’t have time”) or an insight (“I am not sure how I can best be involved.”)  That tells you where to take the conversation next.  If the person said “great,” and they are anything but, you might want to ask another question.  Like, “That’s wonderful.  Looking forward, we’re going to take steps to make our board more fully engaged.  Are you willing to…” then list every single thing they need to do.  That should result in their opting out or committing to more.  Either way, you get what you need.  If they say something like, “I’m sorry I can’t do more” or “Sorry I don’t go to many meetings,” you can gently suggest they don’t run for re-election.  Or if they say something like, “I’m not sure how to be involved,” you can tell them.  Maybe they had no idea of what was expected.

You say you want to keep them as supporters, so I’d make that clear in any conversation.  Be ready with ways they can continue to help, just not on the board.

The bottom line?  Rather than calling them and saying “it appears you don’t have time,” ask and listen. You’ll know what to do from there.  In my experience, ratcheting up expectations encourages less committed people to be honest about their dedication level, and disengaged people usually are relieved to volunteer themselves for a graceful exit.  If you let them do the talking and they don’t want to do more, they’ll walk out the door for you.  If the problem is how you’ve communicated or engaged, maybe there is an opportunity to turn things around.  Either way, the conversation will be seen as you being a caring partner.  And that’s what you want.

Readers: What is your experience?  Share your tips in the comments!

I love and hate to write.  Here are three pieces of advice based on my daily struggle with blogging, fiction and work-related writing.  I share these as a student, not a master.  These are lessons I re-learn every day in the creative process.  Writing is that way - casting you forever in the role of novice, whether you enjoy it or not.

1. Run toward uncomfortable.  If you write something that makes you want to hide or erase, keep going straight to that feeling.  You’re on to something.

2. Relentlessly live in that uncomfortable place as a way of life, ignoring every excuse and criticism.  This is the work of writing.  You pitch a tent in that awful, uncomfortable patch of land and spend time there every day, despite the harsh conditions, the many reasons you don’t have time to be there, and that loud inner critic who keeps distracting you.

3. Go there for no other reason than your own.  Write what you want to read, say what must, lay down what matters to you.  Don’t edit yet; just do what compels you.  This isn’t about seeking love, approval or fame.  They are rarely the results of writing anyway.  Remember - you’re in a tent in the wilderness, not on a stage.  This is about feeding yourself.

If you do these things, you will produce a work of writing.  Keep going till you feel done or are truly stuck.  Show it to smart people.  Listen.  It will be horrible to hear anything other than it is perfect.  Listen anyway.  Listen some more.  Take it in and turn it back into your writing.  It will get better, and you’ll be ready to run back to that rocky ground where your tent awaits. 

Eventually, something will emerge.  It will never match what you first imagined, but it will be something you can declare good enough.  If you get that far, I applaud you.  It’s not easy, and yet you stayed and worked and made it so.  The rest of us are clapping, because we know how hard it is.

There are more than 1 billion smartphones on the planet.  That means one in seven people on the earth have the ability to do so many things at their fingertips. Here we have an unprecedented opportunity to unleash generosity through technology and make what people want to do, easier and more compelling.

Join me and my friend at PayPal (the leading mobile payments solution), Tanya Urschel, for a discussion of where mobile stands in 2013, why your organization needs to have a sound mobile strategy and how to make it happen.  Plus I’ll talk about how Network for Good has wrestled with mobile and what we decided to do.

We will cover:

  Why is it so imperative that my cause be experienced through a smartphone or tablet?
  What are the benefits of using mobile for deeper engagement?
  How can I optimize my organization’s mobile website for giving and pledging?

Register here.

It’s been a long week, so a short thought today.

Have you ever noticed how very young kids’ drawings usually don’t feature a person’s neck?  Have you wondered why?

My theory is that if you’re two or three years old and your perspective is low to the ground, you don’t see people’s necks when you look up.  You see a head sitting on arms. 

I can’t think of a better analogy for marketing.  Marketing mandates that we look at the world through the eyes of our audience and communicate from that perspective.  The process of pushing into a foreign frame of reference can be hard, but when we do it, we find its value.  Everything looks wildly different from that perspective.  And our work must meld to its crazy contours.  This is the mind-bending fun that is our profession.

In honor of Generosity Day, I want to answer a reader question about gratitude.

Kevin asks how to better thank donors.

Kevin,

Here is my template for a good thank-you letter.

Dear _________________   (use donor’s name, spelled correctly)

First: Don’t start with the typical “thank you for your donation!” Start with a vivid image or mini story of what the donor made possible, like the example in this post!

Second: Say thank you and give the donor credit for the impact of the donation and/or the specific program(s) supported.

Third: Express gratitude for the specific gift amount, noting the date and including any language on tax deductibility.

Fourth: Tell the donor when and how you’ll be in touch to let them know more about what their gift is accomplishing.  Include contact information – your email, phone and website – so they can stay in touch or reach out if they wish.

Closing: Thank them again and sign a real person’s name. If this is a mailed letter, include a PS with a nice added detail about a resource where they can find out more about the difference you are making because of their gift.

Signature

Remember:

1. KNOW YOUR DONOR: Capture information on how your donors gave and what appeal they are supporting.  Did they give in response to a special appeal or at an event?  Were they asked to donate by one of your donor champions who was running a race to raise money for your cause?  You need these details to properly thank and cultivate them.

2. ALWAYS THANK YOUR DONORS: Always.  No exceptions.

3. THANK THEM EARLY: You should thank your donors within a few days of their gift.

4. THANK THEM OFTEN:  Thank your donors several times, over time, and keep reporting back on the difference they have made.

5. THANK THEM ACCURATELY: Make sure you have correctly spelled the donor’s name, stated the amount and date of the donation, included appropriate language for tax deductions and carefully note if the gift was made in honor of someone else.

6. EXPRESS GRATITUDE: Say how pleased and thankful you were to get the donation.

7. FOCUS ON EMOTION: Tell a short, wonderful story or use a specific example that shows what the donor is making possible.  This is important so all donors feel great – and donors new to your cause grasp what it really means.  You want to tug at the heartstrings and bring your mission to life.  Some fun ideas: Take photos of your work and slip one of those into a mailed card.  Have a beneficiary write the thank-you email.

8. GIVE THE DONOR CREDIT: Your communications to your donors should use the word “you” a lot more than the word “we.”  Give your donors credit for what you do in every piece of outreach.  Be constantly on the lookout for ways to recognize your donors – in your annual report, on your website and at your events.

9. BE SPECIFIC ABOUT IMPACT: Make very clear how you will use the money and tie that impact back to the solicitation that was sent.  If you sent an appeal to save puppies, talk about how many puppies you will save!

10. MAKE IT PERSONAL: In addition to addressing the donor by name, you want to sign the appeal from a real person.  No “dear friend” or “dear supporter” salutations and no nameless signatories!  We recommend you get creative with who “signs” your electronic and mailed letters – a board member, a volunteer, a beneficiary can add significance to your acknowledgement

Now go celebrate Generosity Day!

Are you hungry?

I don’t mean craving food, though you may want a box of chocolates now that I raised the topic. What I mean is, do you approach your work in a mode of devouring or consuming? Are you in the business of taking?

I ask these questions because I believe turning hunger on its proverbial head can turn your business (and your life) around. What if you approached your work in a mode of feeding others? What if you were in the business of bestowing? What if you focused on what you give customers or (if you’re a nonprofit) donors, rather than on what you need from them? Would you end up less or more hungry?

As I’ve said before, some of the best advice I ever heard was from Seth Godin, who said: “Be generous when you’re hungry. It’s difficult to be generous when you’re hungry. Yet being generous keeps you from going hungry. Hence the conflict.” He’s right. Generosity inspires generosity, so I try to think like this: I’ll give when I’m hungry. It’s not what I need, it’s what I provide. I’m in the business of giving, not extracting. I’ll focus on the resources I have, not those I lack. I’ll care about relationships, not transactions. True partnership with donors creates prosperity.

How about trying this for one day, and make that day this Thursday? To some, it’s Valentine’s Day. To me, it will always be Generosity Day.

Two years ago, I joined Sasha Dichter’s Valentine’s Day experiment in generosity. The idea was simple: reclaim Valentine’s Day and imbue it with true love – the kind where you give without expectation. Generosity Day is when you seek to be selfless and see what happens when generosity becomes your default.

This Valentine’s Day, be generous even if you’re hungry. Do something big or something small. Give of your money, your time, your talent, your love or anything special that in unique to you. We’ve seen people tell their colleagues why they’re wonderful, buy coffee for strangers or give blood. You could write a note to a mentor who touched your life. Or call a donor and say how much they mean to your organization.  Thank a volunteer. Smile at everyone in the street. There are more great ideas here.

Try it - for just one day - this February 14th. Be a metaphorical donor instead of a fundraiser.  You could choose to begin the day with a simple act of kindness to a colleague, supporter or stranger. You could be wildly generous all day long. You could do that beautiful and needed thing that your heart’s been whispering to you to do.  It takes 30 seconds to visit SpreadGenerosity and select your small act of generosity. You’ll be adding yours to tens of thousands, and together we’ll transform Feb14th into Generosity Day and offer the world a million acts of kindness and generosity.

What will happen? You may find you’re better off than when you started. You may find what you put out there comes back. And you may be less hungry - and more fulfilled.

Thanks everyone who responded to yesterday’s post inviting questions.  I got dozens, and in the coming weeks I will answer nearly all (I’m skipping the few thinly veiled product marketing queries).

Let’s kick if off with questions from Stephen and Anonymous:

First, Stephen:

As a communicator for nonprofits, in my paid, day job and for other volunteer jobs I do, I run across situations regularly in which other, non-communications staff don’t seem to want to let the communicators do the communications. There seems to be an attitude that because we all consume communications (use the web, watch TV, read newsletters, etc.) anyone, from a CEO to an accountant, can produce communications materials. Is this is matter of trust? Would a CEO try to tell the CFO to not use standard accounting principles to produce a regular financial report? Why is it that non-communicators want to throw standard communications principles out the window? I often feel that my only role is to implement what others have decided rather than being allowed to lead (with some input as appropriate) and being seen as an expert in an area. What techniques can you recommend to get others to work *with* me rather than telling me what to do or how to do my job in the way they, as a non-expert, think is best?

Anonymous followed up with:

First of all, what Stephen said, times a million.  Up until recently, our mailed appeals (sent to our entire data base) have been very “story-focused” - we highlight real people and situations our donors have impacted positively. These appeals included lots of photos and were very emotion-driven. Our new development director is insisting the way to go is business-like “asks” on letterhead sent out to small segments of our database on a much less frequent basis.  Your thoughts?

Dear Stephen & Anonymous,

I’ve noticed a pattern after I give a speech.  At least two or three people with a desperate look in their eye come forward, take my hand, and ask me to please come speak to their board - or organization - or boss.  “Do you present to small groups?” they ask.  After a while, I finally figured out what they were really saying, which was: “Can you please come talk sense into my board/organization/boss?  Maybe they will listen to you, because they’re not listening to me.”  I feel their pain.  We’ve all been there.  And unfortunately, no speech is going to change the situation.  I doubt there will come a day when you (or I) can convince colleagues we’re the only experts.

And it’s not just because we are in the business of communications.  Ask any doctor.  A lot of patients point to Internet research and question a diagnosis.  Ask any IT guy who is repairing a non-IT colleague’s DIY work on the laptop.  And yes, even that CFO.  People probably double guess his assertions about risk and what we should really be spending. 

It’s people’s nature - especially if there is something at stake - to enthusiastically involve themselves.  The fact that technology makes that easy - anyone can be a published writer, photographer, “expert,” musician, filmmaker these days - only strengthens that tendency.  And add the culture of a nonprofit - where everyone feels a strong belonging to a collective mission - and you’ve got a triple threat to your communications authority.

I don’t mean to be depressing.  I’m just saying you can’t change the yearning of people to participate in what you say and how you say it.  At at the end of the day, I’m glad we work for organizations with such a passionate sense of shared ownership.  It’s better than places where no one cares.  Even if it’s a pain sometimes.

The first step is to understand why people want and need to participate.  I expect they want to:

1. Feel like the public face of the organization is aligned to their priorities

2. Feel like communications reflect their perception of the mission and what makes them most proud of it

3. Feel like communications will do no harm

4. Feel like communications will advance the mission - raise money, increase advocacy, etc.

You notice this list is all about feeling.  My sense is people are interfering not because they fancy themselves experts but because 1) they want to be involved and 2) they are afraid of the factors in this list.  You need to address these feelings, and when you do, your life will get easier.

Stephen,  I’d recommend the following:

1. LISTEN: Ask your boss what is most important to him or her at the organization, what messages s/he most needs to convey this year, and what s/he wants the organization to stand for in the eyes of others. 
2. PROBE: Ask this person what s/he fears could happen from communications and what s/he dreams could unfold.
3. CONNECT: Show (don’t tell) you’re an expert by explaining what you want to do to address everything you just heard.  Base it on past results, evidence, feedback from donors, etc. - not just your opinion (even if you’re of course right).

See?  You just made it about the boss or colleague, not you, and in so doing have reduced (if not removed) impediments to doing your job.  Also, you probably learned something important. Now you can keep reporting back how communications is advancing your colleague’s vision, which is stellar communications practice in itself.  For this reason, you will be good at it.

That brings me to #4, which applies to Anonymous.

Anonymous, I’d recommend you ask the same questions above and then defer to your donors.  My fourth point is, don’t make it your opinion vs. the boss’s opinion.  Show your director the letters from donors moved to tears by the story of a life they changed.  Share the story of the $1 million planned gift that came from a supporter who wanted to save one more life.  Read the emails you get in response to the way you convey the soul-building essence of your organization. Ask donors why they give and share their answers (which are always from the heart).  And trot out angry notes (if you’ve ever had them) from donors who didn’t get enough information on the impact of their gift.

And if you don’t have any of that material, be open to the fact you might need to tweak your approach.  It all depends on the audience.  Maybe you have donors who prefer this other approach.  Or maybe you need a combination of stories and proof of impact at scale.  Put together a little advisory committee of your donors and run by various approaches.  Your donors will give you the right answer.  And if you show you’re listening to them, maybe your director will listen to you.

Good luck!

Katya

 

 

 

Many blog readers write me with questions about their work.  I try to answer what I can, and sometimes I get permission from the inquirer to share my answers here.  As an experiment in making this exercise useful to more people, I am inviting you to ask me a question.  I’ll answer it here on the blog.  There are just a few guidelines:

1. Make it sufficiently general that the answer will be of use to other people.

2. Only share things that you’re willing to have published on the blog.  If you want to be anonymous, for example, don’t share your name!

3. Post your question in the comments section of this post.  (If you subscribe via email, you’ll need to click on the title of this post, which will take you to the blog.  You can then enter a question under comments.  You can list an alias under the name if you prefer to remain unknown.)

Thanks!

Many blog readers write me with questions about their work.  I try to answer what I can, and sometimes I get permission from the inquirer to share my answers here.  As an experiment in making this exercise useful to more people, I am inviting you to ask me a question.  I’ll answer it here on the blog.  There are just a few guidelines:

1. Make it sufficiently general that the answer will be of use to other people.

2. Only share things that you’re willing to have published on the blog.  If you want to be anonymous, for example, don’t share your name!

3. Post your question in the comments section of this post.  (If you subscribe via email, you’ll need to click on the title of this post, which will take you to the blog.  You can then enter a question under comments.  You can list an alias under the name if you prefer to remain unknown.)

Thanks!

This is a fun Friday flowchart to determine your social networking personality via Mashable.  It’s extreme.  But that’s what I like about it.  It forces us to own up to our own foibles.  Or at least call out the typical ones, like humble-bragging.  What are you?  I like to think I am Mr. Nice Guy according to my self-assessment, but perhaps I am deluded. The beauty of social media is you can vociferously counter that assertion right now, in comments.

Can’t see the flowchart?  Go here.