Flickr: OpenUniversity

How often have you banged your head against the wall because you just can’t squeeze any more from your existing team and budget? When you know what you could do, if……

There IS a way to move past this seemingly insurmountable barrier, and that’s enlisting your colleagues (start with staff, then expand to your board members, donors, volunteers, and program participants) as effective messengers.

Bingo—expand reach and depth without any extra expenditure.

Bonus too! Colleagues thank most communicators who launch them as messengers; they are relieved and proud to be able to spread the word about the work to which they dedicate so many waking hours.

Take these five steps to motivate your colleague messengers, while boosting their confidence and impact:

1) SELECT a small group of messengers
Select a small group of folks most likely to succeed as your first team of messengers—they may have a particular public-facing role, work in a top-priority program, have a strong network inside and outside your organization, or just have the attitude and habits you think will supercharge their messenger-ing!

These messengers are your guinea pigs—Be straight about that and thank them for being guinea pigs. Don’t forget to make it fun.

2) ASK for their help
Nothing’s more annoying than being taken for granted.

Explain to your hand picks the value of this program, and why you’d appreciate their help. As always, stress the WIIFM (what they’re going to get out of it), ranging from honing their speaking skills to being recognized by leadership for their help, or feeling more self-assured in telling others about their work.

3) TRAIN them to do it right
You don’t just want your messengers to talk about your org’s impact and value. You want to make it easy for them to discuss your org to build engagement and motivate action while building on each one’s individuality. It’s that personal flavor that makes a difference. Train them to blend those elements and deliver them short and sweet, and they’ll shine.

4) SUPPORT them along the way
Training messengers (or anything!) doesn’t stop with the kickoff. It’s just as important to support your messengers as real-life challenges and questions arise! Establish an easy way for your messengers to get the guidance they need with little effort or delay. And make sure you build an accessible FAQ so others can learn from their peers’ experiences.

In time, you may want to ask those who excel at or adore serving as messengers to mentor new team members.

5) THANK them
Everyone likes to be appreciated. That goes double when folks step out of their comfort zone or job description. Make your appreciation known in ways that are meaningful to your messengers. What’s meaningful depends on their personal preferences and your organizational culture. Options range from a mention at a board meeting to a gift card or bonus.

Take these five steps to launch your all-org team of powerful messengers. Can’t wait to hear how it goes.

Fuel your launch by learning more about the dos, don’ts and experiences from organizations like yours!
Register here for my webinar on Monday, August 1 at 1pm EDT: Recruit, Train, & Launch Your Team of Confident Messengers

The post 5 Steps to Powerful Staff Messengers appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Flickr: Carlos Ubeda

Here’s how to ask, train, support, and reward the front-line folks who have the
greatest access to 5-star stories!

Join me to learn How to Jumpstart Your Story-Gathering Team
Thursday, June 30, 1-2PM Eastern

Stories are one of the easiest (and one of the most useful) types of insights your team can gather. And, when you have compelling stories—about beneficiaries, donors, or volunteers, or other players—to share in your campaigns, thanks, and other content, you have a short cut to engaging hearts, minds, and wallets.

Your Challenge: As a Communicator or Fundraiser, You Can’t Get the Best Stories
A recent survey by the Meyer Foundation uncovered a damaging disconnect in the ways in which organizations collect stories. Almost universally, organizations rely on program staff knowledge and relationships to gather stories, though the department overseeing the storytelling process is split between fundraising/development (54%) and marketing/communications (42%).

So we’re not the ones who have access to the best stories, but we have the greatest, and most immediate, need for them.

Take these 3 Steps to Build a Satisfied, Productive Story Collection Team

1) Ask, (Don’t ASS-u-me), and Show WIIFM
Assuming colleagues will do what you say is the quickest path to failure (and unpopularity).

• Ask for  help
• Show them great stories integrated into successful campaigns, whether from your organization or another nonprofit, so they get the value of great stories
• Explain how their position on the front lines of your organization (that’s where you want to start), —as program staff or public-facing representatives such as receptionist, accounting, customer service, registration staff—gives them the unique opportunity to spot and gather the best stories
• Emphasize the WIIFM (what’s in it for them). That could be any or all of the following opportunities:
  • Build their professional skills
  • Refresh their interest in their work
  • Do a better, and even more satisfying job
  • Add to organizational sustainability. 

2) Tell them what you’re looking for, as specifically as possible
Make it easy for your people to know when there’s a good story in sight. Tell them:

• How some of your most effective stories were discovered, developed, and used, to what result
• If you don’t—perhaps you’re looking for early stories from a newish program or have never used stories much at all—simply sketch out “like this” prototypes for your story collectors.
• What kinds of stories that will be the greatest help in meeting your goals based on your editorial calendar.
• The specific campaigns, programs, services or issues you’re focusing on right now. For example, if your organizational goal this year is growing the capacity of your residential programs for young adults with autism, you’ll want success stories from families and young adults currently in the program. Ideally, those stories will illustrate what’s unique and valuable about your organization’s program, and highlight why donors should fund your organization.

3) Share what works, and what doesn’t, with support as needed and a huge thanks
Keep story gathering—which may be top of the list for you, but won’t be for these story gatherers—top of mind by starting all-staff or team meetings with a story at least once a month. Build discussion around a couple of these stories that have the greatest potential to add to results, and show why.

When a story has a role in a win, share the news and your thanks loudly, clearly, and repeatedly. Share with your story gatherers why this particular story worked so well, and provide guidance on how they can spot more of them!

1, 2, and 3 steps to game-changing stories. Give it a try!

Join me to learn How to Jumpstart Your Story-Gathering Team
Thursday, June 30, 1-2PM Eastern

The post Motivate Colleagues to Spot & Gather 5-Star Stories appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Flickr: bobjagendorf

We can’t market alone, especially since our front-line colleagues are constantly talking about our organizations. Yet, all too frequently, marketers like us find ourselves frustrated and stuck—unable to “make” colleagues into the:

• Insight and story gatherers we depend on to accurately shape and personalize most likely to be remembered and repeated
• Powerful messengers we so desperately need to strengthen supporter relationships and expand reach.

Here are three compelling reasons—based on research findings to reassure your boss and board—to start helping your colleagues market your cause a.s.a.p.:

 1) You’ll never have enough time, talent on hand, or budget to communicate the way you need to
Whether you’re the one person in your organization focused on communications, it’s just part of your job, or you’re part of a larger team, I’m talking to you! You know what you need to do, and the difference that would make, but can’t get beyond the limits of time, expertise, and budget.

2) Your colleagues are spreading the word, but it’s frequently the wrong word
It’s no surprise that we do a lot of talking about our workplaces since work is such a big chunk of our waking hours. According to PR-firm Weber-Shandwick’s research report on employee messengers:

• 50% post messages, pictures or videos
• 39% have shared praise or positive comments
• 16% have shared criticism or negative comments
• 14% have posted something about their employer that they regret.

But 42% of them can’t accurately describe what your organization does, much less convey the crucial needed to advance your communications goals. That’s disastrous because the only way to connect is to make it easy for people to “get” our organizations’ value and impact. Now, more than ever, incorrect or inconsistent messages diminish trust, create doubt and thoroughly confuse the people you’re striving to engage and activate.

3) You’re not the staff member with the best access to your audiences or the insights and stories you need
In most cases, your program team and front line colleagues (such as the receptionist and the person who answers the phone) have:

• Greater access than you do to the information you need to shape your marketing methods and content, and the testimonials and stories that will fuel it like nothing else
• Better, and more frequent, opportunities to share the right messages.

So empower them to do it! I urge you to launch—ask, train, support and appreciate—your team of employee marketers.

Let’s do this thing! You’ll learn everything you need to launch your marketers in this 3-part webinar series and workshop.

STARTS THIS WEEK!

Join me for Building Your Powerhouse All-Organization Team of Marketers and I’ll walk you, step-by-step, through how to:

• Build buy-in and support
• Design the approach that will work best for your organization
• Pinpoint the best launch opportunity and timing
• Identify and recruit the best first team members
• Create tools, content, and systems to launch and support your marketers
• Shape roles and responsibilities for every step along the way
• Train them to spot great stories and gather all the key elements
• Train them to share the right messages with the right people at the right time, with ease
• Thank and reward them.

Here are the dates for the webinars:

• May 25 – Part 1: Build Buy-In & Support, then Design the Approach that will Work Best for Your Organization
• June 30 – Part 2: Jumpstart Your Insight Gathering Team
• July 20 – Part 3: Recruit, Train & Launch Your Team of Confident Messengers

In addition to these 3 webinars, I will also provide worksheets and tools to help you and field questions and provide support via our private Facebook Group.

Register here to jump start your confident, competent all-organization team of marketers. I promise you, you’ll never look back.

Talk to you this Wednesday!

The post Get UnStuck! Boost Marketing Impact w/o Extra Budget or Hires [STARTS THIS WEEK] appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Start to rock relevant messages and you’ll join a growing cadre of healthy organizations whose messages help to build awareness of their impact and value. That’ll place your organization firmly in audiences’ hearts, minds, schedules, and wallets.

One important ingredient is your tagline — those vital eight words or less that complement your organization’s name to convey its unique impact or value with personality, passion, and commitment.

The most unforgettable taglines also make an emotional connection.

Take a look at this one, from the South Carolina Children’s Theatre (SCCT):

Totally professional. Delightfully immature.

Why do you think this tagline works so well? Here’s what I think draws us in, and makes it likely we’ll remember and repeat this message.  It:

• Surprises us by bringing together two characteristics we wouldn’t expect to find in one organization: Professionalism and immaturity. This juxtaposition makes us stop and think, in a fun way…like a puzzle. Pow! We’re in.
• Shows us: The characteristics highlighted here show us the Theatre’s approach, rather than just describing it, or leaving us to summon up whatever we think about children’s theatre. Each of these qualities is in itself unique and valuable. Most children’s groups aren’t professional, and most wouldn’t dare to call themselves immature. By claiming immaturity as a quality, the Theatre surfaces the delight and innocent of childhood. Love it!

Most effective though is the way this delightful tagline adds depth and breadth to the organization’s name. It shows me the Theatre’s unique “personality,” and it’ll be tough for me to forget it.

SCCT nails it with “Totally professional. Delightfully immature.”

You can do it too!

H/T to Marc Pitman for sharing this photo.

P.S. Get to message greatness via The Nonprofit Tagline Report, a no-charge guide to high-impact taglines with 10 have-tos, 6 deadly sins, what makes a winning tagline and much more. Download your guide to message greatness today.

The post Powerfully Memorable, in 8 Words or Less (Case Study) appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Take this unforgettable example from MAMA (Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action). I lingered on this image, taking in the different women and their range of expressions. The photo with text quickly and memorably conveys not only what MAMA does, but how—improving health through educating and supporting moms via mobile messages. That’s a tough concept to get, but this image says it all in a flash.

You too can move your org towards powerful visual storytelling. Start by reviewing your messages to ensure you have them accurately in mind.

Then, with those in mind, put your storytelling hat on, keep an eye out for the images that say it all, and ask and train your colleagues to do the same. You’ll know it when you see it (or get a vision of what set up will be unforgettable), just like the MAMA folks did.

BTW, MAMA does great here on the relevance scale as well, linking this visual story with International Women’s Day (which came up a week later).

P.S. MAMA also does great Facebook. Follow MAMA here to get some great ideas for your organization’s Facebook page.

The post MAMA Marvelous! (Case Study) appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Nancy Schwartz

You labor long and hard to get your marketing content right. We all do.

That’s why it’s so dismaying when I see errors like these in campaigns and updates from organizations like yours. It’s not from want of trying!

But the English language is tricky, with many words sounding alike. Errors like these three most-frequently-seen ones are easy to make. But they’ll tarnish your impact and reputation (especially if they surface more than just every once in a while).

Content Killers That Make the Grim Reaper Happy:

1. It’s vs. Its

• Use it’s is a contraction of it is or it has.
  Example: It’s the story of overburdened foster care and child welfare systems…
• Use its as a possessive; something belonging to it, the subject.
  Example: How does the HSUS accomplish its goals?

True confession: I used it’s instead of its 20 times in an English paper I wrote in 11th grade, and the teacher circled every single one of them in bold red pen. I’ll never forget this one!

2. Affect vs. Effect

• Use affect as a verb to indicate influence or change.
  Example: Rabies (Lyssavirus) is an infectious disease that affects the central nervous system in mammals.
• Use effect as a noun to describe the impact A has on B.
  Example: The loss of these fish populations can have a negative effect on the marine ecosystem.

3. Their vs. They’re vs. There

• Use their to describe something that belongs to them.
  Example: With such low wages, child care and preschool teachers often struggle to support their own families
• Use they’re as a contraction of they are.
  Example: Child care workers still aren’t making what they’re worth.
• Use there as a pronoun or as adverb showing where something is
  Example: There should be a law against that. (pronoun)
  Example: Start the petition over there.  (adverb)

Listen, we all make mistakes. But these are three of the most common, and the easiest to avoid because you’ve been reminded about them right here. If you hesitate a moment, look it up! You’ll be happy you did, and so will your boss.

Happy writing.

The post 3 ‘Sounds-Like’ Word Fails that Kill Your Content appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Register Now: Learn How to Shape Pitch-Perfect Messages that Move People to Act Now

Your organization’s messages determine if you are heard, and if people respond. They’re the most practical, available tool you have to move your audience to act….if they’re relevant. Relevance is the heart of memorable, motivating messages—pitch-perfect messages. Like this:

You know when you meet someone at a party or conference and boom, just like that, you know. You know she gets you, you get her and the two of you are going to be good friends. It’s happened to me and I bet it’s happened to you. NOTHING is more affirming than someone “getting” us.

Now put that memory on pause, and remember the last time you experienced the flip side.  When you’ve met someone at a conference or party and, in no time at all, it’s clear that you have nothing in common. When your every word (or hers) is met by a confused look, dead silence or dismissive response, and you know the two of you will never get each other.

The first experience—that joyful sense of possibility you feel when you’re getting to know someone who gets you—is exactly what happens when you hear or read a relevant message. That individual (or organizational spokesperson) values you, and has taken the effort to learn a bit about you and shape the conversation accordingly. It’s magical.

Your organization has a huge, untapped opportunity! Given that we all crave that kind of connection–we want to feel that others understand and value us–forging it should be the driver for every message your organization crafts.

But 7 of 10 nonprofits describe their messages as off target, and will will fail to motivate the actions needed to move their missions forward—to give, volunteer, join or advocate.

You can break out! Join me Thursday, June 11 to learn how to craft relevant messages. Register today:

Relevance Rules: Learn to Shape Pitch-Perfect Messages that Move Your People to Act Now

How do you talk about your organization, programs and needs (a.k.a. positioning) in a way that motivates your prospects and supporters to give, volunteer, register and more? That’s the question I hear from so many nonprofit communicators like you.

There IS a clear path to messages that motivate—pitch-perfect messages. In this webinar, I’ll lead you through a series of proven steps to get there, so you can engage the right people in the right ways to reach your fundraising and marketing goals. You’ll learn how to:

• Escape from the muddy and inconsistent messages that fail to build relationships, so weaken your marketing impact
• Approach positioning as a system used across channels, audiences and programs—rather than a series of one-offs
• Deliver your messages in a way that generates the greatest results.

Hope to see you there!

The post C’mon! Connect with Relevant Messages: Join Me on June 11 appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

That’s why there’s so much potential for us to do SO much better with About Us web site content.

I’ve seen it time, and time again—the About Us section is the last item on the content priority list, or looks like it is. And that’s a huge opportunity wasted…

• THIS is the place for you to put your people forward—to showcase programs participants, volunteers, donors, leadership, and staff
• THIS is the place to share your core stories
• THIS is the place to relate the impact you’ve made to date with the goals you have for the future
• THIS is the place that can make your people feel at home…if you do it right.

About Us is the place where you have ONE CHANCE only to share your organization’s personality, punch and impact…at a personal, emotional level. Because who ever returns to an About Us section of a site for a second look? So make it engaging and memorable the first time round.

Review this Strong About Us Model

Dive into this model to see what does work. Sharing these approaches is fine (as long as your organization isn’t in direct competition with those showcased here).

One of the best About Us approaches I know comes from the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CCC). CCC’s About Us leads with a clear and concise description of what the organization does and provides, in a flash, real insight into the organizational brand. The section also provides the right context for the content and interactivity (e.g. online donations) on the balance of the site.

CCC has been creatively effective in organizing the About Us content for ease of us (see the sidebar, with links to subsections). Most of your organizations will have far too much and far too varied content for a single page—it would require too much scrolling (so won’t be read).

Your savvy use of white space, graphics and bullets in the About Us section of your site boosts the likelihood of site visitors’ digesting more of your content, and acting on it.

Great History section as well.

Go to it—Make your About Us content as lively, compelling and impressive as your people and impact.

P.S. Here’s a great—albeit a bit dated—overview of how NOT to craft your About Us content.

The post Make About Us Page an Invitation, Not a Recitation appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

I bet you love yours as much as I love mine. Even though she passed away many years ago, she is an active voice in my head, and ever present in my heart.

Most of us love our moms hard, despite the occasional conflict—as is the human condition. All this love (and the conflict, too) makes for moms being top of mind much of the time.

That’s why Hallmark, or whomever it was, knew what they were doing when they built a commercial empire around our mom love with Mother’s Day. They took something so super-strongly ingrained in most of us, and connected it to the purchase of cards, flowers and chocolates in a heart-shaped box. I think you see what I mean.

Here’s the thing—your organization should do the same. Not with flowers, cards or chocolates, or even breakfast in bed. But with references to our mothers. Here’s why:

• Every single person you’re communicating with has or had a mother—there are few bonds so universally held
• The mother feel or image—despite any active conflicts—is emotional, and in most cases will be a short cut to your prospect’s or supporter’s heart.
• Getting to her heart, opens the door to her head (decision maker on her next action). Bingo!

Relevances rules! For messages built around moms, dads, cats, kids. Know it, and put it to work.

The post Mom Messages—Shortcut to Heart, then Head appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Last Friday morning I got an email from our local performing arts center (PAC). The place has been around 10 years and is a gorgeous, intimate performance venue. We’ve attended several great shows there over the years, but many of the bookings were second- or third-rate.

Now, thanks to new management, things have changed. And the line up for this year is fantastic. So when the email dropped into my inbox, I opened it with excitement and jumped online to 1) join—both to support the place and benefit from the member discount; and 2) get tickets to three shows.

All that happened seamlessly and I was joyfully emailing my husband about the shows we’d be seeing when I received this email:

Dear Ms. Howell,

Thank you for your support, and for your membership.  I am processing your membership this afternoon and I have a question for you.  Would like to add a second name to your membership, as the Family level allows for two adults? 

If so, please let me know the name of the individual, with title (Dr. Mr. etc.) AND their relationship to you. 

 Thank you in advance. Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,

XXXX (the Community Engagement Manager) 

Really—Ms. Howell?

• When I had just completed a long form with my name?
• Why are you making your new member work, in asking me to  email you info on my partner, instead of including those fields in your membership form? Really?
• Where’s your arms-open-wide welcome, which has to be more than one sentence?
• Where’s your automated series of welcome messages, in which to talk to me…Nancy Schwartz? Still haven’t received a thing! Come on, people, we’re living in 2015!

This might seem like a small thing to you, but “little things” like this count a lot. When an individual invests the time and effort to get to know our orgs, and steps forward to connect with us—as a donor, volunteer, program participant or..,—it’s a no brainer.

Respond quickly and vibrantly, with welcome, appreciation and respect. Treat her as you would a relative you’ve never met (but always wanted to) till today, or the love of your life the first time you know that’s the fact. I know YOU can do it much better.

Have YOU ever been disappointed as a donor, volunteer or program participant of/with another organization?

Please share your experience—and how the org could have done better—in comments below.

P.S. I’m leaving the organization unnamed here, as it’s local and I want to do everything I can to supports its success!

The post Really? appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).