Don't Even THINK about Social Media until Your Web Site and E-news Are Working Well

We have a family membership at an upstate New York sculpture center featuring outside exhibitions. It's a unique and beautiful place; one we can't visit that often (it's an hour away) but a venue we want to support. We joined for the first time this year.

The center has an incredible reputation -- because it's so unique and beautiful -- which has carried it far. So as a member, I expected to have the pleasure of a compelling series of communications, online and off. Didn't happen. Here's what did:

• We received a thank you note for our membership (thumbs up) but it didn't mention any upcoming exhibits or events (where was the call to action, the opportunity to get involved at the next level?).
• I went to the Web site but saw only an incomplete calendar of events for the next week (there are lots of concerts, tours, child projects there). The center is more than an hour away from the NY metro area, so most visitors have to plan ahead. It's not a drop-in experience. That's hard to do without advance notice.
• So I emailed requesting to be put on the e-news list (didn't see where to subscribe online). But there's no e-news! Instead, I was told that they do have a twice-yearly print newsletter, the next issue coming in a few months but they'd be pleased to send me the last one.
• Yet, the center has an active Facebook fan page (for those members and interested others who are even on Facebook), with 1,045 fans to date. I wonder how many members that includes; Storm King never told us about its Facebook page in any member communications.
• Then we just received a full-color 16-page annual report, printed on heavy paper, featuring 10 pages of donors names. Expensive to produce and mail, but it has no value to me.

Even though we can assume every org has a range of target audiences, members have to be a priority for every arts and culture organization. For this one, we don't seem to be.

Here's what I recommend to the center:

• List out the three or fewer target audiences you need to engage more effectively in order to meet the center's current goals. Members should be on the list. Then learn their habits and preferences (e.g. e-news vs. Facebook fan page).
• Figure out how to engage current members so they become even more loyal. Make it easy for them (i.e. with advance notice of events) to become more involved. Make them/us want to be marketing messengers for the center.
• Ensure your Web site and e-news (and despite the challenges of getting attention via email, you gotta have one) are tight, focused, timely and working for your organization...before you even stick a toe into social media waters.

Please share your suggestions for the center. What would you do if you were them? Tell us by clicking Comments below.

NOTE: Here are some brief guides to strengthening your Web site and e-news. For more, subscribe here to the Getting Attention e-update!

Flickr photo: al binami

Join Me & Two Branding Experts Tues, 6/2 -- Free Online Chat on Promoting Causes on Social Networks

Here's the deal...In today's economy, nonprofit leaders need to understand how to effectively promote their organizations, programs, and fund-raising campaigns.

Many groups want to use online social networks to get their messages out, but don't know how to build their brands and get attention on these networks.

Learn more by participating in tomorrow's (Tuesday, June 2nd, noon eastern) free online discussion. I'll be joined by two online branding brains -- Danielle Brigida of the National Wildlife Federation and Felicia Carr of the National Parks Conservation Association -- to discuss how to ensure your organization stands out on online networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and explore how those tools can complement traditional marketing efforts. You ask the questions so you guide the focus!

You'll also learn how to teach your organization's leaders, staff members, and volunteers to speak with a unified voice when they talk to others about your organization's mission and seek contributions.

If you can't make it, download the cliff notes version for must dos, don't dos and what we dids from Danielle and Felicia and Red Cross social media maven Wendy Harman. They're some of the smartest branding brains in the biz!

P. S. Don't miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on branding, messages and more of what you need to know in the twice-monthly Getting Attention e-update.  Subscribe today.

Flickr photo: itripp42

Share Yourself -- A Little of You Goes a Long Way to Strengthen Your Org's Relationships

You know it from your personal life, and on the professional side too -- when you share something personal (but appropriate, can't be too much), it can deepen understanding, interest and the connection.

The same goes when your organization -- or you, speaking for your organization -- does so. Here are a couple of recent examples that wowed me:

• Holly Ross, NTEN's executive director, used a double fun strategy to raise $10,000 for scholarships to the recent NTC conference. She challenged members and others to give, offering their choice of "public humiliation" if they met the goal. They did, and the vote was for Holly to do a remake of Beyonce's Put a Ring on It video. The NTEN community (and my daughter, Charlotte) went wild for the video, which generated a huge amount of Holly- and NTEN-love. Move over Beyonce.

• Patricia Wilson, executive director of the Greater Bay Area Make-a-Wish Foundation just launched a diet-based fund-raising campaign to help close the gap on her org's $200,000 deficit. She's putting herself way out there, asking folks to pledge for every pound she loses. Donors and lurkers can track her progress (see her sign at left, with weight lost and dollars gained) and give via Patricia's Big Loser Campaign on Facebook. She's going strong on both fronts and is likely to exceed her $7,500 goal.

• Social media blogger Chris Brogan shaved his head to raise money for Giving Kids Laptops. His dramatic campaign -- part all Chris, part reality TV -- conveyed like nothing else how passionate he is about the cause, and made me feel like part of the Chris club.
  

P. S. Don't miss out on in-depth articles, case studies and guides to nonprofit marketing success -- all featured in the twice-monthly Getting Attention e-update.  Subscribe today.

Reach Out Wisely or You'll Fail to Engage, & May Alienate, Your Network

I received an annoying email this morning from a major nonprofit association -- Subject line: Welcome to Our New Web Site. Here's the first paragraph, which was followed by a list of new content and features:

[We invite] you to take a look at our newly designed web site. Here you will find a number of new features that we know will enhance your online experience as well as the information you’re accustomed to accessing.

Yawn. Who cares?  This announcement is 100% internally oriented. No one else cares if you have a new Web site. It's not about what's important to you; in this case the checklist of features your org has worked so hard to build into the new site.

What your base does care about what the site changes do for them -- what the value is for them. Do the new features save users time, help build understanding of a complex issue, provide easy access to data that will help accomplish a right-now goal and/or present new and provocative insights and opportunities for conversation on navigating these challenging times? The more specific your messaging on the features' value, the better.

Remember, your organization gets only a limited number of opportunities to reach out to your base. If you exceed that limit or fail to engage your network on what's important to them, you'll fail to engage folks. Even worst, you risk alienating them.

P. S. The easiest way to ensure you're going in the right direction, particularly when communicating on a long-term project on which you can't be objective, is to run your approach by an informal marketing advisory committee of representatives from all audience segments that comprise your base (and prospective base). More on putting one together and what it will do for your org to come!

Photo: fofurasfelinas'

5 Steps to Magical Fundraising -- Dixon Place Case Study

I attended an incredible performance at NYC's Dixon Place a few weeks ago, along with my husband and some friends. This is a venue I've known forever, and have seen grow from a tiny spot in the founder's living room to its latest incarnation in its own beautiful building. But I haven't been there much lately and was incredibly impressed by its magical fundraising.

Here's how Dixon Place worked it:

1. The minute the lights flickered and the audience was seated, a staffer thanked us for being so central to the theater's success, thoroughly reviewing its growth from step one to the new building (this was one of the first performances there).
2. That worked to engage an already excited audience, making us feel proud of ourselves even if the only support we provided to date was buying the tickets for that day. 
3. The magic hat was passed, with a request to keep it coming. Passing the hat made it all tangible, and the fact that it was a bicycle helmet, rather than the common cap, emphasized the originality of Dixon Place's agenda. Who could resist? And giving further engaged us.
4. Next, the staffer suggested we visit the theater's's Web site to get more involved , capitalizing on the here-and-now of our attention. On to the show...
5. And a big final thanks after the compelling show.

My personal poll of our group of five showed a deep feeling of engagement, interest and openness to more Dixon Place. 5 steps to magical fundraising!

P.S. Magical fundraising requires effective messaging. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Speak Up! Comedians Guide Teens to Speak Out on Reckless Driving

 For more than two decades, car crashes have been the number one killer of teens in the United States. Recently, the Advertising Council joined with a coalition of state Attorneys General and consumer protection agencies to launch a series of PSAs) designed to save lives by reducing teen reckless driving. But this one is different -- the ads turn the typical on its ear, using three well-known comedians to deliver some very serious messages to teens.

Research conducted by the Ad Council shows that teen drivers are more likely to listen to their friends than the adults in their lives. No surprise to parents of teens.

What's great is that the new ads (TV, radio, outdoor and interactive) work with this peer-to-peer influence, rather than fight it. The TV spots feature comedians Rachel Harris, Fred Willard and Rob Riggle acting as teen passengers who humorously "speak up" to prevent a car crash: "If your friend is driving recklessly, say something."

The PSAs direct audiences to visit www.SpeakUpOrElse.com, where for motivation and practical tools to help them speak up.  Additional elements to come include a free iPhone and iPod Touch app that turns a phone device into a bullhorn with flashing lights that can be used to inform a friend of his or her reckless driving. (I'd like to use that for my own citizen arrests.) 

Site users can also user send instant message videos, starring the comedians, to friends. The recipient, expecting a friend to chat, will receive a reckless driving video instead. All of these tools are designed to get the point across with humor rather than a heavy hand, from one teen to another.

This is a considered, creative example of reaching audiences where they are (on social networks, online, etc) with messaging that means something to them (peer-to-peer) and making it easy for them to pass the word. Job well done.

P.S. The right messaging is critical to the success of every nonprofit communications campaign, and the tagline lies at its very core! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

National Wildlife Federation Puts Base to Work to Design Website that Works For Them

Nothing's more vital to your org's health than constant interaction with your base to ensure your marketing, programming, etc. is intersects with their needs, wants and interests. So I was pleased to see the National Wildlife Federation's recent audience-based approach to designing a more useful and engaging Web site.

NWF's approach, described here, centers around inviting its supporters and other site users to provide feedback on what they want in the new  site -- from content, design and functionality to event registration and live chats. NWF is soliciting input through this online survey, which is ultimately efficient -- easy for users to complete and easy for the NWF team to review results and trends (stats are automatically generated and compiled by all the major online survey services).

To filter responses, the NWF is asking for input solely from those who use the site (they're going to be able to provide the best direction on what to change, as they've experienced frustrations -- or successes -- themselves in using the site). And they go beyond general questions to request feedback on a few home page designs -- usability testing at the front end.

NWF further cements audience loyalty with its gift of a free screensaver  to survey participants -- as you can imagine, they have some wild photography on hand. The fact in itself that NWF is asking for help (and people like to be asked to help, it makes them feel involved), is going to make its network feel more involved with the organization. So it's a real home run.

One suggestion -- If I were the NWF team, I'd capture the emails of survey respondents and invite them to join an information Web site advisory board. Then I'd call on the advisory board for input along the way as the site gets built (and after launch). They'll be an ideal group to test the site before the public launch, to ensure the actual new site is doing its job.

Informal advisory boards such as this are a great way to monitor the pulse of your org's base and continue to evolve your marketing to be most effective.

P.S. The right messaging is critical to the success of every nonprofit Web site! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

New Girl Scout Brand Undermined By Health Hazard Cookies

I love the Girl Scouts and actually was one for a couple of years long ago. Still have a great orange layer cake recipe captured in my quest for the cooking merit badge. And now our daughter Charlotte is a Daisy (pre-Brownies).

So I was dismayed to learn that the Girl Scouts are stumbling with the introduction of their new brand. The brand (read on for details) is inconsistent with the Girl Scouts most public action -- the cookie program. As a result, instead of helping the org to move forward, it introduces doubts about the organization's credibility, values and leadership.

According to a recent  Washington Post article, the Girl Scouts are moving fast on a brand makeover that de-emphasizes traditional pursuits such as earning merit badges. Instead, the new brand -- spearheaded by former Oglivy & Mather partner Laurel Richie -- is focused on 21st century pursuits including blogging and environmental projects.

The 97-year-old organization, which has suffered an 8 percent membership decline in the last decade, is focused hard on its online activities and last year hired Richie to shape and launch a brand around this re-direction. Richie saw the group's image as stuck in an earlier era, and identified that as a significant barrier to recruiting urban and minority girls.

"The biggest change is last year's debut of Journeys, a pilot curriculum that will mostly replace the system of earning badges on specific topics. Girls still will be able to earn badges if they want, but Journeys rarely mentions them, focusing instead on broader themes, including teamwork and healthy living. Rather than scouts earning a badge for cooking a single nutritious meal, for example, the books emphasize fruits and vegetables whenever food is mentioned," reports the Washington Post.

Ok, I'm all for re-invigorating the Girl Scout program and the brand. Even when I was a Girl Scout, some of the merit badges were clearly conceived in the distant past.

But here's the disconnect: Healthy living is a mismatch with cookies with the trans fats in several cookie varieties (even only if in small amounts, as claim the Girl Scouts here).

Trans fats (which lower healthy levels of HDL cholesterol) and the heart-unhealthy saturated fats (palm oil) used in eight cookie varieties, and healthy living are antithetical. As a matter of fact, cookies don't mesh so well with healthy eating. In fact, the Girl Scouts they seem to be doing everything they can to alienate the very communities (urban and minority girls) that they're trying to attract, as it's these communities who are particularly at risk for childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

So I suggest that either the Girl Scouts walk the talk - and develop another revenue generator that fits its new brand - or cut healthy eating out of its talk. Or, as one commenter below suggests, recommend eating these and other cookies in moderation (there's a merit badge for you).

Otherwise, the Girl Scouts' credibility will remain seriously diminished. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Click comments below.

P. S. Don't miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on branding, messages and more featured in the twice-monthly Getting Attention e-update.  Subscribe today.

Open It Up -- How to Engage Your Base Behind the Scenes

In an era when even Loehmann's (THE original discount ladies clothing store w/famously-communal dressing rooms) has a Facebook fan page*, you know it's hard to get through to your network of supporters, much less engage them.

But giving folks a chance to go beyond -- whether behind the scenes, after the show or standing in the shoes of -- is a powerful way to do just that. Here are some great examples:

==> Behind the scenes: As a long-ago member of New York's American Museum of Natural History, I joined a behind-the-scenes tour of the entomology (bugs) department. It was incredibly compelling,  and gave me a real understanding of what it takes to find, research and exhibit the incredible shows at the museum.

The research side of the institution is something the public is largely unaware of, and this was a powerful way to show how an exhibit evolves. I renewed my membership for several years thereafter.

==> After the show: My husband and I see many experimental performances in the Peak Perfs series at a local university. The performances usually raise questions and consciousness, and are often complemented by discussions after the performance and online (in perpetuity). These discussions erase the lines between the audience and the performers/production team/author, adding another dimension to the experience as participants become a single community discussing a work or issue from various perspectives. In the end, the opportunity to participate morphs these performances into memorable interactions.

==> Standing in the shoes of: As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, The School of American Ballet is inviting the public to "stand in the toe shoes of," by observing one of Jock Soto's master class in for senior students. This "as is" picture of how these classes run is likely to succeed hugely in developing new ballet fans (it's free after all) and increasing the engagement level of long-time devotees.

*5,000 Facebook users became fans of Loehmann's Facebook fan page in its first 24 hours.

P. S. Don't miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on branding, messages and more featured in the twice-monthly Getting Attention e-update.  Subscribe today.

Aw Nuts! Peanut Council Showcases Effective Crisis Communications

Since we have a 5-year-old who's a peanut butter devotee, we've been following the peanut salmonella scandal closely. Our first step was to check the labels of all our peanut products against the FDA list of tainted products (all clear).

But I was astounded by the Peanut Council's proactive and strategic response to the industry crisis. After all, peanut-based products have already taken a huge hit with the prevalence of childrens' nut allergies. And now with this, the peanut industry is fighting for its life. 

Here's how they've handled this criss:

• Make key info easy to find: The Council created a Salmonella Update Page, highlighted on the Council's home page
• Respond in a timely and responsible way: See these timely responses to new developments in the case.
• Show where they stand and focus on the positive:
  
  • This latest press release stresses the Council's interest in consumer safety, its close working relationship of the FDA and its condemnation of the Peanut Corporation of America's unsafe practices.
  • But nothing says more, with less "packaging," then this extensive list of safe peanut products.

Way to go, Peanut Council for your best practices in crisis communications. When your org is facing a criss -- follow the Council's cue to go fast, thorough and non-defensive.

P. S. Don't miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on nonprofit crisis communications and more featured in the Getting Attention e-alert.  Subscribe today.