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

How to Use Storytelling to Engage & Motivate Your Base -- Free Guide

I was astonished to see how succinctly storytelling expert Andy Goodman summed up the must-dos in his NTEN Webinar, covered here by Fundraising Success. He's a consummate storyteller himself, but few folks can share their wisdom in such a clear way.

Here are Andy's musts for a well-told story:

Five Key Structural Elements

1. Protagonist. The person who we follow through the story.
2. Inciting incident. Something that happens that kicks the story into action.
3. Barrier. Something that stands in the protagonist's way. According to Goodman, this is what makes stories interesting and is absolutely critical.
4. Resolution. When the hero gets around the last barrier.
5. Goal.

Six Must-Have Qualities
   1. Concise, but colorful.
   2. Told in the language of the audience.
   3. Not predictable.
   4. Emotionally engaging.
   5. Includes a moment of truth.
   6. Shows, rather than telling.

Read the complete article for more detail and a few case studies! You'll never look back, especially after you see how (as Andy advises will happen) your base remembers much more about your org's work conveyed in a story, versus just telling them about it.

P.S.  A high-impact tagline for your org is another vital marketing strategy. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Photo:  GavKenny

6 Steps to Showcasing Your Marketing ROI

I was really jolted by this Ask Nancy query I recently received. Jessica (names have been changed to protect the innocent) asks for help with the most challenging (and most critical) step in nonprofit marketing -- getting the support of decision makers and colleagues for doing it right.

Q: Help -- We're losing ground past and we need professional marketing help. How do I get the budget and support to get it?
      
My organization has been in existence since the 1960s, longer than any other environmental group in the state. But, like many nonprofits, we've never been good at marketing ourselves, and therefore don't have the membership base we need. As a result, we're beginning to lose our historical advantage.
       
We clearly need professional marketing help. I'm an implementer, but I'd be far more effective working with a marketing expert who has analyzed our challenges and designed a strategy for me to implement. While leadership recognizes our need for professional marketing help, they are not moving forward in that
direction. Help!   
--- Jessica, Outreach Manager, State Natural Resources Council

Believe me, lack of support isn't uncommon, especially now when tensions are high and budgets low. Many nonprofit professionals either don't understand or doubt the value (or, in some cases, the seemliness) of marketing. Others see value in marketing but are in the "just do it" camp, not understanding that professionalism is as essential here as in other fields. It is these organizations that are frequently eclipsed by competitors in membership, fundraising and awareness. As a result, their impact is significantly limited.

Build support for marketing in your org by learning how to showcase your marketing ROI (return on investment). Read my guide to building support for doing marketing right today.

Flickr Photo: William Hartz

3 Ways to Make Board Members Better Messengers

As a board member, now for NTEN and in past years for other organizations, I'm been highly aware of how organizations manage their boards. I have lots to contribute as a board member but that's more in the skills and relationships department, rather than a major gift that's going to be a life-changer for the organization. I love an org that puts its board to work, doing.

So I was pleased to see a recent Nonprofit Times e-article on training your board to be effective marketers. The article suggested ensuring your board members can deliver your key messages and writes letters-to-the-editor (that needs to be a carefully-monitored strategy, as I see it).

Here are the my recommendations on how to put your board to work as effective communicators:

1. Make sure they know your org's talking points and elevator pitch cold. Provide board members with 3x5 cards (or an email they can save in their smartphones) with three or four key messages. The elevator pitch is theunder-a-minute spiel that can be given in the time you're in an elevator. It should be short, simple and make an emotional connection. No more than two to three sentences.
2. Share your marketing strategy and clarify how board members can help. It's hard to be an effective messenger without an understanding of the larger framework. Review how you're putting communications to work to advance organizational goals, communications goals, target audiences you need to reach to make that happen, strategies, work plan and how you'll be evaluating impact.
3. Train, don't tell. It's far too easy for us communicators to forget that real people don't know what we do. I urge you to have a real, sit-down training session (60 minutes should do it) to give board members some practice and increase their comfort level with their new role. It'll make a huge impact in their impact.

P.S.  Need to strengthen your messaging? Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Photo: Flickr terrierman

The 8 Key Elements for Effective Internal Communications -- Ask Nancy

Q:   I'm developing a communications plan for a client, but it's not focused on reaching the media (as many plans are). This is about generating visibility internally at a large institution.

I have meetings scheduled with key members of the institution to collect ideas, but I'm hoping you'll share your ideas on core elements for a plan to communicate within a complex environment.

My instinct is to consider messaging, audiences, media, resources required, measurements of success. What am I missing?

Thanks,
--Noelle, Communications Consultant

A:  Dear Noelle,

Great question and good you're asking now, before you dive in.

You've made a great start with your list. But include these additions and clarifications:

1. Goals -- What you're trying to achieve
2. Measurable objectives -- What tangible outcomes will indicate campaign success or need for fine-tuning
3. For Audiences -- Who you have to engage to meet your goals
4. Strategies (rather than media) -- Building awareness or engagement, or motivating action, and channels that lead there (likely to include building buy-in and training for any internal communications work)
5. Tactical work plan -- What gets done when
6. Roles and responsibilities -- Who does what. You'll want to build a team of messengers throughout the organization, way beyond you and your client there.
   
7. Budget
8. Evaluation and campaign revision

Let me know how the planning goes, Noelle, and what the outcome is.

Best of luck,
Nancy

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

How to Do Grand Plan Marketing 90 Days at a Time (Case Study)

Doing it right means thoughtful communications planning based on hard data and linked hand-in-hand with your organization's goals.

But most of you don't do marketing planning, especially now when the changes are coming a mile a minute. What I hear back from nonprofit communicators is that there's no time, no money and so...no plan.

But planning isn't a choice, it's a must; without which you're driving blind and headed for a potentially-fatal crash.

Let me introduce you to Sandra Jordan, Director of Communications & Outreach for the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). Jordan joined USAID with a traditional approach to communications planning. But, due to the ever-changing environment in which USAID works, she's had to craft a more immediate planning method, reflective of the "today" situation.

I first interviewed Jordan two years ago when the world in which she works was more stable than it is today. Read this interview to learn her innovative approach to marketing planning -- it's practical, doable and has boosted USAID's communications impact and results.

P.S. In most cases, branding is a huge priority in nonprofit marketing plans. But once you have that brand down, you have to bring it to life with a powerful tagline at its very core ! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Free Guide: Top Nonprofit Marketing To-Dos for 1st 100 Days...and Beyond

Nonprofit Marketing Guide Kivi Leroux Miller has just released this free map to the first 100 days of your new marketing job. But don't ignore it if you've been there more than 100 days -- it's full of great advice for every nonprofit communicator.

Kivi and her friends in the field outline 100 should-dos for the first 100 days of starting your new job...or the next 100 days. These tips have lasting value.

Here are a few of my favorites from Kivi's guide, and my suggestions on how to use them day 101 and forward:

• Kivi says: Review the organization's 12-month calendar to learn key "lifecycle" events
  • Post 100 days: Review colleague orgs' calendars, and legislative and editorial calendars to find ways to hook your org's news into other news.
• Kivi says: Try to understand why your supporters care.
  • Post 100 days: Talk to your network, not just occasionally but on a regular basis, to learn what's crucial to them, their perceptions of your orgs. etc. Surveys, focus groups, ad-hoc advisory board...
• Kivi says: Volunteer for a non-marketing project...to show you're a team player.
  • Post 100 days: Engage non-marketing colleagues in your marketing work to capture their perspectives and information, especially program staff (also helps build buy in).

Dive in today for 100 ways to strengthen your marketing agenda -- whether it's your 15th day or your 15th year.

P.S. It's likely those 100 days will reveal a huge messaging gap between your org and your supporters. Close it with an effective tagline. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Who's the Chief Performance Officer for Your Org's Marketing?

Obama just named Nancy Killefer as first-ever Chief Performance Officer on the White House staff. According to the Change.gov post, Killefer will be tasked with pinpointing "new and more efficient ways of getting the job done."

It's a no-brainer that effectiveness is the name of the game, and efficiency is a big piece of the effectiveness puzzle. But when was the last time you evaluated the impact of your org's marketing agenda, adjusted accordingly, measured again and so on -- on an ongoing basis.

Last time I checked, only 37% of nonprofits track marketing impact. But without that data, you're just driving blind. Here's more on what I learned about the black hole of tracking nonprofit marketing performance. It's pretty shocking. 

I recommend you follow Obama's lead and name a Chief Performance Officer (CPO) today for your organization's marketing. You need a single owner to make it work. Lots of folks can help, but your CPO needs to have impact top of mind every morning, every day. Planning too, because planning and impact are two sides of the same coin.

BTW, you can get free, practical guidance on evaluating your communications in Are We There Yet?, written by evaluation experts at Asibey Consulting and just published by the Communications Network. The guide leads readers through a nine-step process to learn how to monitor and measure  communications.

P.S. Here's the full Getting Attention article series on communications planning and evaluation.

How to Defend Your Nonprofit Marketing Budget

You know it at home and at work. Times are tough, and probably going to get tougher before they get better.

Even though your marketing challenges are greater than ever, with your audiences' minds focused on other concerns and their budgets stretched by daily living, you're likely to be worried about your marketing budget. And you should be.

Nonprofit management's first response to tough times is often to reduce expenditures across the organization. After all, that's the best way to balance the budget. Every department has to scale back, and marketing is often one of the first targets. Right?

Wrong! Although it may seem right (politically) to accept the decision to slash your budget, it's the wrong move to make. In the long run, accepting a significant budget cut will harm your organization. When a nonprofit cuts marketing, it severs one of the hands that feed it.

Here's how to proactively safeguard your marketing budget, or defend it if its already under attack.

P.S. Yes We Can! When a powerful tagline is joined to a compelling mission...nothing is impossible! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Avoid the Tactical Syndrome: Help for the 2/3 of Nonprofit Communicators Who Don't Track Results

What do you get when you cross a set of diffuse nonprofit communications tactics with a potentially-interested base? Nothing, nada; save a bit of irritation or boredom.

That's what evaluation expert Edith Asibey calls "the tactical syndrome -- broad or undefined goals leading to that laundry list of communications tactics," a deadly illness you want to avoid like the plague. Strategy is the only antidote -- front end planning (including planning the evaluation approach) followed by evaluation on an ongoing basis.

But breathe a big sigh of relief. I'm not going to pound you for not evaluating your marketing work (although for goodness sake, evaluation is the other half of planning and, without both halves in play you are driving blind). Instead, I'm going to point you to a great new resource that will make it far easier to evaluate the impact of your communications. And, as you know, hardcore ROI is a critical weapon in your fight to build (or at least maintain) your nonprofit marketing budget and focus.

Asibey previewed her new evaluation guide last month at the Communications Network conference. Here's what Edith had to say about the tool, and her underlying approach to making evaluation more possible and useful for nonprofit orgs. The tool will:

• Be easy to use, practical and interactive, designed to help practitioners integrate evaluation into their strategic communication plans, as well as identify milestones of progress and success (rather than just post facto evaluation, which doesn't do much for your current campaign, although it might help next time).
• Enable course correction before more investment is misdirected, by highlighting progress benchmarks on an ongoing basis.
• Build on proven practices currently in place (the tool is designed around foundation communications, but there's a lot there relevant to nonprofit communications agendas). Asibey and team found most communications tracking to be “one-offs, and focused on tactics; few groups are looking at overall communication strategies and thinking of evaluation in a holistic way.”

I'm waiting with baited breath, and will let you know when the tool is released. But for now, start to shore up your planning process to include tracking on the far end. That's the only way to ensure your nonprofit marketing investment is doing its best for your org.

P.S. Learn how to craft a compelling story for your org in 8 words or less. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!