VolunteerMatch(ing) Easier Than Ever with Redesign -- Showing True Respect for Time and Effort of its Base

The leading online volunteer matching service, VolunteerMatch (VM, can't get a name better than that), has just launched a redesigned matching site making finding the right volunteer opportunity easier than ever for its users.

Nothing speaks more strongly to your site users (or your program registrants or online donors), than making it easier for them to act. Such changes are the ultimate in respecting your base and so a powerful nonprofit marketing tool, bound to increase activity.

At the center of the launch are improvements to VM's pioneering Search & Match engine used by prospective volunteers to find active opportunities. With the changes, users can now just enter their location and a few words describing what they want to do to initiate a search. It's seriously really, really easy. As easy as using Google. And on the results side, the new system reveals better information that users can filter by location, description, organization and date. Brilliant!

Robert Rosenthal, VolunteerMatch's director of communications, is confident that "the new approach will lead to higher referral rates from volunteers, especially in areas of skilled volunteering  -- and 5 days worth of data seems to suggest this is the case."

There are two other interesting features to note:

• Ratings & Reviews – A nationwide platform for user-generated recommendations about specific volunteer programs. It's likely to lead to better volunteer-nonprofit matches and stronger, more effective, volunteer programs. Nothing means more to a user than a peer recommendation
  • But are nonprofits ready for this level of transparency??? Volunteer managers get to work.

• RSS Subscriptions – Users can subscribe to RSS feeds to track volunteer opportunities by “cause” or by organization as new listings enter the VolunteerMatch system. Again, making it so easy for prospective, and current volunteers.

Kudos to Volunteer Match for respecting its users, and for walking that talk.

What can you do to make it easier for your base to interface with your organization?

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Play to Win. Send Nets. Stop Malaria. -- Org Uses Interactive Game to Build Awareness and Donations

Urging millions around the world to "play the game" and "deliver nets," the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets(NBN) campaign just launched an intriguing interactive game to build understanding (in an incredibly fun way) of how insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria get to users in Africa.

''Deliver the Net'' teaches users about bed net distribution and challenges individuals to deliver as many virtual nets as possible before the sun goes down and malaria-carrying mosquitoes come out to bite. Players are urged to "race the sun and hand out as many insecticide-treated bed nets as you can to African families. The more nets you deliver—before the mosquitoes come out—the more lives you save. Once you’re done playing the game, sign up for news about the campaign and a life-saving bed net will be sent on your behalf!"

This is one of the most ingenious nonprofit marketing campaigns I've seen, ever. Here's why:

• Launched at the beginning of the month, the game is a build up to World Malaria Day on April 25th. I can't imagine a better attention-getter; and this generates donations too.
• NBN sent an engaging, colorful email invite to get participation going with this clear subject line: Play to win. Send Nets. Stop Malaria.
• The game is truly fun and engaging; learning is organic rather than pushed and so has greater staying power.
• Providing your email address at the end of the game -- when players "get it," and enabling follow-ups from the campaign -- generates a $10 gift to NBN from its partners. $10 covers the cost of purchasing a long-lasting insecticide-treated bed net, distributing it to a family in need and educating the recipients on its proper use. And, players are invited to donate additional nets, at the affordable price of @$10.
• After providing your email address, you're brought to an online video of a UN worker in
  the field talking about the project and challenges of the  difficult security situation. It's on YouTube, so easy to pass on.
• It's a fun game that delivers a powerful impression at the end when you see the guy inside his tent, filming the video, with the generator running in the 110 degree heat. The video creates a real sense of what it's like for African's fighting malaria.

Just a few days post-launch, 2,673 players to date have generated a gift of a net to Africans, and understand how nets can combat malaria -- all while having fun. Fun while learning; nothing's better than that.

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Big Give's Small Impact on Upping Volunteers & Giving

There continues to be a rabid debate swirling around Oprah's The Big Give. My take? I just don't see evidence that it's motivating a groundswell of giving and volunteering at the local level. Wish I did.

The show is just too fake. People aren't biting, even though the mainstream attention the show has brought to causes and the nonprofit sector is all good. The potential was there; here are some of the ways I imagined nonprofits could leverage Big Give attention. But not that much is happening.

Here are a few reasons why the show remains small potatoes:

• The show is typical reality, giving is just the rubric. Nothing more. No modeling of true civic action here.No implicit training of citizens on they can work with/via orgs with issue, policy and program expertise to advance what's important to them. The creators should have woven nonprofits into the show.
• The show site's link to VolunteerMatch force a prospective volunteer to click four times to get to the action page. Same with the links to Network for Good for giving.Every click is one more deterrent to action.
• Oprah's company, Harpo Productions, is holding tight to the copyrighted Big Give brand. Despite repeated requests for discussion with the legal team, I never got the reasoning behind this dictum. Too bad they won't share the goods to replicate more locally-based, sustainable attention and action for nonprofits throughout the US.

On the up side, ABC (Oprah's network) offered $10,000 seed money up to a total of $1 million to any affiliate eager to leverage it into a greater sum. Not that 10k is huge; but these efforts are engaging folks in a more real, more personal, and possibly more sustained way.

Many of the affiliates are simply choosing one great organization, and broadcasting a request for donations. But here's a much more creative strategy: Sarasota, Florida's affiliate asked viewers to make an online donation to one of three local charities. The group that raises the most money wins an additional $10,000 bonus(the network's gift); the other two keep whatever they raise. Best yet, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County is handling all the contributions at no cost, so 100% of donated dollars get to selected charities. That's a smart use of community expertise.

I'm hoping to see more awareness of, and action for, key social issues coming from the Big Give. Right now, the impact seems very small. Let's move on. There are bigger fish to fry.

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Nonprofits Filling Govt Gaps to Help Still-Recovering New Orleans Hoods

Yesterday I took an incredibly compelling, dismaying yet somehow hopeful tour of four areas still devastated by Hurricane Katrina -- Gentilly, the 9th Ward, St. Bernard Parish (where only 5 homes remained in the county post storm) and Lakeview. 2 1/2 years post-Katrina, these areas remain blighted with huge expanses of open land where homes were torn down, dead trees and other storm debris never removed and street lights are still out. More photos here.

The media doesn't broadcast Katrina images anymore, but these stories are here. Many of them. Grocery stores just reopened in three of these areas, with residents crying with joy in the aisles. Imagine 2 1/2 years without a grocery store nearby. The post office in Lakeview just re-opened earlier this month.

As you know, the federal government failed to provide the help that New Orleans and surrounds needs. What's incredible, and what I didn't know, is how nonprofits have stepped up to fill the gaps, trying to build a better city, not just the same city. Here are some of the projects I saw during yesterday's tour:

Barnes and Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio's family foundation just committed $20 million to building homes for low-income families through a newly created nonprofit development arm, Project Home Again (PHA). The new homes are for those who lost theirs as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The pilot will build 20 wind-resistant homes in Gentilly, to offered at no cost via lottery to eligible families willing to swap their damaged homes or vacant lots, where PHA will build another hurricane-proof home.

The grassroots Beacon of Hope Resource Center provides services key to daily living for residents in three of these areas. Services are practical and much-needed, ranging from acting as a communication link between city agencies in restoring services and utilities such as mail delivery, electricity, sewerage and water, and vetting home repair vendors from structural engineers to mold remediators. This is a huge help when insurers are requiring policy holders to get three or more valid estimates for every necessary repair. The trailer at left holds washers and dryers available to residents still doing without.

The self-organized City Park Mowrons are New Orleans residents who stepped forward to help the 30 (of 260 pre-Katrina) remaining employees restore and maintain this famed park. They mow, weed and plant this city haven which served as a post-Katrina camping ground for refugees.

These are just a few of the many nonprofits helping New Orleans come back to life. I'm hugely moved and impressed by the creativity, energy, focus and generosity of the people behind these initiatives who have stepped up to the plate, and are making a huge difference to residents and and their institutions and communities still striving to rebuild.

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Your Org's Name Here -- Don't Miss This Incredible Nonprofit Marketing Opportunity

Finally, concern about environmental impact has motivated governments and retailers to ban or discourage use of plastic bags. In some cases, paper bags are included in policies that range from charging for bags to selling recyclable or reusable bags as recently reported in The New York Times.

Last year, San Francisco banned all plastic bags that don't easily break down. NYC retailers must offer plastic bag recycling.  And, starting in February 2008, Whole Foods will offer customers a choice between free recycled paper bags (deemed a winner by the National Resources Defense Council) and purchased reusable bags ($).

Here's your organization's opportunity:

1. Green is seen almost universally as a good, and a value. No need to convince there.
2. People still need bags, even as plastic bag bans go into effect more widely.
3. Reusable bags are selling like mad (anecdotal, from my observations, and buying experience).
4. Produce Your Nonprofit Here bags for sale via your org (at hugely above cost) and/or via retailers (a perfect cause marketing gig, but make sure your cut is substantial).

See some examples above, modeled by our shining star, Charlotte. Make 'em striking enough (attractive, not just serviceable) that they'll be used again and again (and multiples purchased). Not only do you get the revenue from the purchase, you get the benefit of your bag users marketing your org as they carry the bags around town.

Here are some other creative resusable bag examples, all way more attention getting than the norm. Perhaps a breast cancer org should jump on a cause version of the "No Plastic Bags Bra," a no-hands solution storing two reusable bags in the bra cups.

Happy bagging.

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V3 Campaign Provides Window Into Candidates' Take on Nonprofits

I never thought much about the potential political power of the nonprofit sector -- stemming from its influence and economic contribution, thinking more along issue lines. But now, with the launch of the V3 Campaign, Robert Egger (President of the D.C. Central Kitchen) clarifies the power of the nonprofit sector's "Voice, Value and Votes."

Many of Egger's factoids are startling in their quantification of nonprofit impact:

• 90% of college freshmen have performed community service
• Nonprofits, via donations received, represent 7% of GDP
• 14 million in the US work for nonprofits
• Nonprofits collectively hold $3 trillion in assets.

What's incredible is Egger's mobilization of nonprofit staffers to use their power (and their votes) to vet candidates at all governmental levels. All I can say is, why haven't we used our voice before? Now that we know how strong it is, let's shout it out.

Thanks to Katya Andresen for the tip.

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Update: The ABCDs of House Party Success -- How to Put 'Em to Work for Your Nonprofit

Post-Party Update -- Feb. 4, 2008
Our pre-primary party was a fabulous success, with more than 80 folks engaged, provoked, stimulated and talking. Guests responded with huge thanks for the forum. Here are a couple of the emails we received the next day:
"Congratulations, and thanks again on pulling off an ambitious party. It really worked out great! We had fun, learned something, got to enjoy the company of new and old friends."

"It was great fun, good to hear from the articulate and smart folks there, and inspiring to enjoy the general good feeling and hope about next year.  Thanks for pulling us all together, giving us a chance to talk politics and a reason to savor this rather extraordinary moment we are living through!" 

Here's what made this party a huge success, and what will work for your nonprofit's house party:

A) Build a sense of excitement ahead of the event, to frame the focus and format, and get guests intrigued, involved and up-to-speed before they walk in the door.

B) Organize it out the wazoo. Nothing is as deflating as guests drifting around, uninvolved. Be prepared to capture the energy, build on it, then put it to work. Outline the format (ours outlined below worked great), have handouts ready and leave the group motivated to act (and make it easy for them to do so).

C) Make it fun. All work and no play makes a party dull. Remember you have a self-selected group of interesting, interested people. Make sure they have the opportunity to connect on other fronts as well...that'll increase their enthusiasm about the experience, and probably the issues, and add an infrastructure to the community you're building.

D) Keep up the momentum, continuing to nurture the community of interest you build. Your guests' departure is only the beginning of a beautiful relationship . Before your guests go out the door, have your follow-up plan in place, and move on it within a couple days. We're sending out a follow-up email, with a post-party poll, and will keep up with periodic emails, and a mid-July fundraiser.

P.S. Take a close look at the photo above. Yes, our friend Tori at left is wearing a vintage Nixon dress, itself worth the price of admission.
__________________________________________________________________

Readers, here's a semi-personal story I wanted to share with you.

In our state (NJ), we've never had a REAL say in the presidential primaries before. But this round we're part of Super Tuesday (Feb. 5th), something many folks haven't fully absorbed. So we're holding a pre-primary party to help 100 of our undecided Democratic and Independent friends get clear on whom they'll vote for in Tuesday's primary, and get everyone, decided or not, excited and motivated to vote, volunteer and give.

The concept -- an issues-oriented house party -- is ripe for the stealing from the political arena. After all, creating and sharing new traditions is a key way to cope with an ever-changing culture.

The possibilities for your organization to launch a house party campaign are almost endless. It takes only the simplest online support mechanism (deliverable via your Web site) to make it easy for your supporters to raise dollars and awareness for your cause. Education, awareness and possibly fundraising, all  in an atmosphere of conviviality and good food (let's hope). Talk about putting your supporters to work for you.

Here's how our party will work:

1) Pre-Party Ramp Up

• Emails to guests to build understanding and excitement about the event, and a clearer sense of where the candidates are on the issues.
• Online pre-party poll.

2) Caucus and Meet Your Candidate Captains

• Guests will caucus for 20-30 minutes with others who also support their current pick.
• Each group will be asked to define 3-5 key reasons it's supporting that candidate AND 3-5 reasons why the other candidates aren't strong enough. (Polite bashing is acceptable).
• Undecideds are free to roam.
• The aim of this portion of the party is for the captains to compile a list of reasons to support the candidate (and oppose the others),and find out who among the group wants to participate in the Soap Box session. (This may take some gentle nudging for some.Of course, no pressure for anyone to speak in the Soap Box session.)

3) Soap Box Sermonizing -- Pro and Con

• In rotating order, a representative from each camp (can be the captain or any other supporter for that candidate) will ascend the Soap Box, and be given up to ONE MINUTE to address the party with a key reason the group supports their candidate (Pro). It's our own Speakers Corner.
• So, we’ll get one minute from a Clinton supporter, one minute from an Edwards supporter, one minute from an Obama supporter.
• Then in the next round, following the same order, people will speak to the "Con" -- Why the other candidates aren't up to snuff.
• We’ll do this until all three camps have shared main reasoning for and against.

4) Caucus Fraucus and Straw Poll

• We'll dissolve into a Caucus Fraucus of beer, soft drinks and chips. During this time, primary party-ers are encouraged to engage each other about who they're supporting and why.Cajoling and persuading are encouraged.
• Then they step over to our "voting booth" and cast their ballots in our straw poll.

5) Pizza for all, as we announce/predict(?) the winner!

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Philadelphia Orchestra Enchants Under 5s (+ Parents & GrandParents) With Sound All Around

Talk about a fun and effective way to get younger generations excited and involved, while engaging (and generating revenue from) parents and grandparents! The Philadelphia Orchestra's (TPO) Sound All Around concerts introduce children ages 3 to 5 to the instruments of the orchestra and musical concepts through interactive presentations featuring members of the Orchestra and award-winning storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston.

Last weekend, when our daughter Charlotte and I visited my dad in Philly, he invited us to one of these 45-minute concerts. Although we've taken Charlotte to loads of events, most of the music has been more of the Dan Zanes variety. She loves listening to classical music and I wanted her to experience it in person.

I was absolutely amazed at rapt attention with which Charlotte and her peers listened to storyteller Charlotte and her musician friends, and equally amazed at the one to three parents and grandparents with every single child.  In addition, subscribers big and small take home the Sound All Around newsletter at every performance, with song lyrics, music-themed puzzles, concert-listener etiquette, an interview of one of the musicians of the day and recommendations for good listening. It's definitely something I want to keep around for reference, and will continue to remind me of TPO and the series.

With Sound All Around, TPO is providing great entertainment to the community. As it does so, it's building its fans among listeners of all ages, and reinforcing its relationship with long-standing concert goers, providing them the joy of sharing what they love with their kids and grand kids. Win win, TPO. Great nonprofit marketing.

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Simply Powerful: American Liver Foundation's Tagline Featured in Org's Welcome Voicemail

I've been all tagline all the time lately, fueled by the flood of responses to the Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Survey. Over 1,370 folks have responded to date (still waiting to hear from you), sharing their experiences and taglines.

So I was astonished (positively) when I returned a call from long-time client Lenore Neier, VP of marketing at the American Liver Foundation (ALF). I was routed through ALF's main switchboard, and treated to this succinct and unusually informative welcome message:  Thanks for calling the American Liver Foundation, the nation's leading organization in the fight against liver disease and hepatitis.

What's astounding is that more organizations don't incorporate their taglines into their main phone greetings, be they human or voicemail format. It's a simple, powerful, free opportunity to clearly define your organization to a captive audience. It's one of the the best nonprofit marketing tactics out there (assuming your tagline is dead on).

Call your organization's main number today, and listen carefully.

It's easy to make it better, today.

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Part I: Make the Most of Media Queries -- Talking on Goodwill DC's Marketing Innovations

 

I was thrilled to get an email from Marketplace reporter Andrea Gardner a few weeks ago. I'm one of Marketplace's 8 million loyal listeners, tuning in daily when possible.

Anyway, Andrea wanted a nonprofit marketing pro's take on the very innovative work Goodwill of Greater Washington is doing via its DC Goodwill Fashion blog. Seems the savvy and sassy marketing team there DC were able to punch through "business as usual," designing a great way to turn their ages-old earned income strategy on its ear. So they are re-framing used clothing as vintage/designer/collector duds, blogging about them and other fashion trends, and selling highlighted items via their ebay store.

I admire the team and the Goodwill DC board for their guts, imagination and willingness to experiment.
Great vision to engage young professional women in Goodwill to build brand, audiences and income stream; and great implementation. Challenging however to ensure audiences -- these new folks, and those pre-existing -- understand Goodwill's impact in the workforce development arena.

Unfortunately, I see only a slight probability these fashionistas will become donors (of $ or clothes), volunteers or board members. And a significant possibility that long-time (read that, older) supporters might be offended by the very light-hearted approach the Goodwill  blogger takes. Goodwill fashionistas, remember that fashion is a means for increasing revenue and audiences, not an end in itself.

But back to Ms. Gardner. To tell you the truth, I haven't had too many opportunities to be heard by 8 million listeners, and I didn't want to miss out. So I thought through how to make the most of this opportunity -- our subsequent communications and interview -- just like any other marketing program I plan and execute, with fabulous results.

You can listen to or read the interview here.

All too often nonprofits, hungry for media coverage and anxious to get their two cents in, rush to respond to a media query without working through how to satisfy the journalist's needs while capitalizing on the coverage and long-term relationship-building opportunities.

P.S. Learn how to achieve both goals (when you satisfy a journalist's needs, you strengthen that relationship and are more likely to get a call for the next story) in Part II of How to Respond to Media Queries.

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Here's How to Inform & Inspire in a Single Page -- Case Study, United Way Mass Bay & Merrimack Vallley

All this talk about fact sheets (strong models of nonprofit fact sheets here and here) motivated Meghan Keaney, communications director at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley, to share her fact sheet strategy:

We have often struggled with the challenge of informing and inspiring in one sheet.  Our solution is to marry a fact sheet (one side) with a  success story (the other side).  We’ve found that our donors want something that marries the head and the heart.  They want their investment in the community to be making measurable changes (hence the fact side) but they also want to feel a connection to someone they helped.  It’s our first year doing it like this, but I think it’s a good tactic.

Our United Way focuses on four primary areas & community goals:  Healthy Childhood Development, Increasing Youth Opportunities, Affordable Housing and Sustainable employment.  We have one overview fact sheet on our organization, but we often find that these more focused fact sheets are what get people invested.

Take a look at the graphically-compelling, easily-scannable approach Meghan and colleagues have developed:

• Affordable Housing
• Healthy Child Development
• Increasing Youth Opportunities
• Sustainable Employment

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Build Your Wild Self Hooks Kids and Parents into NYC's Zoos and Acquarium

NY's Wildlife Conservation Society -- which runs the Bronx Zoo, NYC Aquarium and other zoos in the city, as well as research on animals and land conservation -- just launched its can't-get-enough-of-it Build Your Wild Self Web site. Pay close attention: It's a powerful model of entertainment as marketing, nonprofit wise.

Take a look at a down moment or, if you're a parent, jump on with your kids one afternoon. It's loads of fun. Even better, it's loads of fun while educating kids on animal facts and introducing them and their parents to the zoos and aquarium. And believe me, a happy child makes a happy parent. So the site becomes a high-power marketing tool, and one that's likely to be visited time and time again. Perfect for bringing new visitors to the zoos and Aquarium, and for member retention.

Build Your Wild Self engages the little beasts in a fun and educational activity while generating excitement about visiting the zoos and Aquarium.  Kids create a human representation of themselves, then “GO WiLD” replacing their human parts with over 80 different animal parts. The possibilities are only limited by your child’s imagination. Once kids have completed their wild selves, they get educational facts about the animals they chose parts of and can save their creation as their desktop, print it out, or send it to their friends. (You can meet me as the Gaz-ele-zeb-con-fly-monitor at top left.) A prominent button brings users to the Bronx Zoo, NY Aquarium, and city zoos’ sites in a click, for information about visiting.

Since its launch just two weeks ago, the site has picked up hits from 98 countries. And of course, the WCS is doing every it can to spread the word about the site, including putting the word out to networks of moms and asking them to spread the word.

Smart site, smart marketing. Thanks WCS, from one grateful mom who's much happier to have her daughter learn animal facts while making Charlotte creatures than mesmerized by the all-Dora-all-the-time phenomenon.

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Here's an All-You-Need-for-First-Pass Fact Sheet -- From the International Rescue Committee

Try to do even 75% as well as IRC's At-a-Glance Fact Sheet in summarizing your nonprofit's focus and impact on a single page. The media will love it, and your other audiences will too. You're making it easy for them to understand the way your organization does its work, and its unique contribution to the community it serves.

If you're doing so, email me your fact sheet and I'll share it with Getting Attention readers.

BTW, I love IRC's details on efficiency. That's more important than ever before for nonprofits to measure and communicate on.

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Give 1, Get 1 -- Negroponte's Powerful Nonprofit Marketing Model

Few strategies (of marketing, messaging and community engagement) have dazzled me more than those of One Laptop per Child's (OLPC) XO Giving program.

Shaped by MIT Media Lab guru Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC aims get laptops to kids around the world -- despite lack of power, money or the host of other barriers in the way. Ultimately, OLPC is striving to provide children with "new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves," and has developed the XO-1 laptop as a means to "learn about learning."

Now that would be a great idea even if it didn't go any further. But Negraponte and team pushed to deliver the laptops as cheaply as possible. When government orders for XO-1--as well as the price point of $188--failed to meet expectations, Negroponte quickly modified his U.S. sales plan, launching OLPC through which XO-1 laptops will be sold at $400 per computer.

This Give 1 Get 1 program uses funds from each U.S. sale to provide a student in a developing nation with an XO-1 laptop at no cost. Its a community engagement and donation-generation strategy for the ages, and here's why you nonprofit marketers need to listen up:

1. The only way to get this product (which is the computer we've all been waiting for for our kids), is to give one. Enforced philanthropy, but it's fun.
2. To give and get, hopeful buyers need to sign up for an e-alert service (so OLPC grabs their contact info for future solicitations, ongoing engagement, forwarding to a friend, etc.)
3. Only 25,000 orders will be taken for Christmas delivery, ensuring that many folks will jump on board to be one of the first. Limited editions pique interest.
4. Kids are getting, and giving (even if via their parents), so it's a great giving education opportunity.

The best nonprofit marketing comes from having to fix a problem. Necessity and urgency led Negroponte and his team this absolutely original, practical, story-making strategy; a fix for the records.

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Crowdsource for a Slogan that Sticks

Taking the contest strategy of audience engagement to the Nth degree, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is calling loudly for entrants and votes for its new slogan. With its Bump Up Our Majority campaign, the Committee is seeking a slogan to carry it through the 2008 election -- for use on its Web site, bumper stickers, campaign handouts.

For the right creative writer, it's a great chance for broadscale self-promotion as the winner becomes part of the Dem story. For those who just vote on the existing slogan choices presented, it's a fun way to participate. For the DSCC, it's a cheap way to get immediate publicity, develop more loyal and engaged supporters (with contact info) and come out the other end with powerful messaging. Win-win-win.

What's particularly effective hear is the language (I got an email urging me to join the fun) that the Dems use:

We need a turn of phrase that really jumps out and tells you right off the bat what this election is all about.  In 1992, it was "It's the Economy, Stupid."  In 2006, Democrats simply said "Had Enough?" It was the only question America needed to ask.

We got a few ideas, and we even taped one of our brainstorming sessions.  Take a look and then, do us the favor of voting for one of our top picks.   But if you got something better, we'll throw that in the mix too.

Then, once they've engaged you, they step up and throw in critical points on:

• How important it is to stay engaged
• The potential power, and impact, of the dems
• Spreading the word on the contest and the campaign.

Congrats Dems on a fun, high-energy way to make a splash at the height of the end-of-summer doldrums.

P.S. According to Wikipedia, crowdsourcing is "taking a job traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call." More to come in future posts about other ways your nonprofit can capitalize on the creative energy of your audiences.

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Dig into these Five-Star Nonprofit Marketing Ideas

Katya Andresen of the Non-Profit Marketing Blog wins on the midway with this week's "Fabulous Five" Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants.

Always the innovator, Katya asked us fellow bloggers to post our "top five." But there was a twist: Each post had to mention one or more of these summer favs -- bikini, martini (twist, get it?) or Fellini.

Jump on the ferris wheel now to grab nearly 100 five-star ideas for your nonprofit. And thanks to Katya for adding a few laughs to my summer day.

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15 Presidents Who Blog -- And No, I'm Not Talking Bush or Putin

University presidents, that is. Thanks to university communications expert Bob Johnson for this very useful list that includes leaders of large public universities to small private colleges to two-year colleges:

• Arizona State University... Michael Crow at http://www.michaelcrow.net/
• Avila University... Ronald Slepitza at http://www.avila.edu/President/presblog.asp
• Cedarville University... Bill Brown at http://www.xanga.com/billbrown
• Colorado College... Dick Celeste at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/welcome/presidentsoffice/blog/
• Michigan State University... Lou Anna Simon at http://president.msu.edu/
• Ohio Dominican University... Jack Calareso at http://www.ohiodominican.edu/blogs/blogs/president/default.aspx
• Oregon Institute of Technology... Martha Anne Dow at http://www.marthaannedow.blogspot.com/
• Pellissippi State Technical Community College... Allen Edwards at http://www.pstcc.edu/president/
• Quest University... David Strangway at http://strangway.blogspot.com/
• Red River College... Jeff Zabudsky at http://www.rrc.mb.ca/index.php?pid=3898
• Saint Vincent College... Jim Towey at http://www.stvincent.edu/president/blog
• Towson University... Bob Caret at http://presidentcaret.org/blog/
• Trinity University... Pat McGuire at http://www.trinitydc.edu/about/president/blog/
• University of Washington... Mark Emmert at http://depts.washington.edu/presblog/wordpress/
• Wenatchee Valley College... Jim Richardson at http://wvcpresident.blogspot.com/

As Bob says:

"The list of (university) presidents who blog continues to grow despite the fears and admonitions of lawyers and public relations people who warn against some terrible damage to their institutions if their presidents are let loose to say whatever they want to say on the institutional website. So far, that's not happened. And if indeed it does, it won't be cause to remove everyone else's blog from the Internet."

What do your organization's leaders have to say, and should they be blogging?  Read Should Your Executive Director be Blogging. You'll find more examples of nonprofit leaders who are blogging here.

BTW, take Bob's admonition to heart -- advise your nonprofit's leaders to blog if it's appropriate (more on that here), and not to be dissuaded by fears (legal, PR or otherwise). 

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More Bang for Your Nonprofit's Marketing Buck -- Bring Your Print Ads to E-News Readers

I was thrilled to receive an email yesterday from Environmental Defense (ED), urging me to take a look at the print ad they're running in Roll Call (the D.C.-based daily paper on congressional news) today.  When I clicked on the link provided, I got to a page that engaged me (I'm a donor) and made me feel that the organization is doing great work.  Now I'm ready to give more.

Here's how ED succeeds in engaging two critical audiences (legislators and citizen supporters/advocates), for the price of a single ad. They:

1. Place the ad for a specific audience (congressional representatives, senators and their staff members) -- telling them that 50,000 ED supporters (most of whom receive their email) have signed the New Patriotism Declaration urging Congress to cap and cut global warming pollution.
2. Piggyback on the ad campaign via outreach to Declaration signers and other supporters (demonstrating follow through, and competency) -- showcasing the ad and explaining ED's strategy.
3. Continue the conversation with these supporters, who may not have been involved with ED since signing the Declaration, thanking them for their support and nurturing them as a loyal community rather than a group of individuals.
4. Update this community on encouraging committee work and pending legislation on Capitol Hill,  paving the way for future requests for support -- donation- and advocacy-wise.

Strong double play, Environmental Defense.

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Case Foundation Offers $35,000 for Great Ideas -- Asks Audiences Where Money Should Go

Going one step further than even the typical nonprofit or foundation-run contest, the Case Foundation (as in Steve Case, founder of AOL, and his wife Jean) is asking the public for guidance in making its grants with its new Make it Your Own Awards program.

As reported in yesterday's New York Times, the foundation  is the first ever to share its grants decision-making with the public. The program is "a direct response to research showing that many people feel disconnected from public leaders and institutions and don't believe they have the power to make a lasting difference in their community," says a foundation spokesperson.

What's unique here is that the Case Foundation is putting its research findings into practice, and reaching beyond its own staff and board to do so. Most importantly, its demonstrating a great deal of respect for grassroots ideas. Here's how it works:

• The foundation is asking individuals and small, community-based nonprofits to submit ideas for strengthening their communities.
• A group of judges will select 100 finalists to query for a more formal proposal.
• Another panel will review these proposals to select 20 finalists, who will receive $10,000 each.
• In November, the public will vote to select the "final four" from these finalists, who will each receive an additional $25,000.

"We are excited about the potential for change when citizens are placed at the center of deciding what issues to address and how," said Case Foundation CEO Jean Case. "As citizens, we need to 'own' the challenges and opportunities in our communities -- not leave them for someone else to tackle."

Of course, program success is dependent on strategic communications being put into play pronto. The broader community (and believe me, "individuals" are incredibly hard to reach as you have no idea where they are in terms of other communications channels through which you can reach them, or where they aren't) has to know about this program, and be engaged enough to participate, to have it work.

The Case Foundation has made a great start with the communications agenda  --

• Engaging audiences via broadcast communications -- namely significant media coverage
• Providing a thorough sub-site for the program, with comprehensive information on all its aspects
• Soliciting contact information (emails) for those interested in keeping tabs on the program as it evolves via a Make it Your Own e-newsletter (promoted on every page in the mini-site)
• Continuing to engage audiences via this e-newsletter as the program evolves over the balance of 2007.

Great idea, Case Foundation, and a strong model of strategic communications which is guaranteed to ensure program success.

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Hillary Steals the Show, Literally -- Spoofs Final Sopranos Episode to Announce Campaign Song Contest Winner

You know that Hillary campaign joined the contest bandwagon to find the right campaign song. Now, Hillary's getting attention announcing the winner -- which she's doing via a video spoof of the final Sopranos episode, shared via YouTube.

This knock-off is just one more example of the hopefuls trying to connect with voters and potential donors via clever, relatively inexpensive formats that are infused with pop culture references, contemporary themes or intimate moments. It's silly but endearing.

Smart marketing, Hillary and team, even though citizen voters selected 'You and I' by Celine Dion, a Canadian. And best of all -- you don't find out the winner via the video, you have to click to a link on Hillary's site. When you get to the announcement page, Contribute is the biggest word you see.

Expect the hopefuls to be out in front with trying new communications channels. After all, it's a dog-eat-dog race, and one that's very short-term. There's little room to go wrong, and no time to waste.

Just another example of how the Presidential hopefuls are experimenting fast and furious with social networking, like I encourage you to do. Don't fuggedaboutit.

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The SmartPower - YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge: Countdown to a Winner!

Update --  June 19, 2007

And the winner is ... Telephones. Strong combination of humor and passion wins the prize, and the day.      _________________________________________

What do you do when you’ve got a problem like communicating the need for renewable, efficient energy to hundreds of millions of people? Launch a contest and promote the h___ out of it online, of course.

SmartPower, a nonprofit marketing organization that promotes clean energy, used YouTube to jump start the Clean Energy Ad Challenge. Over the past several months, the SmartPower & YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge has helped clean energy tap into previously unknown wells of creativity and talent. "We created this project because we were confident that the creativity of the YouTube community could help clean energy become a growing part of the solution to climate change and energy independence. With almost 150 submissions, the YouTube community is helping to prove that clean energy is real," says a SmartPower spokesperson.

The judging is finished and the winner chosen. In addition to main $10,000 winner, the SmartPower judges have selected nine other finalists and the Top Ten ads were posted on the SmartPower site on June 10th. Every day since then, and running through June 18th, they'll remove one ad each day, leading up to the "last ad standing" on June 18th! Take a look at the five ads still in the running.

Great idea, great suspense, great energy, SmartPower.

More powerful nonprofit contests here.

Illustration Credit: The Switch by Euroskip

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Launch a Contest to Nurture Loyalty and Involvement

Watching the Daily Show last night, I was struck by a new AmEx campaign about giving, the American Express Members Project. AmEx is running a contest -- and who's not -- where participants(you gotta have an AmEx card, ahem -- be a "member") recommend a project to be supported. The winning project gets a $5 million donation from AmEx.

Some may criticize -- saying  such strategies don't  shape  ongoing givers or  volunteers -- but I say there's going to be $5 million out there put to good work that wasn't there before. Isn't it great that civics is coming back and corporations are jumping on the bandwagon? And, I bet you that folks will be pulled into this who don't usually participate nonprofit wise in any way. Call it the first step.

Here are a few other contests that have caught my attention:

• BlogHer, an association of women bloggers, just launched BlogHers Act, a year-long initiative to harness the incredible power of women online.  Beth Kanter summarizes its two goals as:
  1.  Making a difference on a single global cause
  2.  Identifying the top four issues that women online want the U.S. Presidential candidates to address in order to win our votes in the ‘08 Election.
• Choose Our Campaign Song, Round 2 where Hilary Clinton asks YouTube users to select her campaign song from 10 finalists.
• Heinz Top This TV Challenge where Heinz ketchup asks fans to create their own video ketchup commercial for rating by fellow fans. The winner gets $57,000 and the commercial broadcast on YouTube. And Heinz gets a ton of free media coverage.

Have any of you run contests to engage your audiences? Please let me know by clicking Comments below.

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I'm in Love...with Google Analytics

Shhh.... Don't tell my husband but I'm in love.

You know about recent Getting Attention survey findings -- 2/3 of nonprofits don't track impact of their marketing. That's scary, because without tracking, you don't know if your strategies are working or not. Or, as Donor Power blogger Jeff Brooks put it, you are "trying to fail."

As I mentioned in the survey follow-up, the easiest (and cheapest) way to begin understanding your marketing impact is via Web user analysis tools (aka analytics). These tools, probably already built into your web site or blog tool, allow you to see what users are doing on your site, which pages are most popular, which messages resonate most deeply (if you test two pages with the same focus by seeing which one generates more gifts or registrations), and more.

Well, I've just started using the all-free, easiest-to-set-up-and-interpret Google Analytics to track usage of this blog and my NS&C Web site. It's golden, and I'm in love. Here's what I like love about it:

• Easy to digest "dashboard" summarizing key stats (i have this bookmarked and review daily)
• In-depth report on visitor behavior, page review trends, where traffic comes from, etc. -- learn what keywords people are searching for when they get to your site and which pages are the most popular, and check if the path most users take through the site hits the pages you want them to see
• Can cumulate trends for any period of time you select -- for site usage, trends are more meaningful than a snapshot of a moment in time
• Is free
• Take 5 minutes to set up.

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Get Your Experts out on the Speaking Circuit -- Market Your Organization, and Get Paid for It

I was intrigued to read in today's NY Times about book publishers placing authors in high-profile, well-paid speaking engagements. Supplementing the traditional author tour strategy -- which only the best-selling authors get anyway since it costs dearly -- publishers have launched their own speakers bureau to place authors after post-publication publicity campaigns wind down.

What's great is that authors -- who, like your organization, always need to earn more -- can increase earnings and book sales while establishing themselves as experts (thus paving the way for more sales next time out of the gate). So it's a win-win for author and publisher alike. Read more at "A Way to Give Authors a Lucrative Second Platform."

Listen in.

• There's an equal, if not greater, opportunity for nonprofit experts (or foundation grantees) like yours.
  • The credibility your issue experts offer is even greater than an author's, since there's clearly no financial agenda in store (not trying to sell books).
• "A speakers bureau 'goes beyond the traditional marketing opportunities. It's a way for authors to continue to raise their profiles and reach new audiences,'"says HarperCollins' James Brickhouse.
  • Placing your experts as speakers keeps your issues and your organization unique role in the arena front and center, even when there's no crisis to address or other issues are hot.
• Corporate clients (think pharma company, investment firms with charitable arms, etc) tend to pay more than libraries and schools but remember, this is free marketing. And,bookstores are frequently recruited to sell books at the events.
  
  • You can have a staff member table with membership, fundraising and volunteer information.
• For forever and a day, I've recommended that you position your experts as sources for the press, using ProfNet. This takes it one step further.
• So start a speakers' bureau for your nonprofit, or even better, form an issue-based bureau with colleague organizations whose experts complement your own (think Coalition on Darfur Speakers Bureau). There's everything to win, nothing to lose
  • Open the bureau on your Web site.
  • Promote it, and make it easy for prospective takers to find the speaker they want, and understand the terms.
  • Market it to the 'low-hanging fruit"
  • And let me know what happens.

Take a look at Penguin's author speaking bureau, and steal some great ideas...today.

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How to Put Mother's Day (or Father's day, or...) to Use for Your Nonprofit

There's no better way for your organization to get your audience's attention (and sometimes the media's attention, too) than hooking into what's happening in the news. Because your audiences are already thinking about these issues, and likely to be more interested in what your nonprofit has to say.

Several nonprofits hooked into Mother's Day in effective ways. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Research release -- The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released its findings on Motherhood Today
• Fundraising -- Once upon a Pedestal (as all mothers should be), an art and art pedestal fundraiser for the Boulder Public Library, presented in conjunction with a local gallery
• Membership -- Mothers & More's Making a Connection Mother's Day campaign
• Advocacy -- NOW (National Organization for Women') Mothers Matter and Caregivers Count petition.

Father's Day is around the corner. How can you capitalize on that focus, or a major news story, to generate more attention for your organization, programs and services?

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How Can Your Nonprofit Become King of the Barnyard?

In the barnyard, it's the matter of who is loudest, and the rooster wins out. In the human barnyard, more than volume is at issue. Our audiences' attention is engaged via a mix of message, tone, channel, timing, connection, graphics and more -- and is extremely challenging to grab hold of.

Actor and activist Don Cheadle provides a great model of ascending the throne in the issue/advocacy barnyard in his promotional tour for his new book, here) of Cheadle and Prendergast on NPR's Morning Edition. Cheadle took the reins (wish we all knew how to direct the journalists this way) to title the segment "6 Clear, Simple Ways to End Genocide in Darfur."

Doing so grabbed my attention, despite toddler distractions. First of all, Cheadle (who's not the traditional professional communicator) quickly and clearly articulated the focus and value of his topic. Secondly, he made accessible key issues this on issue that remains abstract to many, simply because of its geographic distance from the U.S., and the enormity of genocide (and this genocide in particular).  And, finally, in putting advocacy (most citizens don't even really understand this word) in concrete, easy-to-understand terms, he opened the door to first-time, lapsed or other-issue advocates.

Cheadle and Prendergast explain advocacy  like this -- when citizens make an issue political by telling their representatives how they feel about it, that's advocacy. And advocacy creates an imperative for government action. They focus their book introduction around "Six Strategies for Effective Change that you as an individual can employ to influence public policy and help save hundreds of thousands of lives:

• Raise awareness
• Raise funds
• Write letters
• Call for divestment
• Join an organization
• Lobby the government."

How refreshing to see authors use a communications style (clear, succinct, direct) that's gotten a bad rap as "marketing speak." How effective. And what a great way to become king of the barnyard.
Cock-a-doodle-doo.

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