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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Invite Your Supporters to Fundraise for Your Organization

Such viral fundraising  or micro philanthropy is just one of the 10 great ways nonprofits can benefit from blogs (their own and others) outlined by blogger supreme Britt Bravo. I've shared many of these same ideas, plus a few more, with you in recent posts but not this one, which is brilliant.

Britt points to some of the bloggers (Beth Kanter stands out in my mind) who have raised lots for causes, and the availability of plug-ins that bloggers in your audience can easily add to their blogs. This is a low cost, high potential means of enhancing your fundraising. Make it happen.

Here are a few examples to get you going:

• Darren Rowse celebrated ProBlogger's two- year anniversary by using his blog to raise $830 US ($100 AU) for Oxfam Australia with his Blogging for Chickens campaign.
• Beth Kanter raised $50,000 for the Sharing Foundation using a Network for Good Badge and similar tools to the ChipIn campaign, in three weeks.
• Chez Pim raised almost $62,000 with her Menu for Hope Campaign in 2.5 weeks using her food blog and an online auction.

That's the kind of virus every organization would like to have!

Here's how to start:

• Reach out to donors, inviting them to join your fundraising team -- featuring the invite in an e-newsletter is a great appraoch
• Ask those who have a Web site and/or blog to fundraise there
• Point them to a how to page on your Web site, with links to fundraising tools (such as the Network for Good charity badge, ChipIn and FirstGiving)
• Ask them to register online (just so you know what the response, and success rate is).

Please share your experiences with supporter fundraisers in the comments field below.

P.S. Now dogs can fundraise too. Just ask Jaspar.

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New Blog From Insightful Nonprofit Marketer

I'm so pleased that Marc Sirkin, nonprofit online marketing guru at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, commented on one of my blog posts recently. In doing so, he introduced himself and his great blog on nonprofit marketing, npMarketing Blog.

Tune in for Marc's laser insights on marketing innovations (LLS is big into word of mouth, aka WOM) and corporate partnerships, among other topics.

Funny coincidence. In a previous life, Marc spearheaded the March of Dimes' Share Your Story wiki (community website) that I featured in a recent post.

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Zig When They Zag to Punch Up Marketing Impact, ala Olympic Speed Skater Joey Cheek

OK, so if you've watched the Olympics much, or even read the highlights, you know that US speed skater Joey Cheek showed the world his generous and strategic soul when he won the gold medal in the 500 meter competition. Rather than focusing on personal pride and thanks (which is typical, and so the zag), Cheek focused his acceptance speech on his passion for Right to Play, a humanitarian organization that helps disadvantaged children worldwide gain physical benefits and develop life skills and strong values through play and sports.

But that's not all. Cheek went on to announce that he was donating his entire $25,000 bonus from the US Olympic Committee to Right to Play, and did so again with his $10,000 bonus when he won the silver in the 1,000 meter race. And he challenged his Olympic sponsors and other advertisers to do the same:

" I've always felt that if I ever did something big like this I wanted to be prepared to give something back. So ... I'm going to be donating the entire sum the USOC gives to me, which is $25,000."   

"In the Darfur region of Sudan, there have been tens of thousands of people killed," Cheek continued. "My government has labeled it a genocide. I will be donating it specifically to a program to help refugees in Chad, where there are over 60,000 children who have been displaced from their homes."

Way to go, Joey. And I don't mean the medals. Of course he could have donated his winnings without telling anyone. But in a radio interview, Cheek discussed his pre-race thinking on how to respond to the bonus, if he got one. He realized the great impact he could make by talking about Right to Play, its good work and his giving, rather than the standard thanks.

"I've learned how news cycles work," Cheek said, "and I've learned that there is a gold medal tonight, and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I could take the time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In doing so, he generated a flood of interest in the organization (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attention to a cause that is personally meaningful (and showed great personal generosity in doing so), rather than just making the personal donation.
• Did the unexpected in talking about Right to Play, donating his bonuses, and challenging sponsors to join him.
• Established himself as credible--in sharing the story of his personal experience with Right to Play--a model of citizenship, and intelligence (particularly significant in this cadre of what the Times calls "showboating, self-absorbed" Olympians). Cheek is now a credible philanthropist, following the model of Right to Play founder Johann Koss (a former speed skater himself). who has motivated fellow athletes to join him through his personal credibility and understanding of what's important to them.
• Detailed a clear and specific call to action, in challenging Olympic sponsors to join him in supporting the organization.
• Inspired others to do the same, as is evidenced by the upsurge in donations and visits to the Right to Play website.

It's likely that Cheek's impact will spill over into motivating athletes, Olympic and otherwise, who are Olympic fans, to volunteer with Right to Play. And Right to Play is ready to capture that interest, with its kiosk in the Olympic Athlete's Village, photo exhibit in Torino, and well-designed, user-friendly website with clear points of entry for prospective donors and volunteers.

And talk about viral marketing power. What's better to pass down the lane than the Joey Cheek story. Not only has his strategy generated huge recognition and dollars for Right to Play, it's done the same for Joey himself. As an example, Monday's New York Times featured a lengthy article on Joey's actions, deeming him the the "good-will ambassador" of the Olympics.  Joey. I'd say you're platinum.

Read more about Joey Cheek's philanthropic victory in this interview.

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Word of Mouth (aka viral) Marketing Has Huge Potential for Nonprofits

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) closed out its Basic Training conference with a bang,  and was widely reported on in venues as diverse as the New York Times, Advertising Age and blogs including that from the journalist-focused Poynter Institute to heavyweight PR firm Burson-Marsteller's e-fluentials.

What this says to me is that word of mouth (WOM) marketing (aka viral marketing, although that term is frequently restricted to info shared through online communication media only ) is becoming a firmly established strategy in the marketing portfolio. Most importantly for you, it's one that you should put to use immediately for your nonprofit or foundation.

I'm going to blog frequently about WOM but want to start today with some very useful definitions I pulled from conference coverage:

• What is Word of Mouth Marketing?
  • The act of a member of your audiences creating or distributing information to other audience members.
  • An outcome (of individuals spreading information to one another), not a set of tactics you implement.
  • Organic - just sort of happens, but you have to launch it
  • Amplified - results from activity by marketers.

What dismays me is that in reviewing the conference attendee list, I see only a few nonprofits and no foundations. Kudos to Northeastern University, NPR, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Texas Tech Unniversity.

You can consider word of mouth marketing the oldest marketing channel. What's older than gossip and whisper down the lane? And it's even bigger now that we're in a consumer-controlled world. You can't ignore the power of your nonprofit audiences, so why not work with it?  Otherwise, your organization will miss out on a vital, vibrant communications opportunity. Don't be last to the party. Just jump in.

Learn how in my series of forthcoming posts on setting WOM in motion for your organization.

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