Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at a conference in Nashville for Neighborhood Networks, a HUD program that supports nonprofits who run technology centers in and around public housing projects. The session was on nonprofit marketing, and I gave my talk on nonprofit website basics. On the panel with me was David Zermeno, executive director of Operation P.E.A.C.E., a Neighborhood Network center in Boston.

David shared several great stories about how simply being nice to people and providing really good customer service had created wonderful opportunities for his organization - perhaps more so than any other traditional marketing tricks. I asked David if he’d be willing to share one of his stories here and he agreed.

Here’s David’s story in his own words:

One day Gloria, a senior citizen, came into my center saying, “What’s this email thing all all about? My daughter-in-law keeps asking me to take a computer class and get an email account so we can communicate throughout the day. She won’t get off my back, but I hate computers. I’m so afraid of them. Do you think you can help me?”

The first thing I did was make sure she felt welcome the minute she walked in the door. “Thank you so much for coming in, Gloria,” I said. “Don’t be afraid,” said the other seniors in my computer class for seniors. “We all had the same fear when we started.” “You see that?” I said. “I’ve never met anyone who I couldn’t help. So have a seat; I’ll have you up and running with email in no time.” As I starting teaching her, I just tapped her on the shoulder and focused on her quick progress.

With her new email account, she became a regular in my computer class for senior citizens every Monday morning where they listen to jazz music and use my class as a community of hip seniors who have access to technology.

Shortly afterwards, Gloria told me her daughter-in-law was very happy and impressed with my computer program for senior citizens. Having an ability to communicate as a family throughout the day, their emails had brought them closer together and had clearly strengthened their relationship.

One day her daughter-in-law called to personally thank and inform me of a grant that was intended to serve community programs like my program for seniors. She strongly encouraged me to apply and gave me a lot of important information. She also informed me that she was also on the panel and would make sure that the trustees knew what a difference my programs were making for families like hers. I couldn’t have a better person as an advocate for my proposal. It was valuable marketing that money could not buy.

That experience taught me some important lessons when it comes to marketing:

1. Treat everyone well and make sure that each person feels welcome.

2. We are all connected, so never underestimate anyone. This senior citizen was the best connection I could have asked for.

3. People are going to talk about you. This is direct marketing. So make sure that you treat people well and give them a reason to promote you with a positive image.

It’s Kivi talking again . . .  this is just one of the stories David shared. He has many more just like it. Be nice. It works.

In preparation for tomorrow’s webinar on how to write your nonprofit’s stories (registration is open until 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday 5/14/08), I’ve been updating my list of good storytelling examples on nonprofit websites and thought you’d enjoy reading them too.

I mentioned some of these in my earlier post on Five Questions Nonprofits Should Answer with Stories, but if I repeat them here, it’s because they are that good.

National CASA is my current favorite. The video vignettes on the homepage with both children and volunteers are incredibly powerful, in a very short amount of time. The site also features some written stories, and while still good, they aren’t nearly as moving as the videos.

Interplast. Their blog contains wonderful stories about how their teams are repairing cleft lip and other birth defects around the globe. Lots of great before-and-after photos that really take you into the lives of the people they are helping.

Covenant House California, a homeless shelter for youth, features multiple success stories right on the home page. Each story explains the specific challenges the teens faced and how Covenant House helped them regain control over their young lives. Covenant House clearly inserts itself into each story, but leaves the teen as the central character, as it should be.

ONE Northwest, a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits with technology needs, shares several client stories. While these don’t fall into the “touching” or “inspirational” category like those above, they do clearly show the difference they are making for the organizations receiving their assistance. If you do capacity building or provide services to other organizations, rather than individuals, you’ll find yourself telling stories like these.

DonorsChoose obviously has great material to work with — who doesn’t like helping little kids learn? — but I especially like the way that this organization offers both short case studies and quickie testimonials.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships website shares stories from a variety of community-based organizations that have received foundation funding. The foundation paid for storytelling training with Andy Goodman, so you’ll find some really well-developed and crafted stories here.

Heifer International uses stories throughout its website. I especially like their founding story.

HSUS also uses lots of stories and is quite skilled at taking the plight of one animal and using it to illuminate greater institutional injustices, whether its factory farming or puppy mills.

Read my other storytelling posts and check out my storytelling training.

Last week, guest blogger Claire “Voyant” Meyerhoff explained how she was going to use the Triple Ps (Precise Perfect Placement) to get some media coverage for one of her pro-bono clients, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham, NC. Claire sent me another update yesterday.

Here she is on Mother’s Day, with volunteer stylist Natasha Bieber and Amanda Lockyer of Welcome, North Carolina. Lockyer and her husband and son are staying at the Ronald McDonald House while their infant daughter, Gracie Jean, is in the NICU at Duke. Nine-week-old Gracie Jean was born with an abnormally small heart and needs a transplant.

The Raleigh News and Observer’s Ruth Sheehan did a lovely column titled “Mothers’ Tribute a Cut Above” on May 5, the Monday before Mother’s Day. Claire hoped an N&O photographer would show up at Ronald McDonald House on Mother’s Day, but the assignment manager said there weren’t enough photographers to cover everything. However, he was very helpful in giving Claire information on how to get photos to him to be placed in the paper and their website.

With less than 24-hours notice, Claire contacted her friend, Dave Horne, a professional photographer (www.davehornephotography.com). Dave saved the day, taking more than 100 photographs free of charge and offering them free and clear.

In her next guest blog post, Claire will talk about how she used those photos.

The moral of this PR story so far: When the assignment editor hands you lemons, keep asking questions. He may give you the recipe for lemonade.

Michele Martin at The Bamboo Project has posted this week’s Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants. You’ll find posts on everything from using celebrities in your promotions to writing like a human being.

Next week the Carnival will be hosted by Rosetta Thurman at Perspectives from the Pipeline. She’d like you to complete this sentence: “It would be easier to work in nonprofits if . . .“

By Guest Blogger Claire “Voyant” Meyerhoff

On Monday, I gave you my new acronym for getting press coverage — the Triple Ps: Precise Perfect Placement. I explained how I was going to put it to the test this week for a Mother’s Day event.

So here’s my casual Friday update. Like I said, I did a very precise pitch to get my pro-bono nonprofit client some publicity. I made a couple of phone calls and sent an email.

First, the event:

My hairstylist Janice and I are going to the Ronald McDonald House of Durham on Mother’s Day. Janice is going to cut hair for the moms who have more on their minds than their hair. They’re far from home, caring for a seriously ill child.

Janice and I did this last year and it was a big hit. It all started when we learned (while she was doing my hair) that we both dislike Mother’s Day because our moms are gone (as in deceased).

My goal this year is to get some QUALITY coverage for the Ronald McDonald House of Durham. I called the Raleigh News and Observer and followed up with an email. Granted, I spoke to the Executive Editor, who is an old acquaintance, and he offered to pass along the info the weekend editor. Still, a good story is a good story. I’m hoping they send a photographer to take some nice photos of the Moms — and that these photos will be in their print edition and on their website.

I made one other phone call — this one to N&O columnist Ruth Sheehan. Now, while the House is in Durham, we hope to expand our donor base in Raleigh, since there is no Ronald McDonald House there. So the N&O is a natural choice. I read Ruth’s column all the time and thought she might like this story.

The key words here are: I THOUGHT SHE MIGHT LIKE THE STORY.

Not — I want her to do the story, or she SHOULD do the story, just . . . hey, she might like this . . . it might be right up her alley. I’m familiar with THE TYPE OF STORY Ruth covers and realize she is always on the lookout for good stories. I know my story is a good story, because when I tell people about Janice cutting hair for the Mom’s, people say, “wow, that’s really great!”

A few days later, Ruth called. We set up a time to meet for coffee. We had a lovely chat and I gave her Janice’s phone number.

A few days later, this is what turned up in the Raleigh News and Observer.

I think the Triple P’s are working, don’t you?

Earlier today I emailed my Nonprofit Marketing Tips newsletter out to subscribers. It’s a free e-newsletter that I send 2-3 times per month, usually with at least two full-length articles and several shorter blurbs. While there is some overlap in topics, the articles in the e-newsletter usually do not appear on the blog and vice-versa.

You may be thinking, “Kivi, I already read your blog and now I should subscribe to your e-newsletter too?” That’s up to you, of course. But if you want to get *all* of the free advice I have to offer, you should.

The issue that went out earlier today includes an article on how to reach out to 20-somethings. Yes, I posted a similar article last week with tips from Sam Davidson (who’s speaking on tomorrow’s webinar), but the e-news article is a brand new one, full of tips from Sarah Sladek of Limelight Generations.

I also wrote an article on how to apply three trends in nonprofit marketing to your donor newsletter, and that article has not appeared on the blog and won’t, at least in its current form.

As with a subscription to this blog, you can unsubscribe from the e-newsletter or change your email address at anytime, easily and automatically. Why not try it, and if it’s too much, simply unsubscribe? You’ll find the sign-up form in the left sidebar of the Nonprofit Marketing Guide homepage.

It’s been quite some time since I was tagged with a meme, and since this one is from Jeff Brooks, and he just did a webinar for me last week, I am compelled to cooperate.

Here is what I am supposed to do:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Now, nothing is ever as easy as it seems in my life, or maybe I just prefer to break the rules more often than I should.

The closest book is “Inside Dreamweaver MX” which is three inches thick and therefore under my monitor to raise it to a more ergonomic level on my desk. It’s staying put, for which I’m sure you are eternally grateful.

The second closest book is a hot new marketing book I’m really interested in starting: “Personality Not Included: Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity and How Great Brands Get It Back” by Rohit Bhargava. When I follow the directions above, I get to a passage about Kiva.org! This is great, because it’s about a nonprofit, but as much as I love Kiva, I’m sick of everyone (including me) using them as a great example of seemingly every nonprofit online marketing tactic out there, so I’m moving on to book #3.

It’s a reference book called “Metaphors Dictionary” and the listings on page 123 are about “Difficulties.” Here’s your passage:

“These questions are nuts beyond my ability to crack.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, Dedication letter, Kidnapped, 1886. This is a common metaphor, usually expressed as “a tough nut to crack.”

“Life is thick sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy but to pass quickly through them.” — Voltaire. Voltaire also referred to life as “a war.”

Now, whom to tag next? I’m going with five people who I’ve been following and enjoying on Twitter lately:

Marc Pitman

David Brazeal

Cat Laine

Cara Byington

Social Butterfly

By Guest Blogger Claire “Voyant” Meyerhoff

Fanfare please.

“Ladies and Gentleman, Claire Meyerhoff and Nonprofit Marketing Guide present a new acronym . . .”

PPP

The Three P’s of Pitching will help your nonprofit get better coverage! It will solve all your public relations problems! It will build strong bones twelve different ways! Nine out of ten doctors recommend it!

Or maybe the Three P’s will simply give you a new way of looking at taming that beast called “Media Coverage.” I will now reveal the words behind our acronym . . .

3P’s of Pitching

• Precise
• Perfect
• Placement

If you’re the lucky gal or guy in charge of “getting coverage” for your organization, maybe this is your strategy: You write a press release, send it to every news outlet in town, then make follow up calls. Then you’re disappointed when you don’t get coverage. And it really is a good story.

Some media consultant types do the “blanket pitch.” They contact every single reporter they know, or don’t know, and pitch the same story to everyone. They blanket the city with press releases, jamming the e-mail boxes of every assignment editor, reporter, associate producer, desk assistant and newsroom secretary in the market. Even the guy who services the vending machine at Action News 15 gets the e-mail, “Nonprofit Announces Boring Survey.”

Not me. I do a very targeted pitch. Precise Perfect Placement.

Since Kivi likes exciting experiments, I’m going to bring one to her Laboratory . . .

I’m in charge of a certain nonprofit’s small event on Mother’s Day, May 11, 2008. My entire media strategy includes two phone calls, one e-mail and then some follow-up phone calls.

Next Monday, May 12th, I’ll let you know how it went.

Hopefully, I’ll have good news (and my client will have made news).

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Want more of Claire’s advice? You can listen to her teleseminar with Kivi earlier this year called “Getting Reporters to Cover Your Nonprofit” for free! Get the mp3 link now.