Julia Reich

For those of you interested in the ongoing Komen-Planned Parenthood story, I will continue to update yesterday’s post at the bottom of the original content. Today we are moving on with a new topic . . .

Our resident design expert, Julia Reich, is back with the latest trends in logos. And if you are embarrassed with your organization’s current logo or think it’s just time for a change, be sure to join us February 8th for Julia’s webinar called, “Help! My Logo Sucks!” Julia will take a look at why some logos work and some don’t, and teach you how to evaluate your own logo. The webinar is for All-Access Pass Holders to our webinar series.

~Kivi

Guest Post by Julia Reich, Julia Reich Design

Designers – and clients we serve – should be aware of design trends that may impact our marketing and communication efforts.

So when the annual report on Current Logo Trends goes up at Logolounge.com, I hurry over.

It’s important to learn about design trends so we don’t jump on any stylistic bandwagons and replicate what others are doing. Marks should be classic, but not in the boring, conventional sense. I mean they should look just as fresh and impactful in five or ten years (or more) as they do today. Not trendy.

Of course, not all trends are trendy. As “a general direction in which something tends to move”, trends are a fascinating indication – in the words of logolounge.com’s founder, Bill Gardner – of “courageous experimentation” for the design and marketing space. “Some trends will emerge strongly while others will submerge and not be seen again. As part of a historical record, though, each is significant.”

Recent Trends

The visual online world continues to change the parameters of logo design. Ink used to be king, with print processes to factor into each design. For example, thin line weights have historically been frowned upon, since they can be too hard to read in dots per inch, once that letterhead flies off the offset lithography press. Alternatively, solid blocks of color were encouraged. Now we’re seeing thinner line weights due to successful online legibility.

(Since computer monitors are backlit, colors appear bolder and brighter than when we look at the same image on a printed medium, like a brochure, where the light is absorbed or reflected off the inked page surface).

Client: Advanced Lifeline | Design Firm: Allegra-East

Computers as design tools are encouraging the typical flat logo to take on new dimensions and shapes, so they see appear to fly off the page. With more brands being born and nurtured online, and with less print collateral weighing them down, colors have become lighter, brighter, oftentimes created with translucent overlays and gradients.

Client: Mom to Madre | Design Firm: 3 Bees

Other logo trends seem to be inspired by the ubiquity of online entities. For example, fruit are enjoying their moment in the visual identity spotlight – quite possibly due to Apple’s world dominance, followed by Blackberry in the near distance.

Client: Radius Disability Services | Design Firm: SASI Marketing

Speech bubbles have been very popular recently, perhaps due to all those Facebook “Like” symbols we keep seeing (and using).

Client: In The Life Media, Inc. | Design Firm: Guard Dog Brand Development

Cute is also seeing its 15 minutes of fame. I would guess this is due to Twitter’s omnipresent blue bird mascot.

Client: Goodness Grows Gardening Network | Design Firm: Trampoline

For more on the 2011 logo trends (and to access the annual archive dating back to 2003), visit logolounge.com and learn why mortar & pestles, the letter “O”, and the color brown were also popular logo trends this past year.

Trend or no, the rules of good logo design always apply. Learn more in an earlier article of mine on this blog, Tips to Evaluate your Visual Identity.

Julia is Principal of Julia Reich Design, which helps nonprofit organizations bring their mission to life with award-winning brand strategy, graphic design, and web design services. Clients love her team’s top-notch creative work combined with an affordable, personalized approach.

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My default content strategy for nonprofits is the Three Gs: Be Genuine, Generous and Grateful. Seems the being Generous part is the hardest, so I’m going to try to give you more examples of how nonprofits can be generous to their supporters.

It can start with identifying a problem your supporters are having. Take, for example, Facebook’s new Timeline profile layout, including the 850 pixels wide by 315 pixels high cover photo. It’s an odd shape for most of us! I went through about 10 pictures before I found one I could use on my profile.

Now this problem isn’t related to any particular nonprofit cause, so it may not be an obvious thing for you to jump on. But it’s a simple problem many of your supporters have, and by providing cover images, you show your generosity (while increasing your organization’s visibility).  A few nonprofits have already jumped on this, and you can too!

I noticed that Beth Kanter is sporting a cover from Best Friends Animal Society on her profile today (Happy Birthday, Beth!)

The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano put their supporter’s endorsement center stage with their cover images:

Here are a few others:

Tearfund

Natural Resources Defense Council

Ocean Conservancy

If you don’t want to brand the images as your own, you could simply offer some that allow your supporters to identify themselves as caring about or identifying with your issue in some way:

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness

There is some rumbling about how cover photos aren’t supposed to be for promotional purposes. But I wouldn’t worry about that as long as your intent is just for your supporters to label themselves as caring about your cause. I wouldn’t add fundraising messages though — stick to basic “I support this” language if you use it at all.

If you want to join in, here are a few quick tips.

• Pick beautiful images that your supporters would want on their own profiles. Include your very best stuff.
• Obviously, get the size correct (850 x 315)
• Overlay your logo, perhaps a phrase like “I support the (your name)”, and your Facebook or website URL
• Put them all in a Facebook album that you can link to.
• Explain how to use the photos: Supporters will need to save the image to their own computers and then upload it into their own album on their profile, and then make it the cover photo.

John Haydon offers more detailed advice on how to do this, including a template.

Cover photos will likely come to Pages at some point, so even if you don’t create cover images for your supporters, start thinking about what you want  on your nonprofit’s Facebook Page.  Hopefully Facebook will make it easy on all of us and keep the photo dimensions on Pages the same as on Profiles!

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

I’ve never liked fundraising thermometers.

For me, unless you are fundraising to increase global warming or to pay for a new heating system in your building, temperature rising in a thermometer really doesn’t make much sense as a visual for achieving fundraising goals. Sure, most people understand what you are saying, because fundraising thermometers have become so cliché, but I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to stick with bad artwork.

How you visually convey your goals should be a compelling part of your campaign!

This summer, I posted a question from Luke Reynebeau, a student board member and program coordinator for the University of Minnesota YMCA,  about alternatives for fundraising thermometers. I was so impressed with the creativity in all of your comments that I enlisted the help of Julia Reich Design to illustrate several of the ideas.

We’ve turned them into a free download to help you think more creatively about ways to show fundraising progress. It may be too late for this year’s annual campaign, but I encourage you to take a hard look at your goals, to get inspired by the e-book, and to think about changes you can make in 2012.

I also hope that the various providers of online fundraising pages will jump on this and start offering alternatives to thermometers too!

Download “No More Fundraising Thermometers!” Now

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Julia Reich

This is Part 2 in a series of posts that Julia Reich will share with us about how to hire a graphic designer or design firm.  ~Kivi

Guest Post by Julia Reich, Julia Reich Design

In my last post, “How to Hire a Graphic Designer or Design Firm, Part 1: Where to Look” I offered suggestions on where to turn to find designers to work with.

Assuming you’ve found some likely candidates, how do you narrow down your choices? I’ll cover what to look for in an independent designer or design firm so you can pick one with a sensibility and methodology (and pricing) that’s a good match for you and your organization.

Look & Feel

Aesthetics are surely subjective, but there are some standards that apply across the design discipline. In reviewing creative portfolios (which should be easy to find on any firm’s website), look for work that is accessible, straightforward, impactful, and memorable. Avoid trendiness. It should look in line with the current times, but also project into the future 5 or 10 years – do you think the work will be visually relevant then, too?

Media, Industries, and Sectors

When “shopping” for a designer, it’s typical to want to find someone that’s done the exact same thing you need. However, a proficient designer/design firm should be able to work on a broad range of projects. For example, if you need to have a website re-designed, but a colleague at another agency recommends their logo designer, ask the designer if they also do what you need, and look at samples of their work.

A good designer can be just as creative working with an organization in, say, the health care sector as they can in the performing arts for example. As long as they are curious and exhaustive in really getting to know you – by asking questions, talking to stakeholders, and researching your organization – don’t discount them right off the bat if you don’t see exactly the same kind of piece you’re looking for, or past clients that are similar to you, in their portfolio. In fact, sometimes it’s better to find someone that does not work within your field, so your designer comes at your project with a fresh, open approach.

I DO highly recommend finding a designer that works primarily within the nonprofit world. Not only are nonprofit needs unique from your corporate counterparts, but the culture and personality at nonprofits is different. Your designer should have the kind of expertise in creating materials that typify the nonprofit sector, whether that’s communicating diverse messages or designing campaigns that increase donations and awareness.

Finally, if you are looking for a logo design, there are a lot of designers who are highly talented doing this kind of creative work. But if you are looking to undertake a full-scale strategic branding project, take note of designers and firms which clearly state that they offer this service, and have the case studies and testimonials to back it up.

A Quick Note About Designers vs. Developers

When it comes to website projects, designers are not the same as developers. Designers, who are typically responsible for the aesthetics of a site and maintaining your brand online, do not always make great developers, and developers, who are typically responsible for the site’s functionality, can be terrible designers (of course, this is a generalization, and you could very well find talented individuals whose left and right brains are equally robust).

If you hire a solo designer, be aware that they may be partnering with another individual to do the development. This is a good thing, since each person on the creative team is doing what they do best. Ensure your designer is the main point person. If s/he is able to manage workflow and facilitate communication between yourself and the developer for the duration of the project, you should be in good hands.

Many firms are full-service operations, and can create your entire website from concept through completion. See if they have both designers and developers on staff. In either case, check out designers/design firms online portfolios – do you like their designs? Do the sites they create offer the kind of features and functionality you’d like for your site? Are you able to move around their clients’ sites easily, and is the experience enjoyable?

Read more here about designers vs. developers, and why knowing the difference can ensure a successful site.

The Interview

Arrange for three to five designers to visit for an in-person meeting to discuss their work and your project. Whether the designer chooses to display their work in an old-fashioned portfolio with hard copies, online, or using a PowerPoint presentation, here’s some tips on what to ask and look for:

• Is the work consistently strong, and in a style that resonates with you and the personality of your organization? (strong = accessible, straightforward, impactful, and memorable)
• Ask about the challenges inherent in each project, and how the client articulated what they needed. How successful was the solution the designer came up with? Are there quantifiable results, or client testimonials? Listen carefully for articulate and informed answers. Be aware of work that is pretty to look at, but does not solve the client’s unique problems.
• Find out if the work you are viewing was actually approved and produced/printed (good!), or if it is student/personal work (red flag alert!).
• Ask what the designer’s role was in each project. Look for someone who can manage an entire project from concept through completion, and work with a printer or developer to ensure quality control for the duration.
• Ask the designer to explain their process. You should come away from the meeting with a clear understanding of each phase, what the deliverables are and how they will be presented, how many rounds of revisions you’ll get, and what they expect you to provide/do.
• Be prepared to explain the full scope of work so the designer will be able to get back to you with a price estimate and/or proposal.

That Certain… Je Ne Sais Quois

Other than creativity and expertise, your designer of choice should be intelligent, inspired, and responsive to your needs. You should feel comfortable – not intimidated or awkward- communicating with them. Ultimately, a successful project – whether it’s a logo, brochure, or website – will be the result of a designer/client relationship with mutual rapport and respect.

Julia is Principal of Julia Reich Design, which helps nonprofit organizations bring their mission to life with award-winning brand strategy, graphic design, and web design services. Clients love her team’s top-notch creative work combined with an affordable, personalized approach.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Julia Reich

This is Part 1 in a series of posts that Julia Reich will share with us about how to hire a graphic designer or design firm.  ~Kivi

Guest Post by Julia Reich, Julia Reich Design

If you’ve never worked with a designer before, the task can seem daunting. I’ll try to demystify the process.

Intro
You may have just completed a strategic planning process, and are ready to hire a designer to overhaul your entire communication system with a newly refined vision and mission. Or you may have a discrete project on hand – a website, annual report, or logo design. Either way, the time has come to find the right person or firm for the job. How to find one that’s a good fit for you?

Where to Look

1. Referrals from Colleagues You Know
If you see work you admire being done for another organization, be direct and ask who they use, and if they would recommend that person/firm. In my experience, colleagues are happy to refer consultants and vendors they know, like, and trust.

Jana Byington-Smith, Executive Director of Camp for All Kids and President of Second Gift,  adds, “I also look for firms that work with clients repeatedly. I think this is an indicator of the ability to develop a good relationship – quality of relationship over the number of clients.”

2. Referrals from Colleagues You Don’t Know
There are several listservs and other groups serving the nonprofit community. One of my favorites is The Progressive Exchange, a helpful online community with over 8,000 members, whose goal is to “aid the online efforts of progressive causes, campaigns, and organizations”. If you seek help finding a web designer or developer firm, this would be a good place to post a query.

3. Online Portfolio Sites
These are sites where you can look through many different designer’s portfolios, and in some cases, post a job or project listing.

Behance is a highly visual portfolio site for all types of creatives. While you can narrow your search by various creative fields, alas, “nonprofit design” is not one of the search criteria.

AIGA, the professional association for design. You can search the Designer Directory by clicking on “Find a Designer” in the top right corner of the home page, which leads you to a listing of designers and links to their own websites. Any designer you find here is likely to uphold the group’s high standards. But be aware, some of the portfolios listed in the Jobs section could be students or recent grads, so if you prefer someone with more experience, tailor your search accordingly.

Creative Hotlist easily allows you to seek designers by location, category, and experience, or via any words you enter in the ‘search’ field.

4. Google Search
While this may sound obvious, a key word search in Google may yield positive results in finding a design firm that has expertise in your niche. Graphic design is a highly competitive field, and firms are willing to spend time & money to come up high in page rankings that are highly relevant to your search terms. Try making your search terms as specific as possible, avoiding generic search terms like “logo design”. We had one prospect find us recently by searching “New York web designer local food”. She found us because one of things we’re passionate about is working with clients who promote good and local food, nutrition, and healthy food systems – and Google found us.

5. Post an RFP
This is one of the standard ways that clients look for business partners. You post a Request for Proposal on your own site, or one like the RFP Database, and sit back waiting for the proposals to come flooding in. If I sound cynical, that’s because I think the RFP process is outdated and should be done away with. Why? From the designer’s point of view, most RFPs are not written thoroughly enough for the designer to be able to adequately respond.

Plus, wouldn’t it be better to garner responses from firms you have a relationship with already, or, if you don’t have any designer relationships, than referrals from people in your field that you trust and admire? If you’re still in the dark, look for proposals from firms that make an effort to establish personal contact and get to know you better, and your group’s unique needs. This could be a simple phone call or request to meet in person.

Your designer should be your strategic partner, working in collaboration with you to get to know your personality, goals, and challenges. If the project scope allows, they should be talking to your board, interviewing donors, and observing your communication processes. Let them make recommendations as how best meet your goals and overcome challenges. Designers learn more during the discovery process than could ever be encapsulated in an RFP, no matter how detailed.

If you insist on persisting, then it helps to write a good RFP.  I recommend Nancy Schwartz’s article, 8 Ways to Craft a Communications RFP Process that Works.

Where Not to Look
A brief note about a) the crowdsourcing trend, and 2) its evil stepsister, design contests. Don’t go there, and don’t do it! A lot has been written about this, so I don’t want to dwell in too much detail (or, perhaps I will in a future post). In brief, both of these concepts ask designers to work for free (“on spec”) by submitting designs that may not get chosen, and only getting paid for those that do, which is why crowdsourcing and contests are considered by many to be exploitative. This undermines the design profession and the value we bring to our relationship with our clients, while diminishing the quality of work you receive. Learn more here and at the NoSpec! site.

Once you’ve found some likely candidates, how do you narrow down the choices? In my next few posts I’ll cover what to look for in a designer/design firm, what to ask at the interview, and what to expect from your relationship once you’ve made a decision.

Julia is Principal of Julia Reich Design, which helps nonprofit organizations bring their mission to life with award-winning brand strategy, graphic design, and web design services. Clients love her team’s top-notch creative work combined with an affordable, personalized approach.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Today at Shelter’s Edge, the blog by ASPCApro (for animal sheltering professionals and volunteers), they ask, “Can we save more lives simply by taking better pictures?”

ASPCApro is considering whether or not to do formal research on this question, but the anecdotal evidence is pretty striking. Show us cute, in-focus photos of cats and dogs and they are more likely to get adopted than when we see out of focus, poorly posed photos of the very same animals.  CBS News recently did a story about this very phenomena. (Watch it here if you don’t see the player below).

After watching the amazing transformations that these animals seem to undergo simply by having a skilled photographer in the room, it makes you wonder: What other causes are missing huge opportunities to connect simply because they don’t have good photography? What difference would good photography make in your nonprofit’s marketing strategy?

Please share your thoughts in the comments . . . I’m sure this isn’t limited to animal organizations!

Full Disclosure: ASPCApro is a consulting client, but truth be told, I loved their blog way before they hired me to help with their content strategy! It’s a model example of how to blog for other professionals in your field.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

If you want website visitors to sign up for your email newsletter, you have to make it easy and give them a compelling reason to do so.

Let’s look at a few ways to do more than just say “sign up for the newsletter.”

Be More Specific About What They’ll Get

The easiest approach is to simply be more specific about what you are sending out in your newsletter.

Here’s the signup box from the Humane Society of the United States, promising the latest news and action alerts:

Here’s one from Network for Good, offering free tips with a clear benefit (improving your fundraising):

Let Them See a Sample

The Nature Conservancy’s sign-up box includes a “View Sample” link that takes you to the latest edition, so you can see what you are really signing up for.

Every Now and Then, Hijack the Home Page

While I don’t recommend you do this all the time, for specific campaigns, you can hijack your home page with an email list sign-up. Here’s one that United Way is doing right now, centered on a pledge to volunteer.  This is what you see on the home page . . . clicking Skip at the bottom takes you to the regular home page.

When you take this approach, your initial emails to the people who sign up should be focused on the pledge or campaign specifically, but then you can transition them to your regular e-newsletter. This same tactic is also used with online fundraising, particularly at the end of the year.

Want More Tips?

On Tuesday, August 23, 2011, I’m teaching a webinar called Building Your Lists of Email Subscribers, Friends, and Followers where I’ll share tips from nonprofits (as well as my own experience) on how to build your lists of e-newsletter readers, blog subscribers, and social media fans/followers.

What Does Your Sign-Up Box Look Like?

Nonprofits, tell us about your email sign-up box and how it’s working for you in the comments — and include a link to your website!

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

You know I am a fan of the “new and improved” nonprofit annual report — which I define as anything that is shorter, clearer, and easier for donors to understand than traditional annual reports. I especially like two- and four-pagers and videos. I’m collecting samples of “new and improved” nonprofit annual reports on this wiki, and encourage you to add examples too!

Franciscan Mission Service (FMS) recently published a two-page annual report. As you can see, it’s a self-mailer.  I spoke with FMS executive director Kim Smolik about the decision-making process involved in producing something this short.

Kivi: What did previous FMS annual reports look like?

Kim: Last year’s was a 6-page spread. It was a lovely promotional tool. But I wanted to go even shorter this year. Prior to that, we had never done a professionally published annual report. We would just type up highlights and stats in a Word document and share it with a limited group. It wasn’t posted online.

What was hard about doing just two pages?

You really have to choose what you want to highlight. What was the greatest accomplishment of the year, and then how can we communicate that?

Because of the space constraints, we dropped the letter from the executive director or president, so it was harder to communicate in a personal voice.

I think it’s still really important to have the call to action, thank you, accomplishments and financials in there, so you just have to be selective.

How did you decide on the format and layout?

We had to find a format to add some punch to the accomplishments. Just listing out 8 bullets would be boring. We needed a theme for them, and for the graphics, to pull it together.

How did you decide on the Bible verse that you used as the theme?

We brainstormed on our biggest accomplishments, and then thought, “What’s the theme here?” We thought it was really about growing the organization, and connecting, and strong partnerships. So we Googled Bible verses that have those themes. We were really happy when we found the one we ended up using, because the accomplishments broke down into those five sections nicely.

In addition to the letter, what did you have to leave out?

We did have to cut back on the financials. You have to be very selective and focus on the main things that you want to highlight. We originally had more text around the pie charts but it was too crowded. It just wouldn’t fit, so we cut that back even further. But the pie charts communicate what we want to say well enough.

What about the list of donors? That’s a big concern for many nonprofits when considering a shorter format.

We’ve never done the big donor lists, so that wasn’t a problem. We have a lot of small-dollar donors, and what if someone’s name is spelled wrong? It just seems like a potential disaster.

What changes would you consider for next year?

In the future, I would choose to use the outside page for more quotes or testimonials, to bring in the voice and personal touch more.

What other advice do you have for others considering a two-page format?

My best advice is to brainstorm what you are proud about, what you did really well, and then try to find a theme to pull it together.

You’ll find the FMS Annual Report and more examples on the Nonprofit Annual Reports Wiki we are curating. We’ll also present our “New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Reports” webinar again in December. If you’d like to view a recording of that webinar, you can do so right now by purchasing an All-Access Pass.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Julia Reich

Julia Reich has been guest blogging for us on graphic design topics. This post shows the creative process a design project can go through, while also helping you understand ways to graphically communicate ideas and data. Be sure to check out her first post on design style guides and second on evaluating your logo too.

Guest Post by Julia Reich, Julia Reich Design

The Challenge

Our client, School Food FOCUS*, recently asked us to re-design this marketing piece. The reason for the re-design? They felt it was not adequately communicating the scope of what they do and who they do it for. Plus it’s just kind of homely. (By the way, I’ve eliminated non-essential text and graphics from the page to avoid visual distraction).

It’s a challenge to visualize data clearly, effectively and attractively. Comprehension is critical (We find the amazing graphic work at GOOD magazine is always an inspiration).

But first, we need to know what this organization does. What’s their mission? School Food FOCUS works with the largest school districts nationwide to advocate for school meals that are more healthful, regionally sourced, and sustainably produced. “FOCUS aims to transform food systems to support students’ academic achievement and lifelong health, while directly benefiting farmers, regional economies, and the environment.”

In studying the old graphic carefully (above), we could see that FOCUS is reaching a lot of kids in the country’s big city districts. But that was only part of the story this organization needed to tell. The new design also needed to visually represent the following core concepts:

• FOCUS works with many of the nation’s public school districts, including the largest ones
• A lot of these districts offer a high percentage of free and reduced lunches to needy kids
• The nation’s largest districts convey the strongest market pull
• This buying power affects how school lunches at public schools are procured
• FOCUS is successfully helping the most students in the nation’s neediest schools eat better

The Creative Process
Round 1

In this initial solution, we dispensed with the clip art schoolhouses and decided to break up the main messages using several graphics:

• USA map showing locations of participating districts
• Highlight the total number of students reached by School Food FOCUS in large point type
• Emphasize the high percentage of free and reduced meal eligibility rates within School Food FOCUS’s partner districts

Plus we took a stab at drafting copy for a main headline and sub-headlines, enabling the reader to put the data visualizations into context.

(Note: for this round and subsequent rounds, data and text does not represent final numbers and copy.)

Round 2

However, the “donut” graphics, 32 in all, proved overwhelming to digest, so we removed those. And there was a big ol’ typo in the title. Also in this round:

• On the map, we highlighted not only all the participating districts with a red dot, but also emphasized which of these were very large, with over 100,000 students, using a red dot within a circle
• Made further changes to the second part to try to convey more effectively that School Food FOCUS helps those children most in need of healthy lunches
• Added a photo

Round 3

In this round, we responded to the following client feedback:

• They liked the addition of a photo, but requested one where the child is not eating a banana, which is not sustainably sourced (oops!)
• In the graphic comparing the Free and Reduced percentages of FOCUS districts vs. the national average, the little people figures weren’t working too well, because they wanted to see something that showed more clearly that the two percentages are being compared to one another. So we developed this version using a lunch tray, where the data is together in one graphic.

This project is a work in progress. As designers, we take pride in our creations that offer visual appeal. But is it functional? How successful have we been so far in communicating our client’s core messages?

Has your organization produced a compelling infographic you’d like to share?

(For more about infographics, with several great examples, see Smashing Magazine’s post on Data Visualization and InfoGraphics).

*”FOCUS”: Transforming Food Options for Children in Urban Schools

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

On Monday,  I asked if you could boil down your annual report to just six words. We are getting some great examples: check them out in the post comments!

But of course, I realize six words is probably not enough for most of you. What about a postcard? That’s more room, but still very short and readable, and one of the formats I advocate as the New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report. It’s a scaled-down version that can still work in print, or online, and that makes more sense for both you as the nonprofit marketer and fundraiser and for your supporters (it’s actually one of a handful of different formats that work for 2011).

After I presented this webinar in February, Elissa Schloesser at Visual Voice created a mockup of what a postcard annual report might look like.

And now she has produced a real one for a client:

I’m hosting the latest version of one of our most popular webinars, The New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report, on Thursday, June 24, 2011. Join us to learn how you can transform your annual report into something people will actually pay attention to.

Today’s Book Giveaway

Could a postcard annual report work for your organization? Why or why not?

Leave a comment below answering (especially the why or why not part), and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of  “#SocialMedia Nonprofit Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Nonprofit Social Media Engagement” by Janet Fouts with Beth Kanter. We’ll draw the winner next week, so you have plenty of time to add your ideas.

I’m giving away a book each day this week, in celebration of the one year anniversary of my own book’s release, The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause(on sale for $23.29 at Amazon).

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.