Thanks to the 154 nonprofits who completed our recent survey about what should go on the webinar schedule. Here are the top three webinars you selected.

1. How to Create, Reuse, and Manage All of Your Content

This webinar has been scheduled for Thursday, November 4. Registration will open late August.

2. Rethinking Your Newsletter Strategy

This webinar will be held Thursday, September 9. Registration will open in two weeks.

3. Starting and Growing Word-of-Mouth Campaigns

I’m looking for a good guest speaker for this one, but it will mostly take place in October. Stay tuned!

The following people, randomly selected, won an a la carte pass to the webinar of their choice. Thanks for helping me with the schedule!

• Becky Rocker, Jewish Family Service Association
• Lee Ann Kolker, EMQ FamiliesFirst
• Alicia Searfoss, National Relief Charities
• Jerry Borton, Joni and Friends Greater Philadelphia
• Felice Mancini, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
• Hamidah Glasgow, The Center for Fine Art Photography
• Lauren Maul, Gateway Greening
• Jennifer Milburn, Kentucky Waterways Alliance
• Vicki Testerman, Volunteers of America of Minnesota
• Amanda Lopez, Center for Spirituality at Work

P.S. Here’s what’s coming up on the webinar schedule . . .

August 11: Anatomy of a Nonprofit Video – How To Plan, Produce, and Promote Your Next Video (Featuring Michael Hoffman of See3)

August 19: Using Metaphors and Themes to Get Your Messages Across

August 26: Using Photos Effectively: From Cool Composition to Rock the Stock (Featuring Claire Meyerhoff)

September 1: Funny Ha Ha! Using Humor in Nonprofit Communications (Featuring Kerri Karvetski of Company K Media)

September 8: How to Be an Effective Spokesperson for Your Nonprofit (Featuring Thom Clark of Community Media Workshop)

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

If your online marketing program isn’t quite what it should be, these five webinars over the next three weeks can help!

July 14: Integrating Your Website, Email Newsletter, and Social Media Sites

July 20: 10 Ways to Engage Your Facebook Fans

July 21: Twitter for Nonprofits: The Truth about Tweeting for Your Cause (Featuring John Haydon)

July 28: Building Your Lists of Email Subscribers, Friends, and Followers

July 29: Writing for the Web, Email and Social Media

Each webinar is $35,or you can attend all of them with the All-Access Pass, which is $145 (the Pass includes all of our August and September webinars too). If you can’t make the webinars live, don’t worry, your registration includes the recordings too.

If you want more in-depth assistance and my personal review of your online marketing program, sign-up for the Online Marketing Spa, which includes all the webinars and much, much more for $299. That e-clinic starts tomorrow, so sign up today if you are interested.

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I was going to wait until Tuesday to tell you about our new e-clinic for July, but what the heck. If you are at work today, you deserve a little bonus! (For those of you outside the U.S., this Sunday is Independence Day, which means most of America is slacking off today and Monday.)

July 14 – July 30, I’m hosting an Online Marketing Spa for nonprofit communicators.

If your online marketing looks a little tired or you feel like it needs a boost of energy, this e-clinic is for you.

You will discover fresh new approaches and learn how to eliminate your online trouble spots. You’ll also gain a sense of balance and tranquility when you get confirmation about what you are doing right and get clear direction and support on what you should do differently. You’ll get the training and customized consultations you need to rejuvenate your online marketing program this summer.

A Balanced Mix of Training, Networking, and Personal Coaching

The Online Marketing Spa is a balanced mix of online training, networking and discussion, and personal coaching.

Here’s what’s included:

Five  Webinars. You’ll learn about making the pieces of your online marketing program work together; how to build your email and social media lists; how to write for the web, email, and social media; and how to best use Facebook and Twitter. Your spa tickets includes access to the live events and to the recordings.

Essential Checklists. Worth the price of admission alone, these one-page checklists on more than a dozen online marketing topics will help you quickly hone in on what’s most important. We’ll cover

• Website Home Pages
• Donate Now Pages
• Blogging
• Email Newsletters
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Video (including YouTube)
• Photography (including Flickr)
• Internet Radio and Podcasting
• Search Engine Optimization
• Building Your Email List, Friends, and Followers
• Integrating Your Website, Email Newsletter and Social Media Sites
• Writing for the Web, Email, and Social Media

You’ll never be confused again about where you need to start with your online marketing.

Ideas from Other Nonprofit Communicators. Other participants in the e-clinic will give one element of your online marketing program the Spa Treatment, sharing their reactions and ideas on what you are doing and how you could do it even better. This kind of feedback is priceless!

You’ll also be able to discuss each webinar on our Spa Discussion Boards with other participants, so you can share ideas, ask questions, and think creatively with other nonprofit communicators about ways to apply what you are learning.

A Personal Review of Your Program. I will  personally review up to three elements of your online marketing program and give you detailed comments and ideas in a screencast video that you can share with others on your staff. You’ll see what I’m seeing as I review your online marketing program, pointing out exactly what you are doing well and suggestions for ways to improve in the short-term and long-term.

Special Bonus. I will be recording interviews with online marketing experts in July to fill out the program. You’ll be the first to hear them!

You’ll leave the e-clinic with the knowledge and know-how to rejuvenate your online marketing program.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Let me make it even better . . .

If you register now, I’ll knock $100 off the registration fee, so entry to the Online Marketing Spa is only $299 instead of $399. We only have space for 25 nonprofit communicators, so reserve yours now, before the rush next week!

Register Now for the Online Marketing Spa

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I’ve been listening intently to all of the great ideas you’ve been sharing with me about the kinds of coaching programs you want on nonprofit marketing and communications. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to create three different coaching programs over the next three months (It’s just too much to cram into one month). In May, we’ll cover nonprofit writing. In June, it will be nonprofit communications strategy. In July, it will be online marketing.

Each e-clinic will be an intensive month-long program with up to 10 participants that includes webinar trainings, group discussion, and personal feedback and coaching with me.

Let’s start with May’s program, which is now open for registration, called  ”20 Days to More Powerful Nonprofit Writing.” It’s especially for those of you who want to make your writing more engaging and effective. It starts Monday, May 3 and runs through Friday, May 28. Details here.

In Week 1, we’ll look at “Writing about the Right Stuff” which includes big-picture decisionmaking on what to write about, your content creation strategy, and your editorial calendar.

In Week 2, we’ll get into language and style choices with “Writing with Passion and Purpose.” We’ll also look at writing for the heart and for the head.

In Week 3, we’ll explore “Writing Great Stories about Real People” and tap into your inner storyteller.

Week 4? That’s up to you. Participants will decide what’s missing from the program or what they want to explore more deeply in the last week of the e-clinic.

I’m only accepting 10 participants into the e-clinic because I want to make sure I have adequate time to spend with each person and with the group as a whole. The price is $399, but if you register this week, I’ll knock off $100. The fee will go back up from $299 to $399 over the weekend. Reserve your spot now.

P.S. I’ve also opened registration for the next session of the “Freelance Writing for Nonprofits” program. This one isn’t for nonprofit staff – it’s for freelance writers/editors who want to work for nonprofit clients.

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I’ve made some changes to our All-Access Pass to Nonprofit Marketing Guide that now make it easier for you to get a quick consultation with me on whatever issues you are struggling with at the moment.

In addition to getting all of our webinars, when you sign up for the All-Access Pass, you will now be eligible to book a 30-minute consulting appointment with me, whenever you want, as often as you want. Each appointment is $75, and I’ll do my best to meet with you within three days of your request. To make scheduling a little easier, I’m blocking off a couple of hours each week specifically for All-Access Pass Office Hours and will publicize those times to our Pass holders.

Nonprofit executive directors and communications staff have used these Office Hours appointments recently to get my review of a website, to brainstorm changes to a tagline, to get feedback on priorities in a marketing plan, and to hash through what kind of Facebook strategy made sense for the organization.

Office hours used to be part of our Pass *Plus*, which we launched in January. But after three months, I’ve concluded that two different kinds of passes to Nonprofit Marketing Guide were just too confusing. So we are going back to one All-Access Pass, and here’s what is now included:

- Live Webinars. RSVP for any of our upcoming webinars or conference calls without paying again.

- Recordings. Get unlimited access to our recording archive. We always have at least the last three months of recordings available, which means you really get access to six months of training with the 90-Day Pass.

- Monthly Q & A  Calls with Experts. Once a month, you’ll be invited to participate in a special question-and-answer coaching conference call with a guest expert.  On March 30, our guest is Sarah Durham. On April 21, it’s Gail Perry. These calls are exclusively for All-Access Pass holders — no a la carte registrations.

- Office Hours. You can book 30-minute conference calls or online meetings with me to get one-on-one consultations on your projects, feedback on your ideas, etc. for just $75. Office Hours are exclusively for All-Access Pass holders — no a la carte registrations.

- E-Books. You also get free access to our e-books, including “How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report” and “The First 100 Days of Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job.”

- Weekly Email Updates. You’ll receive a weekly update reminding you about upcoming training, new resources on the site, Office Hours time slots, and other specials for Pass holders only.

A three-month All-Access Pass is $145 (order here). You save 20% when you get the Annual All-Access Pass for $465 (order here). Office Hours consultations are an additional $75 per meeting. You’ll find information on how to request a consultation on the All-Access Pass Dashboard once you login with your Pass.

My goal is to provide affordable, flexible ways for small nonprofits to get the nonprofit marketing training and coaching they need. I hope this gets us another step closer to that goal!

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I just realized I hadn’t shared our webinar line-up with you recently, so here’s what’s coming up in the next few weeks:

March 18: On-the-Spot E-Newsletter Makeovers: Get Your E-Newsletter into Better Shape

March 23: Getting Your Nonprofit Started with Social Media

March 30: Q &A Conference Call: Personality and Positioning with “Brandraising” Author Sarah Durham. This is for our Pass *Plus* Members Only.

April 14: Forget the General Public! How to Define, Research and Reach Your Target Audience

April 20: Switching from a Print Newsletter to an Email Newsletter

I will also be doing a free webinar (charitable donation requested, but not demanded) in early April on beating nonprofit writer’s block. More on that in the next few days.

Will You Be Attending NTC?

I’ll be attending the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Atlanta, April 8-10. Along with Nancy Schwartz and Big Ducks Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter, I’ll be hosting a meet-and-greet there for nonprofit marketing and fundraising people on Thursday, April 8 at 1:30 p.m. If you read this blog and will be there, please introduce yourself!

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

This week I started an intensive month-long coaching program for freelance writers who want to serve nonprofit clients. I limited the program to just 10 freelance writers, because I wanted the whole group to be able to interact and for me to be able to answer questions directly and fully.

Several communications directors at small nonprofits, when learning of this program, said

“Hey, Kivi, what about us? Where’s our intensive coaching program on how to be better writers for our organizations?”

That’s a great question!

I’d be happy to create a program like that for you, but I need to know exactly what YOU want out of it. Help me get the mix right.

Here is what Susan, one of those communications directors, said she’d like to see in a program like this:

Communication Strategy: how best to prioritize all elements of our communications strategy, including marketing presence, media relations, and social media.

Writing: how to most effectively communicate our messages to our target audience in a compelling, concise and consistent manner.

Social Media: determine the most effective strategy to leverage social media to increase visibility and reach (Facebook Fan, Twitter, LinkedIn, others?)

Media Relations: how to develop relationships with key media contacts and provide relevant information on a timely basis; how to balance outreach to traditional print/broadcast media with outreach to the online influencer community.

So Susan is looking for a good mix of the strategic and the tactical. How about you?

Creating a tight peer network for the participants would be one of my goals for the program, which I think means that I should define some of the characteristics of the people who will be allowed to participate in any given “class.”  Who would you want to be in a class like this with? Is 10 people the right size? What do think about these limits (or strong suggestions)?

• Nonprofits of a certain size (determined by overall budget or communications budget or by number of staff dedicated to communications)
• Years of experience as a communications director
• Current state of marketing program (e.g. just getting into email marketing or social media, versus more mature online programs)

Some people have also talked about preferring to network with people who do the same general types of work they do, e.g. groups that provide direct social or health services to people, versus groups that are more education or research oriented. Does that matter to you?

Finally, how many weeks would you want to commit to something like this? The freelancer program I’m doing is four weeks, with a live webinar once a week, and new content posted every business day for consumption and discussion. Participants must complete at least one challenge assignment per week (they can pick from three a week). We also have a private email discussion list.

Please let me know what you think on any or all of these questions by leaving a comment or emailing me directly at kivi@ecoscribe.com. If you are getting this blog post via email, you can reply to that email as well. Same goes if you are reading on Facebook.

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I’ve been searching for a new way to give those of you who are interested in my take on your work — in other words, you want some advice, a quick review of something you are working on, or a brainstorming partner — a quick and affordable way to get it. I’ve also heard from many of you who regularly attend my webinars that you’d like to be able to take the next step and talk with me about how to use what you’ve learned in your specific situations.

Here’s what I’ve come up with: The Pass *Plus*

This is like our regular All-Access Pass to the weekly webinar series, but with two important extras. In addition to getting access to all of the live and recorded training, you also get personal coaching in two ways:

1) Access to a monthly coaching call with me and a guest expert. In January, it’s our media relations expert Claire Meyerhoff. Branding and messaging expert Nancy Schwartz will be joining us in 2010 as well. These calls will be much smaller and more informal than our usual trainings, so everyone who wants to will have a chance to talk and get questions answered.

2) Access to my office hours schedule. Each week, I’ll open up a few hours on my schedule for Pass *Plus* Office Hours. The times will vary week to week. You’ll be able to sign up online for 15- or 30-minute appointments, which can be either conference calls or GoToMeetings. I’m not limiting the number of appointments you can make at this time . . . we’ll see how it goes and adjust as needed.

The Pass *Plus* is on sale now through December 31 for just $155 for 90 days or $499 for the whole year. Those prices will go up on January 1 to $220 and $705 respectively. Get your Pass *Plus* today and you’ll save a bunch.

If you are just interested in the training, it’s still a good idea to get your All-Access Pass now. The current 2009 prices of $97 for 90 days and $330 for one year will also be going up to $145 and $465 on January 1.

P.S. Here’s what’s coming up next on the training schedule . . .

January 7 Teleconference: Trends for 2010 and Your Marketing Plan for the New Year

January 12 Teleconference: Nonprofit Marketing: Doing It Yourself Without Doing Yourself In

January 21 Webinar: How to Write a 4-Page Nonprofit Annual Report – A Crash Course Webinar

January 27 Webinar: Integrating Your Website, Email Newsletter, and Social Media Sites

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

I’m planning out the schedule for our webinar series in early 2010 and need your brilliant perspective  - really. You know what you need better than I do!  What belongs on the schedule, and what doesn’t?

Take this quick survey to rate the topics we are already considering, and to tell us what’s missing. The top voter getters will definitely get on the schedule before March.

When you complete the survey, you can enter a drawing for three All-Access Passes. These passes let you attend every webinar we host for 12 weeks, and also get you access to our archive of recordings and more.

You decide what training you need and want most; I’ll do my best to deliver. Let me know what you think now.

P.S. Don’t miss our next two webinars:

Thursday, November 12: Getting Media Attention for Your Good Cause

Wednesday, November 18: Quickie Annual Reports: Simple Ways to Share Results with Supporters

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.

There are five spots left in this Wednesday’s Online Fundraising Bootcamp – a special e-clinic limited to just 20 nonprofits. Want to join us?

End-of-year fundraising season is upon us. Are you ready to raise as much as you can online? If not, don’t worry. That’s what the Online Fundraising Bootcamp E-Clinic is for.

During this three-hour e-clinic (we’ll take two short breaks), you’ll learn about the must-knows and must-dos of the three elements of successful online fundraising today:

(1) A website with a great home page and a great “Donate Now” page.We’ll look at what you need on both your home page and your Donate page to inspire donors to give — and what you need to leave off. We’ll also discuss fundraising campaign landing pages. For those of you who don’t currently accept online donations or who are unhappy with a current provider, we’ll quickly review your options.

(2) A targeted email marketing program. A robust and healthy email list is directly tied to online fundraising success. We’ll review what goes in a good fundraising email message — and what goes in all of the other email messages you should be sending in between the times you ask for money. We’ll also review appropriate ways to say Thank You for an online gift.

(3) A social media presence to help spread the message. While email is essential to online fundraising, social media can also significantly boost your results, while adding new people to your circle of friendly supporters. We’ll look at how you can use social media such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to support your fundraising campaigns.

Registration is $75 — a great investment in your online fundraising program. Learn more and register here.

Want a quick consult with Kivi Leroux Miller? All-Access Pass Holders to Nonprofit Marketing Guide can now reserve 30 minutes on Kivi’s calendar for only $75. Fast, affordable way to get answers and advice. Get the Details.