I recently shared some advice in a Chronicle of Philanthropy article on Tools to Schedule and Plan Your Social Media Outreach. Using Facebook and Twitter alone, without an additional management tool, isn’t the smartest approach to your social media. Sure, you can do it that way, directly using only the apps or the .com sites,…
Hello from the clear skies 30,000 feet somewhere above Mississippi! I’m on my way to San Jose, CA today for the Nonprofit Technology Conference. It’s my favorite national conference for nonprofit communicators. Even if you can’t attend in person, you can still gain a ton from this conference. Each session includes “collaborative notes” which are Google…
If you want people to sign up for your email newsletter, you have to give them a reason to do it. What’s the value? What’s in it for them? Here are three e-news sign-up boxes on website home pages that I recently came across and why I like each approach . . . Amnesty International…
Trying to improve the open rates for your email newsletters? You can try changing up your content, your format, your subject lines, your frequency, and even who the newsletter comes from. Or, you can change who receives your newsletter. We tried two of these tactics in the last six months with our weekly email newsletter…
I’ve used this grid a few times recently when talking about whether the frequency of nonprofit communications — especially email — is too much or too little. You can’t really have that conversation without also talking about the quality of that content. Let’s walk through it . . . Low Frequency/Low Quality (Lower Left)…
After working closely with more than 100 nonprofit communications directors over the years, I’ve seen just how important a strong working relationship between the executive director and the communications director is. Data in our most recent trends report confirms how essential these partnerships are too. I provided some advice to executive directors on improving their…
Feel like you’d be more productive if you could just manage your own attention better and limit distractions? I’ve got a challenge for you . . . pick one of the four tactics below and use it every day for a week. Do not (repeat) do not try them all! Pick just one and see…
We’ve found several instances lately of other bloggers reprinting content from this site without permission. While we are flattered that people like our work, and the work of our guest bloggers, and want to share it with their own communities, we must insist that “fair use” copyright rules are followed. What does “fair use” mean?…
How long should you spend working on an email newsletter? How much time do you need to invest in Facebook or Twitter to improve your engagement? While we can give you rough, anecdotal answers to questions like these, I’d much rather see you answer the questions for yourself. With your real-life data, you can then…
Twitter. The second fiddle. Always the bridesmaid. The step-child. Pick whatever metaphor you like, but Twitter is always coming in as the runner-up to big bad Facebook. But guess who’s there for Twitter, wanting to take it to the prom and even maybe marry it someday? Nonprofit communications directors! In our 2016 Nonprofit Communications Trends…
I love getting to meet our blog readers in person, so if you will be attending any of these events, please find me and say Hello! I’m usually around for awhile both before and after I speak. February 12-13, Tampa, FL, UST Annual Meeting (private). I’ll be leading some discussions on marketing campaigns and how to…
Here’s our third video in this week’s series on editorial calendars for nonprofits. See the earlier videos on using Excel and Google Calendars for editorial calendars and using Asana. If you prefer a project management tool that’s more visually oriented, you may like Trello. Let’s take a look at some ways you could use Trello for an…
