OK, I don’t really know what I am calling this thing. Smackdown Match-Up Head-to-Head Compare & Contrast Side-by-Side Something along those lines. Whatever we end up calling it, we are planning a series of blog posts and tip sheets that look at the communications of two national nonprofits working in the same space. Where are…
via GIPHY Shame. Embarrassment. TERROR! These are just three of the frightening emotions that email marketers have experienced after sending a mass email with a mistake. Sometimes the mistake is harmless, like a small typo. Sometimes it’s a DOOZY, like misidentifying a donor, sending to the wrong list, or using inappropriate phrases as placeholder text (stupid…
In mid-March, I started following 22 national nonprofits online with a fresh new email address and social media accounts. I selected them in pairs — two working on hunger, two international child sponsorship groups, two presidential foundations, etc. (Find the full list here.) It’s no surprise that advocacy organizations like the Humane Society and NARAL…
We can’t market alone, especially since our front-line colleagues are constantly talking about our organizations. Yet, all too frequently, marketers like us find ourselves frustrated and stuck—unable to “make” colleagues into the: Insight and story gatherers we depend on to accurately shape and personalize most likely to be remembered and repeated Powerful messengers we so…
via GIPHY Want to make your website better? And by better, I mean get more people to join your email list, sign up to volunteer, and donate. You could ask for user feedback, but what users say and do are often polar opposites. You could check out your aspirational peers for best practices, but your…
I’m thinking about hiring interns or apprentices here at Nonprofit Marketing Guide to help with some evolving ideas. But I’m not sure which, or what it would look like exactly, so I would love some feedback. For a variety of reasons, I don’t want another regular employee, at least right now. Nor do I want…
Many nonprofit communications directors feel like they work in a constant state of chaos. You likely feel overwhelmed and understaffed. Odds are you don’t have enough time to think or plan, so you just do, do, do. And the to-dos don’t stop coming. Your desk is the dumping ground for every good idea in the…
Happy Friday, everyone! Join me for some Mixed Links… Peter Panepento tackles the Giving Day fiasco in Give Local America Disaster Offers Lessons for Next Time on Beth Kanter’s blog. (You can follow and contribute to this conversation using #GiveDayLessons) Here are 36 Marketing Blogs your Nonprofit Should Start Reading Today. New to social media? Take a look…
We talk a lot about storytelling in the nonprofit sector: how stories build through their first, second, and third acts and how all story arcs need beginnings, middles, and ends. When I do storytelling training, I compare the stories that nonprofits tell to a TV series. You have the short-lived, episodic stories that start and…
First off, to everyone frustrated and exhausted by the massive Give Local America tech fail, this edition of Mixed Links is dedicated to you! We hope you will get to relax with a real beverage of your choice this weekend… Kivi is actively encouraging everyone involved to talk openly about what happened as there are…
For every email list, there is churn, churn, churn. People leave your list and emails bounce. Are you replacing those names? If not, your nonprofit email list shrinks every year to the tune of 12 percent or higher, according to the 2016 M+R Nonprofit Benchmarks Study (your mileage may vary, of course). Organic email list…
Yesterday, May 3, was Give Local America Day. In many of the 50+ communities that participated, today — May 4 — is now also Give Local America Day. That’s because Kimbia’s giving platform crashed for most of yesterday, so they had to extend the campaign into today. Kimbia is going to have hell to pay…
