Do you break out in a sweat trying to write the first line of your email appeal or advocacy alert? And do you struggle with connecting ideas in your donor communications? You’re not alone. Even professional copywriters struggle with these all-important lines. If the first thing you say is confusing or dense or boring, chances are very high that…
At the start of each month, we send at least 10 writing prompts to the subscribers of our Monthly Nonprofit Writing Prompts E-Newsletter to get them thinking about articles, stories, press releases, blog posts, Facebook updates, letters, and other content for the following month. We send them a month ahead so you’ll have time to think about the ideas…
In case you are brand spanking new to social media, hashtags are words or phrases with the hash symbol (#) in front of them. The hash symbol creates a link and clicking on that hashtag will bring up other posts with that tag. Can you spot the hashtags in this tweet: Fillable Or Simple Button:…
Happy Friday! Let’s dive right into some Mixed Links… Third Space Studio and BC/DC Ideas are looking for smaller nonprofits with budgets under $2 million to round out survey data for their 4th annual Individual Donor Benchmark Survey. If you are headed to Austin in a couple of weeks for the Nonprofit Technology Conference, NTEN has Top…
Whether they are focused on your clients, donors or volunteers, profiles — or stories about people — should be a integral part of your content marketing plan. Letting your other program participants, supporters, and influencers in your world see what goes on behind the scenes or the reasons why real people get involved with your organization…
When someone new donates to your cause, do they get any kind of welcome kit beyond a receipt? How about e-newsletter subscribers? Do they get something special beyond a subscription confirmation? These “extras” are often called Welcome Kits and they can include several different kinds of items. What you include will depend on the kind…
Not getting buy-in for ideas you know can work from your higher ups is a major frustration among nonprofit marketers and fundraisers alike. How can you convince them to say “yes” to your new plans? Tom Ahern was gracious enough to let us reprint this article that originally appeared in his January newsletter. ~Kivi Guest…
How was your week? Join me for some Valentine’s Mixed Links, won’t you… Tis the season to show some love! Here are 21 Ways to Make Donors Your Valentine. Nonprofit Hub also has How to Show Your Donors You Care. And Pam Grow shares the Valentine’s Day Card she got in her latest edition of…
Do you ever feel like this? Like you’re totally overloaded, don’t know what to do next and can’t imagine how you’ll get it all done. I feel that way sometimes, and I bet you do too. It can happen even if you’re working from a marketing plan. Ugh! The reality is that having far too…
Haven’t gotten around to reading our 2015 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report yet? I know how it is. My reading pile is sky high too. Here are three surprises in this year’s report. Donor Retention is Finally a Priority For the first time in five years, donor retention has jumped ahead of donor acquisition as a…
We need more stories for this series! Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro. Heather Svoboda is the communications and development manager at the Cat Adoption Team (CAT). Located just outside Portland, Ore., CAT is the largest nonprofit, feline-only, adoption-guarantee shelter in the Pacific Northwest. In her role, Heather oversees CAT’s…
Is it me, or can everyone under 30 write, manage, code, photograph, design, analyze, train, present and strategize? Me? I’m not so good with the graphics. I’m getting better, but infographics and photo manipulation aren’t second nature to me. Sometimes, they’re a struggle. But I need visuals to communicate, to tell the story I need to tell, to motivate donors…
