5 characteristics of a winning email appeal

I’ve received a couple of email solicitations this week from nonprofits who are trying to urge me to make a last-minute gift.  And they’re very good.  Here’s what I like about them:

• They’re short and to the point. 
• They don’t drone on about how much the organization needs my help.
• They tell a story about someone they serve.
• They include a photo.
• There’s a link to the website where I can make my gift.

Kudos to Knox Area Rescue Ministries for the best one I’ve seen this season! (Good job Angie!)

Communicating clearly, take 2

Hmmm. Seems my great blog post yesterday on communicating clearly wasn’t clear. The video didn’t make it through for most of you. So, I’m re-posting it today, because it’s that good! See if you agree

Communication is key in relationships, and expecially in relationships with your donors.

You may think you’re doing a good job of keeping them informed, but are you really?

Watch this quick video and see if you can tell how unclear communication can literally sink a ship.

Can unclear communication sink your ship?

Communication is key in relationships, and expecially in relationships with your donors.

You may think you’re doing a good job of keeping them informed, but are you really?

Watch this quick video and see if you can tell how unclear communication can literally sink a ship.

Write what your donor wants to know

Communicating with donors and prospects is critical to fundraising.  Too often, we as fundraisers write without taking our donor’s point of view into consideration.  We simply spew what we think they need to know.  And it’s not necessarily interesting to them.

Remember that your donor doesn’t understand all the acronyms and jargon of your organization.  So translate for them.  Spell things out or better, use simple terms in the first place. Make your statistics and facts meaningful to the average person.  Be sure to tell your stories in a conversational tone that is easy to read.  Write what’s interesting to your donor.

The bottom line is this:  if you want your written word to be effectively communicated, put yourself in the donor’s shoes before you write the first word and try to think about what your donor cares about.  This simple exercise will have a tremendous impact on your written communications and likely be much more compelling for your donors to read.

Three great ideas to help you get the word out

Here’s a bit of info to help you get the word out about your organization from my fellow blogger Jason Dick from A Small Change.

 

Getting the message about your nonprofit out is one of the most important things you can do for your organization.  Here are a few things you can do to enhance what your nonprofit is doing.

Getting Started- Approach a local chamber of commerce and ask if you can present to them about your nonprofit.  Get to know the businesses in your community by co-hosting a networking event with the chamber at your building.  If you are a faith-based organization (or even if you’re not) talk to the pastor at a couple of local churches and ask if you can present to their congregation.

Growing the Relationship- Use the relationships you’ve built and keep track of them.  Ask new donors to come for a tour or a special event you are having.  Your volunteers are one of the best groups to advocate for your mission.  Ask your volunteers & board members to invite their friends to connect to your organization.

The Technological Advantage- There are countless ways to spread the message about your good work using the Internet.  Don’t try and do everything just do one or two things well.  Start a Facebook page or use the Causes application.  Go to Razoo.org and start a fundraising page.  Start a blog, this is a great way to regularly communicate and interact with those that want to remain close to your organization.

There are a lot of great causes.  Don’t be afraid to get creative be a little competitive. 

3 Secrets to Newsletter Success

This is a reprint of a post I wrote last year.  The information is timely and still applicable.

How well does your newsletter perform for you?  If it’s not so hot, then maybe you need to make a few changes.  Here are 3 secrets to a successful newsletter.

The first secret to a successful newsletter is to be clear about the result you want.  What is your newsletter’s purpose?  Is it educational?  Is it supposed to be a fundraising tool?  Both?  This will help guide you in selecting content.

The second secret to a successful newsletter is to make it donor-focused.  Write the kinds of things that a donor wants to read, not what you want to include.  Donors want to read stories about clients and how they’ve been helped.  Donors aren’t usually interested in articles about new staff members, new Board members or lengthy “letters from the President.”

The third secret to a successful newsletter is to use good design.  Use lots of white space and keep it skimmable.  Donors read your newsletter like they read the newspaper.  They skim.  They read the headlines and if it looks interesting, they’ll read the article.  They look at photos and read the pull quotes.

If you want your newsletter to raise money, then you need to include an Ask somewhere.  The most common and usually most effective thing to do is to include a reply envelope inside its pages.

Grab a copy of your last newsletter and see how it compares.  Use these 3 secrets on your next issue and see how you can improve your results.

Get your message out… to millions!

It’s “Get the Word Out” week and here’s some great info from my buddy and virtual assistant Terri Brooks.

 

I’m sure if you have been around for a while, you produce a monthly newsletter.  You gather all the information, lay out the design and send it to the printer.  And if you’re lucky they will also mail it for you.  Then once you have the newsletter in the mail you realize all the information is outdated.

 

Have you heard of an ezine?  It’s pronounced Ezeen, like magazine.  This has become one of the fastest growing ways of marketing your business or organization online.  As an Online Business Manager, I oversee the process of establishing, maintaining and distributing my clients’ ezines.  Some chose to produce monthly ezines and others produce them weekly.  It’s your choice. And all of your information is current and relevant.

I recommend Email Marketing by Constant Contact® to my clients.  It is the easy, effective, and highly affordable way to get your message out to your customers, clients, or members. You’ll create high-impact, professional-looking emails—quickly and with no technical expertise. Most importantly, you’ll build strong connections with your audience that lead to referrals, repeat business and loyalty.

You can:

• Choose from more than 300 easily customized email templates—or create your own from scratch.

• Create highly visual, professional-looking email newsletters and promotions in just minutes.

• Drive more traffic to your website with focused, targeted email communications.

• Build and manage your email list: import existing customer lists, add names individually, or capture contact information from website visitors.

• Measure your email campaign results instantly-check click-through rates, review new subscribers, and see who opened and clicked on each link so you can tailor your follow-up communications.

• Send automated communications to new sign-ups via an autoresponder tool.

• Communicate with your audience with confidence, knowing that Constant Contact will take care of getting your email delivered and keep you CAN-SPAM compliant.

Discover how the power of Email Marketing by Constant Contact can help you better connect with your customers, strengthen your relationships with them, and grow your organization.

Terri Brooks, CIMS (Certified Internet Marketing Specialist)

http://www.avirtualbiz.com

http://www.tastingtheinternet.com

http://avirtualbiz.info/wordpress

Get the word out with a well-written press release

It’s “Get the Word Out” week here at the Get Fully Funded blog.  Today’s edition focuses on writing a press release that will get attention.

When writing a good press release, keep your writing simple and clear. Cover the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why” questions.  Send the release in plenty of time for reporters to contact you and have time to prepare.  Put your press release on letterhead whenever you can. Spend time building relationships with reporters and assignment editors.  To really make friends fast, take them a plate of homemade cookies!

Over the years, I’ve written lots of press releases and pitched lots of stories to the media.  Here’s a formula that I’ve used for creating a press release:

Date

For more information, contact (your name) at (your phone) or (your email)

For immediate release

Attention-Getting Headline

One-line subhead explaining the headline

(Your city, state).  Main paragraph to answer all the main questions.

Second paragraph with more details.

“qu0te from you or your Executive Director about the content of the release.”

Any remaining details.

For more information about (this content) or (your organization), contact…..

  # # #

 

Here are some tips for writing good headlines.  Click here.

Here’s another good set of tips for creating a press release and working with the media.  Click here.

Here’s some good info from my friend Nancy Schwartz at Getting Attention, including a link to a downloadable guide to creating press releases  Click here.

Here’s an episode of Magic Keys Radio that talks about what works and what doesn’t with press releases.  Click here.

Got a specific question about getting the word out?  Click on the comments link below and post.

Get the word out!

This week, I’ll be posting ideas to help you get the word out about your nonprofit organization and your fundraising events.  After all, people have to know you’re there before they can give to your cause, right?

Let’s start with some basics.

First, put some thought into what message you want to get out and what you want people to remember.  Keep it as simple as possible.  If you’re trying to raise awareness of your organization, you really want to zero in on the main point of your organization.

Create a simple fact sheet with the who, what, when, where, and why.  Stay focused on your reader and why they should be interested as you prepare the fact sheet.  It’s easy to get too focused on small details here.  Remember to keep your eye on the big picture.

Once you have your information ready, here are some strategies for getting the word out:

• Send out a press release to the local media (Read more about working with the media at the Nonprofit Marketing Guide)
• Send information to local companies who support you and ask them to post it in their breakroom or put it in their newsletter.
• Ask local churches that support you to include the information in their bulletin or newsletter.
• Post the information on your website, blog, and/or Facebook page.

Where have you “put the word out” that has worked for you?  Click on the “comments” link below and post a note to let us know.  I’d love to hear from you!