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How Facebook EdgeRank Affects Nonprofits

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Guest Blog Post By Allison Carter, Roundpeg Director of Communications

If you ever take a glance at the Insights tab on your Facebook Fan Page, you might have had a nasty shock recently: The number of fans who see your posts has cratered in recent months. Today, only about 15% of your Facebook fans see any given post.

Want to reach a larger audience? Facebook can help—for a price. Depending on the size of your audience, promoting a post might range from a few dollars to hundreds.  Even if your nonprofit posts only a couple times a week, that cost can add up in a hurry.

Sure, we could sit around and cry about how it’s not fair (and it isn’t), or we could refocus on what matters on our Facebook pages. As a nonprofit, it’s up to you to make tough choices about where your marketing dollar is going to go the furthest.

As Facebook continues to shift its strategy, it’s time to recalibrate your own. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Why is my organization on Facebook? Why did you get into this crazy medium in the first place? “Because everyone else is doing it” is not an adequate answer. What concrete benefit were you hoping to gain from it: increased awareness, better communication with your most loyal donors and volunteers, a driver for donations?
  • Have we seen results so far? Do volunteers come up to you and say “oh yeah, I saw you were doing that from your Facebook page”? If so, you’ve seen a result. Have you seen more people clicking those links you’re sharing on Facebook and take the next step by donating, volunteering or otherwise doing what you want them to? Whatever a “result” looks like for your organization, has it worked so far?
  • How much are those results worth to me? So let’s say you’ve met your goals. People are donating from the fan page, RSVPing for events and volunteering. If so, would you see an increase if more people saw your posts? Or, by appealing to your most loyal fan base, are you already doing the most good?

Setting up clear goals and metrics for your fan page has never been more critical. As costs increase, you need to hold your marketing accountable. Ask yourself these questions, experiment with sponsoring a few of your best posts that offer clear call-to-action and see if it’s worth it to you. But be on your toes– after all, Facebook could change at any time.

Allison Carter is director of communications for Roundpeg, an Indianapolis marketing firm that specializes in helping small businesses become big businesses. She spends most of her days up to her elbows in words, working with small businesses to tell their unique stories through strategic social media use and rousing copywriting. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonLCarter or read more at roundpeg.biz.

 

More Money for More Good

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Stay Connected, Make an Impact, Keep the Attention, Engage & Connect

Guest blog post by Greg Ulrich and Dvorit Mausner, Hope Consulting

Followers of Achieve have learned about young donors’ behaviors and preferences from the Millennial Impact Report (MIR). Hope Consulting has conducted research on similar topics, but across all age groups. The insights from our “Money for Good” (MfG) research, which has now surveyed over 10,000 individuals, can be overlaid with The Millennial Impact Report to provide an even sharper lens for the trends in today’s philanthropic landscape. Below, we offer some thoughts about how the two pieces of research relate, and we focus particularly on the implications for nonprofits. Online, you can find additional resources relating to the MfG research, including our free new nonprofit guidebook, More Money for More Good.

Trends in Donor Research
Affirmatively, both surveys found that donors utilize the Internet most often when researching a potential nonprofit organization (NPO) to support. The Millennial Impact Report found that Millennials use a website 65% of the time, and in MfG we found that a nonprofit’s website is the #1 source for information for donors. While we also found that Millenials are more interested in going to the web to research than are other generations, it is still a critical medium for all ages.

  • It is paramount that NPOs provide useful and up-to-date information online, and specifically, on their own website.

When researching NPOs, Milliennials reported in The Millennial Impact Report that their biggest pet peeve is not knowing how their gift will make a difference. The first page to which they turn online is the NPO’s mission statement, 89% of the time. Similarly, 90% of all donors surveyed in MfG responded that “NPO effectiveness” is important to them when researching where to give, and information on a nonprofit’s impact is their most critical unmet need. Impact information is what donors want, and it is what they can’t get. This means that providing it is one meaningful way that nonprofits can differentiate themselves.

  • NPOs can raise more money from donors by focusing on and simply relating the ways they make an impact.

Trends in Giving
Young donors are willing to shift their contributions depending on how they are feeling in the moment, with 42% responding that they give when “inspired,” according to The Millennial Impact Report. While in MfG we also found that donors of all ages give for emotional reasons, we did see interesting differences when looking specifically at younger donors. Overall, charitable giving is very “sticky,” with 80% of gifts going to an organization to which a donor has given in the past. However, this is much more true for older generations; younger donors are much less loyal, are significantly less likely to have a plan for their giving, and are more willing to increase their giving when inspired.

  • It is hard to keep the attention of younger donors. NPOs must work especially hard to hold onto younger donors so they can reap the benefits of their loyalty in the long term.

To hold interest, relationships between donors and the NPOs they support are important, confirmed by both The Millennial Impact Report and MfG. In The Millennial Impact Report, Millennials reported that they are more likely to give and give more when they have volunteered for a particular organization, which builds a bond. MfG also found that connections are critical, and defined other ways that nonprofits can create meaningful bonds with donors. Specifically, we clustered donors into six groups based on their primary motivations for giving. Understanding and responding to a donor’s core motivation is another way nonprofit can engage and connect.

  • NPOs need to engage and connect with current and potential donors to build support.

NPOs that focus on their impact, relate information online, capture younger audiences, and relate better to current and potential donors are likely to raise more funds. Based on the MfG research, Hope Consulting has collaborated with GuideStar to author More Money for More Good, a free guidebook that offers specific and actionable tips to help nonprofits achieve these outcomes. Fans of MIR will discover many similarities in the findings in our new resource, and be able to see how the trends for Millenials relate or differ from what we found for the overall population. Learn more and download your free copy of More Money for More Good today!

 

10 Steps to Solve the Biggest Problem in the World

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Guest Blog Post By Kristin Hess, Indiana Humanities

“I think the biggest problem in the world is lack of communication.” – Jerry Adams

As a communications coordinator for a small nonprofit, this is something I often find myself agreeing with.

It’s safe to say that most people don’t support organizations they don’t understand. So it’s worth remembering that if we aren’t communicating effectively with our audiences and peers, then we’re not supporting our causes as effectively as possible. Most development occurs because of everyday communication and building relationships, so focus on being strategic in the ordinary and let the extraordinary follow.

I’m not sure I can single-handedly solve the biggest problem in the world, but here are my top 10 tips for being a whiz-bang communicator (which must be some step in the right direction!):

1.  Use lots of pictures & few words.
I bet most readers will skim this post to glance at the pictures instead of clinging to my every word. Photos and graphics help provide context, attract attention and explain information in a new way. There’s a reason people say a photo is worth a thousand words. Take meaningful photos and explain information graphically whenever possible.

 2.  Don’t do all the heavy lifting alone.
Collaboration is key. Communicate with your peer organizations. Share. Work together. The synergy is amazing and opens the door to incredible new audiences. Be the best partner you can be and work together to support and communicate your missions. As a small, 5-person statewide organization, our team quickly expands through collaboration. Strategic partnerships allow you to reach more people and create more innovative programming and events.

 Visual of the corporate and community partners who came together to support and participate in recent program here at Indiana Humanities called Food for Thought.

3. Explain the basics again and again and again.
While you may be able to mutter your mission statement in your sleep, the same isn’t true for your audience. The more people remember, the more they share and feel connected. Don’t be afraid to reinforce your mission, programs or work in a variety of ways. Remember: everyone doesn’t learn the same way, and your message rarely sets in the first time.

 Here’s a preliminary sketch from a brainstorm on ways we could better explain/display our mission statement to make it more digestible and the final product (rack card). 

4.   Be the first follower.
This video is a riot and holds some deep truth. Sometimes supporting the work of others helps communicate the type of organization you are. Be a leader through following, supporting and collaborating in your own unique way. 

5.   Be specific- one thing at a time.
Keep it simple. Don’t list 10 programs to support in one sentence. Be clear. Be concise. One message at a time. Make it easy on people!

6.   Get personal.
Tell stories. Use quotes. Share photos. Quantitative information provides an awesome structure, but give your mission life with human voices and faces. It’s ok to highlight your audience, employees and board members- remind your audience that you’re composed of real people and not a faceless organization.

7.  Say it with a twist.
Try something new and give your communications tools a bit of a twist. What’s a tiny way you can tweak the norm to stand out? 

I love this video because it explains an organization’s work in a powerful way using text and music to evoke a unique emotional experience far from sputtering the typical “what we do” speech.

8. Is it elevator and Twitter friendly?
From elevator speeches to 140 characters, we value brevity. Be sure your talking points and messages match this. 

9. Think like a human. Communicate “with” not “to.”
Speak to your audience in a way that’s truly authentic. Communication means exchanging information, not lecturing or overwhelming your audience. Acknowledge your audience’s point of view. Have a discussion. Ask for their feedback. Speak to their concerns. Learn from them and make adjustments. Use their voices and input to describe yourself and create events and programs they desire.

10. Be yourself.
Blah, blah we’ve heard it a million times, but that’s because it’s true. Look at your strategic plan (and if you don’t have one, make one). Figure out how to support your vision, leadership and future. As nonprofits, we’re all created differently to fulfill a unique need, so be the best different you can be. 

Kristin Hess is a communications and program coordinator for Indiana Humanities, a small, statewide nonprofit that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk. 

Millennials Keep Their Friends Close, and Strangers Closer When It Comes to Big Purchases

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By Kari Saratovsky, Guest Blogger, KDS Strategies

Having grown up in a society where “never talk to strangers” was ingrained into the heads of Millennials from a very early age, it may be surprising to learn that today Millennials aren’t just talking to strangers, they are relying on their opinions even more than those of their friends, family and colleagues. This comes into play when making decisions about purchasing everything from cars and electronics to vacations and even insurance plans.

As companies and institutions try and make sense of a generation with 80 Million voices and a collective buying power of $200 Billion, a new study is making it’s way into boardrooms and advertising agencies across the country. And there are many reasons that nonprofits may also want to take note.

Bazaarvoice, in partnership with The Center for Generational Kinetics and Kelton Research, recently released survey findings which indicate that over 30% of Millenials will not make a big ticket purchase without first checking on what others had to say about it. What’s more, through User Generated Content (UGC), the study found that 51% of Millennials say that consumer opinions of complete strangers found on a company’s website carry more weight than what their friends and family have to say.

Continue reading “Millennials Keep Their Friends Close, and Strangers Closer When It Comes to Big Purchases” »