Monthly Archives: March 2010

3 Simple Ways to Use Social Media for Donor Engagement

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By Derrick Feldmann, CEO Achieve

Social media tools and platforms are a great way to enhance donor relationships. Here are three simple opportunities to strengthen donor engagement through social media.
1.       Create a Facebook page for donors. This private or public page provides your donors with updates on program progress, financial health and stability, and organization accomplishments. Have the executive director designate a specific time each month for all fans to ask questions in a chat forum about issues and organization success. Upload a video of the executive director discussing the organization’s upcoming activities and impact.
2.       Create a Twitter feed for donors. This feed is a great opportunity to alert donors of new information, program impact and relevant news while sending call to actions.
3.       Use YouTube to tell the story of impact. Utilize YouTube to display real and unscripted stories of program participants and the impact of the organization’s work. Have the executive director or a program staff video a day in the life of your organization and the impact you have on people. Spread the video through YouTube and across other social media platforms.

“Are You Ready?” – Common Donor Questions to Nonprofit Growth

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Nonprofit growth is an exciting idea. Everyone loves talking about the possibilities. When the growth conversations start in the board room, sit back and watch everyone around the table. They perk up, move forward from a slouch position, and almost start salivating at the concept.

But what do your donors think? When we speak to major donors, here are the common questions they ask:
Do they have experience with growth?
Do they know their cause (are they the experts)?
Do they have internal challenges?
Do they have history and viability in the community?
Is the organization currently sustainable?
How much time is the staff and CEO going to put towards growth?
Do they have the right people behind it?
What is the business model?
What are the strategies/scenarios if goals are not met?
Can they really execute the plan?
What is the likelihood the outcome will happen?
What will happen during/after the expansion?
What is the public perception of the organization?
The next time the growth conversation surfaces, answer the questions above. If you struggle, you may not be ready.
 By Derrick Feldmann, CEO of Achieve

Loss for Creativity? Let Your Donors Help You

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“We are just stuck. I have no idea how we can develop this.”

“I don’t think we have the time to do this.”

“We need to spend time on this.  We don’t have the resources.”

Heard these comments before? Maybe you are guilty of making these comments.
Organizations tend to think internally.  There is a mentality -  if we don’t create it ourselves, it must not be good.  Deep down there is a feeling of vulnerability. How can we possibly seek outside help when we are expected to be the experts?
The challenge with this thinking is that organizations take on too much, fail to get to some issues, and alienate their constituency base. Open organizations go beyond transparency and involve donors and their volunteers in more than delivering services.
If your organization has a challenge that seeks a solution, look to your donors. If your organization needs to develop a program, look to your volunteers. If your organization needs to rebrand or change its position in the community, look to your stakeholders.
The next time you need creativity, create a survey for your donors through social media applications. Create webinar sessions for donors to connect virtually to hear about the challenges and brainstorm ideas. Create voting mechanisms for the community to cast their ballot for the new types of programs you want to launch.
This type of open mentality is a shift that you need to probably make but have not had the “time”. You probably have great people in your circles of stakeholders. Make sure you use them. Don’t lose them because you think all good things come from your head.
By Derrick Feldmann, CEO Achieve

Beware the Dreaded Donor Engagement Gap

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Reprinted from the IBJ, 2/27/2010

Imagine that your favorite TV show breaks for commercial, and you hear:

Do you stutter when donors ask, “How can I get more involved?” Does your blood pressure climb when they say, “I want to be more engaged in your mission.” Do your palms sweat when a donor ends a volunteer experience by saying, “What’s next?”

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might suffer from engagement gap.

Engagement gap strikes small organizations and big ones, struggling not-for-profits and successful ones, and it threatens to cripple each of its sufferers.

It might sound silly, but engagement gap is no laughing matter. The name for that gaping void between someone who donates to an organization and someone who sits on its board, engagement gap blocks people from opportunities to hear, participate in and contribute to the betterment of the organization.

What causes engagement gap? The lack of graduated offerings that strategically build on interests to move a donor closer to the organization. And, no, it can’t be filled by volunteer opportunities (although they can aid recovery), only by steps that enhance the donor’s ability to effect change within the organization.

If not treated, engagement gap will result in flat giving trends, loss of donor interest and, ultimately, donor attrition. But wait! There is a cure: a shift from a transaction mind-set to an engagement philosophy. Following is the treatment regimen:

• Prescription 1: 500 MG of being open

Many organizations say they’re open and transparent, but all they really mean is they produce annual reports or post Internal Revenue Service 990 forms on their Web sites. That’s just a start. Being open means allowing your donor and volunteer communities to help create new programs and solve problems. It means allowing outsiders to blog on your site, deliver your services and speak on your behalf. It means seeking help from your donor community the next time you say, “We don’t have the staff to do that.” Most important, it means using the power of donors to evangelize about the organization. Directions: Take daily to prevent recurrence.

• Prescription 2: 750 MG of donor design

Create opportunities for donors to experience programs and expose them to real challenges. Then visit with donors and ask for their help crafting solutions. Discuss business needs and design solutions based on donors’ personal and/or professional experiences. Think through business models with them. Note: To be taken on a one-on-one basis or in a group.

• Prescription 3: 800 MG of donor evangelism

Every not-for-profit needs to build a community—a community of donors and stakeholders who support and evangelize about the organization. Create opportunities, resources and calls to action for donors to communicate to other donors. Create peer mechanisms such as e-mail messaging, social-media applications and other tools that can be spread easily. Precautions: Treatment will be most effective if donors communicate freely with their peers.

• Prescription 4: 900 MG of donor motivation

Bring together donors that have peer community connections and offer a speaker who relates to the solution they are crafting, the concept you are trying to embrace or the expertise you offer. Consider these meetings to be “shareholder” visits with your top investors. Let them know their value, and reinforce that value with a shareholder Q and A. Let them know what you’re thinking as a leader, and preview what they’ll hear about in the next quarter. Directions: Pursue treatment quarterly.

• Prescription 5: 925 MG of donor excitement

Create experiences for donors to see the fruits of their labor. Revisit programs, volunteer opportunities or other activities that show donors how their investments beyond financial capital pay off. Celebrate with them and remind them that the excitement can continue with their involvement. Indications: Effectiveness increases when used in concert with other cures.

You might be wondering, isn’t this a lot of medicine? For organizations in the early stages of engagement gap, maybe. But for others, which have suffered from this condition for some time, this is the proper dosage for their engagement gap.

The good news? Field results show that this treatment regimen is effective. Organizations sticking to this treatment program have enjoyed a full recovery, and in fact gone on to be healthier than ever before.