A great viral campaign: Big Boston Warm Up

Dayton, Ohio -- Jeff Sawyer from Lands End, a very talented copywriter and former co-worker, just sent me a video for the Big Boston Warm Up campaign. They have a goal to provide 7,681 coats to homeless people this winter. Toward the end of the video, look for my name "Tim Bete." You can personalize the video with anyone's name and send it to them. The personalization makes for a great appeal that tugs at your heart strings and will get people to act. I wouldn't be surprised if they get 20,000+ costs donated. You can personalize your own video here.

Higher search engine rankings for your Web site

Dayton, Ohio -- At the SummitUp Social Media Confab last week, I attended a session on SEO (Search engine optimization) by Steve Phillips from Purple Trout. Steve is a genius when it comes to getting your Web site to come up higher in searches for the keywords that describe your non-profit's programs and services.

I've created dozens of non-profit Web sites and used Google Webmaster Tools (a free service) for quite a while. One feature is the ability to tell Google where the sitemap for your Website is located. (A sitemap is a list of pages of a Web site accessible to crawlers, such as Google.) Google takes the information from your sitemap and indexes your Web pages so others can find them when they do a search.. If your non-profit's Website doesn't have a sitemap, you should add one.

I had always used a text file sitemap, and had pretty good success. But Steve suggested creating an XML sitemap using a free site, such as xml-sitemaps.com. This site will produce a free XML sitemap, as long as your site doesn't have more than 500 pages. It even adds PDF files on your site, such as newsletters and brochures that you've put on your site.

I always put newsletters and brochures on a non-profit site to make it easier for potential clients and partners to quickly print the information they need. If your non-profit has client forms, those can be put on your site, too.

Because the XML sitemap included the PDF files on my site, I now have more high level search results. For example, when you search for Huffman Place, one of St. Mary Development's apartments for low-income seniors, the PDF brochure for the site is now the third search result. It wasn't there at all before I changed to an XML site map. (See the search on Google.)

So check your sitemap (or have your Web person do it.) The more people who find your Web site, the better able you'll be to accomplish your mission.

What makes a successful non-profit?

Dayton, Ohio -- Howard Adam Levy has a great post about the attributes of a successful nonprofit at his blog, Wake up Call. Levy provides 12 criteria for donors to use in evaluating a nonprofit organization and argues that non-profits often miss the things that motivate donors.

He's right.

For example, non-profits have always focused on the cost of fundraising, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But when donors look at fundraising ratios, I think what they don't want to see is a high percentage of revenue being plowed back into fundraising. (There are still many non-profits whose primary mission seems to be fundraising. I just got a direct mail package from one the other day.)

In the past, donors didn't want to see a lot of overhead expense either, but they've been comfortable with non-profits increasing overhead to measure program effectiveness.

Donors want results. And if you can prove that you're succeeding in delivering your mission, I don't think donors worry as much about the rest of the numbers. But if you aren't succeeding, they're quick to look at overhead expense and fundraising ratios.

Rory Sutherland on advertising

Dayton, Ohio -- TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Here's a very interesting video about perception and advertising from one of their recent events.

Influence: Science and Practice

Dayton, Ohio -- I just started reading Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini. I'm only a chapter into it and it's already fascinating, with many implications for direct mail and face-to-face fundraising.

Cialdini (a former fundraiser and salesperson, and currently a professor of social psychology) discusses the factors that cause someone to say "yes," and which techniques most effectively use those factors to get someone to say "yes." For example, does asking a question in different ways change the response of the person being asked?

Cialdini says that giving a reason for your request -- ANY reason -- significantly improves "yes" responses. A study tested this by having a person ask to cut in line at the copier in a library. When the person asked, "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine," only 60% of those asked said "yes." But when the question was changed to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush," 94% of those asked responded with a "yes."

It seems simple enough. The person is in a rush, so you let them go ahead, right? But when the question was changed again, this time to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies," 93% of those asked still responded with a "yes" -- even though a real reason wasn't given. (Of course you have to make copies.)

This is going to be one interesting book. As I read chapters, I'll write more about the fundraising implications.

How to sell popcorn at the supermarket

Dayton, Ohio -- The other day I wrote about door-to door fundraising. Yesterday, as I was walking out of the supermarket, there were three Cub Scouts selling cans of popcorn. One asked me, "Do you want to buy some popcorn?" I politely declined and kept walking.

The problem with his question was it wasn't personal enough. I turned down popcorn, not a person. What if he had asked, "Would you help me earn a merit badge" or "Would you help me get a new tent?" Then in saying "no," I would really be saying, "I won't help you." That's much more difficult to say then "I don't want popcorn."

Asking "Would you help me get a new tent" also opens the door for conversation. I might stop and ask, "How could I do that?" And he would respond, "a new tent cost $100. If you would purchase one can of popcorn or give $10, we'll only need nine more people."

While I might or might not give, at least he would have forced me to think about it.

What questions are you asking in your direct mail program and face-to-face meetings with donors? Are you asking your donors to "buy a can of popcorn" or are you making them think and asking questions that open doors for a more in-depth conversation?

Don't ignore my emotions and reasons for giving

Dayton, Ohio -- Friends often ask me to help edit their resumes, which I'm glad to do. But when I give them the edited version, they often remark, "It doesn't tell about everything I do" or "It doesn't list all my responsibilities."

I remind them that the point of a resume isn't to list every accomplishment and job responsibility. The goal of a resume is to help get a job interview. Those are two very different goals. To get a job interview, you never need more than a one-page resume, even if you have 30+ years of work experience.

Non-profits often fall into a similar trap when creating fundraising materials. They create a piece that describes their program rather than sells their program. When you describe a program, you focus on the program's features. When you sell a program, you focus on the needs and desires of the person to whom you're selling. Focusing on the program is an internal gaze. Focusing on the donor is an external gaze.

Before I begin writing a piece for a client, I give them a copy platform document that outlines things such as the unique selling proposition and the fears and desires of the potential donor. It also includes information about donors' potential emotions and what the client is offering to the donor. You can't create a successful piece without getting inside the donor's head because many donors give to your organization for reasons other than what's in your mission statement. (Think about memorial gifts, for example.)

Perhaps you're raising money for heart disease research. What percentage of your donors give because of a personal experience with heart disease? (e.g., a family member had heart disease) If the percentage is significant, then donors may be giving to help others avoid the significant emotional pain they've personally experienced. They may not be giving as much to cure heart disease as they are to help others avoid a terrible experience. (If you think their giving would be different without the personal experience, then that experience is a significant emotional reason for their support.)

When someone mentions heart disease to me, the first thing I think of is my two grandfathers, both of whom died of heart attacks. I don't think of a disease. I'm flooded with memories of their deaths and what I felt at the time. My motivation to give to a non-profit would be fueled by those emotions. And if you ignore those emotions, you ignore why I want to give.

So ask yourself, what are my donors thinking? What are they feeling? What do they want to have? What do they want to avoid? Those are the types of questions that will transform your fundraising communication and the amount you are able to raise.

The problem with door-to-door fundraising

Dayton, Ohio -- Many non-profits have had success with door-to-door fundraising programs, such as selling candy or other items. There are benefits of such programs but also a significant downside.

When someone comes to my door asking for a donation or selling an item for a non-profit, I have one of two reactions.

(1) If I don't know the person, I usually don't give. I find it intrusive to learn about a non-profit's cause for the first time from someone standing at my door. (If I've given to the non-profit before and the person acknowledges it, my attitude is different.)

(2) If I know the person (e.g., a neighborhood kid), I usually give but not because I believe in the cause. I give to support the person I know. That makes it extremely unlikely I will give again if solicited by mail. Many times, I can't even remember the organization (was it the Boy Scouts or the school athletic team?)

That's why the neighborhood kid can convince you to make a donation without ever telling you much about the cause for which the money is being raised. How many times has the first line been, "I'm selling popcorn for $10 a tin." (What would happen if a direct mail solicitation lead with "we want you to make a $50 gift?") But it doesn't matter as much when you know the person asking for the gift.

So door-to-door fundraising may raise some money but don't expect it to create life-long donors. The only way to get a second gift is to have the same person knock on those same doors again next year.

How often should you solicit donors?

Dayton, Ohio -- A national donor survey performed by Cygnus Applied Research found that over solicitation is the #1 donor complaint. It's also one of the top three reasons donors stop giving.

When you consider how expensive it is to find a new donor, the last thing you want to do is force them away. Sure, you may leave a few gifts on the table but I suspect that amount is much smaller than the value of the donors you could lose.

A good rule of thumb is always have at least one non-solicitation communication contact with donors between solicitations. For example, if you mail your newsletter three times per year, solicit between each newsletter. That may change the timing of your newsletters but may also increase your response.

It's also useful to calculate the ratio of solicitation communications to non-solicitation communications, with the goal being to have a low ratio. For example, if you solicit donors 10 times per year and send non-solicitation communication twice per year, your ratio is 5/1. That means your donors expect that when you contact them, you're asking for money. (Perhaps you have a relative who only contacts you when he or she needs something. You know what that feels like, so don't make your donors feel the same way.)

Also, ask your donors how often they want to be solicited. Many have set giving schedules. According to the Cygnus survey, 23% make gifts once per year and another 21% make gifts on a regular schedule. That's 45% of your donors who won't give unless asked at the right time. That may translate to 45% of your direct mail budget being wasted.

Use both "you" and "I"

Dayton, Ohio -- Some people say "you" is the most important part of a solicitation letter because you want to focus on the needs of the donor. But "I" is just as important. In order to build an emotional connection, there has to be a real, warm, persuasive body signing the letter. You need a real person to tell stories and that requires using "I."