SlideShare for nonprofits

I recently started experimenting with SlideShare and think it has great possibilities for the nonprofit community. You can see my profile and two SlideShare presentations here or watch one here:

Fundraising: How to better understand your donors' needs

View more presentations from Tim Bete.

If you ever make presentations about your organization to other groups (e.g. Rotary, etc.), you can easily turn it into a SlideShare presentation. Simply post your PowerPoint to SlideShare and then post your recorded remarks in MP3 format. SlideShare lets you connect the two pieces, and tell it when to change slides. It's a very quick and easy process. You can even sit at your desk and create the entire presentation using your PC's microphone.

I see SlideShare possibilities for volunteer training, staff training, and donor updates, among other areas.

Marketing books for non-profits

Dayton, Ohio -- I recently asked LinkedIn users for the best marketing books that help non-profits accomplish their missions. Here's the list of books in no particular order. Now get reading!

• Positioning by Jack Trout
• Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Dr. Frank Luntz
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
• Tribes by Seth Godin
• Dan Kennedy's No B.S. series
• Marketing Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations by Siri N. Espy
• Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition by Jay Abraham
• Outrageous Advertising That's Outrageously Successful: Created for the 99% of Small Business Owners Who Are Dissatisfied with the Results They Get by Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy
• There's a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Amazing 10 "Rings of Power" for Creating Fame, Fortune, and a Business Empire Today Guaranteed! by Joe Vitale and Jeffrey Gitomer
• Social Marketing in the 21st Century by Alan R. Andreasen
• American Writers and Artists, Inc. (AWAI)'s course on copywriting for fundraising
• Common Sense Direct Marketing by Drayton Bird
• The Three Laws of Performance" by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan
• What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis
• Robin Hood Marketing by Katya Andreson
• Let's Have Lunch Together by Marshall Howard
• Purple Cow by Seth Godin

I would add the book, Influence by Robert Cialdini.

Would like fries with that, and would you like to donate to the Ronald McDonald House?

Dayton, Ohio -- Yesterday I bought a coffee at the McDonald's drive thru. The person on the other end of the speaker asked me, "Would you like to donate a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House?"


When I got up to the window, I asked her how many people donate a dollar. She told me about 1 in every 20 cars. That didn't seem like a very good number, so I began to think about how she could modify her question to increase results. I also wondered how many people she asked even knew what the Ronald McDonald House does? I also figured she only has time for a single sentence.

I think her results would be significantly better if she asked this:
"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House"

Why would it be more effective? Because her original question was "would you like to donate a dollar..." She gave no reason to donate a dollar, only a request. It's easy to say "no" to that. It's more difficult to say, "no, I don't want to help families whose children are in the hospital." The new question also puts the "ask" at the end of the sentence, after the reason.

Research has shown that using the word "because" in a request significantly increases the affirmative responses. So, perhaps this question would be even better:

"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House, because it would mean a lot to those families."

The interesting thing about the research is that it doesn't matter what the reason is you give after the word "because," simply using that word increases response.

So today I'm going to buy coffee at the same McDonalds and give the person at the window my new question.

How would you change her original question to make it more effective? What questions do you ask in your solicitation letters that could be made more effective?

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.

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.

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?

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."