Tag Archives: engagement

QR Codes: A Tool for Multi-Channel Campaigns

This article about what these little codes and tags can do, who is already using them successfully, and how you can leverage this handy little app in your own multichannel campaigns originally appeared in the November/December 2011 of Advancing Philanthropy.

QR Codes: A Tool for Multi-Channel Campaigns

By Stacy Dyer

Quick Response (QR) codes – those two-dimensional matrix bar codes designed to be read by smartphones – are growing in ubiquity. You see them more and more in magazine ads and catalogs, directing consumers to pull out their mobile devices and click. QR codes have incredible possibilities for nonprofit marketers who want to take advantage of the emotional connection and immediacy generated by their causes.

What Can QR Codes Do?

Enabling your audience with QR codes gives them the ability to immediately take an action.  QR codes can be created to prompt a phone call, send a text message, or click a hyperlink.

Think of the power of being able to link your supporters directly to your donation form, rather than your home page. QR codes can help eliminate disconnect between exposure to your message and the action you want your audience to take.

Donation forms are only one example. Advocacy institutions can create a QR code embedded with a phone number to call a local politician’s office. As part of green initiatives, museums, like the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, Penn., use QR codes to direct visitors to more information about artists or exhibits online rather than distribute brochures (The Handheld Guide: Experimenting with Mobile Technology in Museums http://www.technologyinthearts.org/?p=1511).

Foundations organizing races, golf tournaments, or other events can collect registrations or sign up volunteers by directing supporters directly to a form on their website that has been optimized for mobile viewing.  By combining the power of QR codes and customized web content, the options for implementation are limited only by your creativity.

Who Uses QR Codes?

QR codes naturally target a younger, more affluent crowd. Tech-savvy Millennials and GenXers will be the most likely audience to scan and click first, but anyone with the ability to download an application, or “app,” on their phone can join the fun.

To increase the consumption of your mobile content, be sure to let folks know the benefits of scanning the code and what they can expect to find on the other end of the link. Offer exclusive content or discounts on services or admission. Depending on your audience, you may also want include instructions for downloading the app using their mobile phone.

While baby boomers aren’t as likely to use them, displaying QR codes is unlikely to put off more mature supporters—they will simply ignore them. With the opportunity to reach new audiences and capitalize on emotional, “in-the-moment” giving, there is nothing to lose by incorporating them into your strategy.

How Can You Use QR Codes?

First, create an emotional connection with your audience. The best time to do that is when they feel the height of that emotion—when they are at your event, in your museum, or reading your publication. “Wait,” you say, “that doesn’t have anything to do with technology!” You are right. This is something successful fundraisers are already doing. QR codes are simply another tool to remove barriers and encourage supporters to act.

Remember to consider the medium with which your audience will be consuming your content: a mobile phone. Optimize your landing pages for mobile viewing. Point QR codes directly to a donation form that has been optimized for mobile viewing and has been tested with the web browsers used by those mobile devices. Create customized, abbreviated forms that require minimal typing and are easy to view and understand.

Direct mail remains the cornerstone of many annual campaigns, yet online giving continues growing year after year.  QR codes offer the perfect bridge to combine multi-channel marketing efforts. They are not the most graphically attractive, but they are not expensive to implement either. By bridging the gap between offline and online engagement, this new technology gives fundraisers a powerful new tool.

In a recent Idealware article, Henry Quinn, marketing manager at L.L. Bean reminds us, “Implementing QR codes across your marketing efforts is a tactic, not a strategy.” No matter how hot or trendy the new widget, the tool itself does not complete the job. However, with the right tools, getting the job done can be easier, more efficient, and more effective.

How to Launch a Rapid Response Campaign like a Rockstar

The Bastrop Fires (image courtesy of AHS Media Arts)Here in Austin, I have been humbled by my community’s response to the central Texas wildfires. Individuals, small local businesses, and national corporations alike have clamored to offer their generous support to everyone affected by the fires.

This disaster, hitting so close to home, literally, has been an eye-opening experience for me as a fund raiser because many local nonprofits were unprepared for the outpouring of support that came from the community.

While this is a good problem to have, as far as problems go, there are few simple steps that every nonprofit can take RIGHT NOW to make sure they are ready to rise to the challenge when communities pour out their hearts in support of a common cause.

Start with a Simple Web Form

Create a simple form that can easily be placed on any website. Keep your form short and sweet. Ensuring it doesn’t take up too much web “real estate” will increase the number of websites willing to place it on their site. Keeping it simple also increase the likelihood of your form being prominently featured. Ideally, you want your form to be on the front page and “above the fold” to get as many impressions as possible.

Build your form using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so it can easily blend into any site. Webmasters will be more likely to publish your form on their own sites since it will automatically take on their sites’ look and feel without any additional work.

Make sure your form can be easily distributed as snippets of code so even novice webmasters will easily be able to embed your form on their own sites. With the form still hosted by you, you will have complete control over the content and can change it at any time.

Control Your Message

During non-urgent times, use your rapid response form to highlight your latest accomplishment, share a video or picture, or even let people sign up for your newsletter. Use rich media like pictures and video to keep your form interesting even when it is not “activated.” In times of need, quickly update the message on your form to distribute important information to the community, collect urgently needed funds, or whatever call to action you need most.

Webmasters are usually most likely to let you ask for donations during times of disaster. However, that doesn’t mean webmasters like hosting donation forms on their sites all the time. To increase your forms’ popularity, use your rapid response form to distribute information most of the time and only ask for donations in times of dire need.

Build Your Network Before You Need It

Encourage embedded forms throughout your supporters network of websites—other nonprofits, corporate sponsors, individual bloggers—so that your forms are already in place and ready to go when the need arises. Start building this network right now, don’t wait!

Launch a campaign that targets those technically savvy supporters who are most likely to have a website on which to feature your rapid response form. Use Facebook and Twitter to point them to your rapid response form. Be sure your form has the snippet of code for them to embed on their site featured prominently. Ideally, the snippet should be right next to your share buttons for Facebook and Twitter, so all users have to do is copy and paste.

To increase the number of people who distribute your form, customize the content for each audience. For example, if your organization’s mission is animal wellness, create a form that features kittens for cat lovers and another with puppies for dog lovers. Targeting your content will widen your audience and increase the overall exposure for your rapid response form.

Ways to Use a Rapid Response Form

Obviously, you can use a rapid response form to ask for donations, but that is only the beginning. Your new form has all the potential power of a grassroots, distributed information network. Other ways you can use your form include:

  • Political activism – encourage supporters to contact their representatives to speak out against potential funding cuts or other legislation
  • Activate community action – Flash mob at 12:30 at City Hall!
  • Information alerts – think news alerts; when something is happening right now that your supporters need to know about immediately
  • Generate matching gifts – We need another $2000 by 5pm to qualify for that big match from the Mr. & Mrs. Rich Foundation!

Now that you know the basics of creating a rapid response campaign for your organization, how will you put it into practice? Share your ideas!

Want more examples?

I love this story from NTEN about a Marfa radio station’s Facebook page becoming a hub for community alerts and info.  The key is to have your network in place BEFORE the emergency. Read these related articles and let me know what you think.

Related articles:

http://www.nten.org/blog/2011/09/19/how-simple-facebook-strategy-can-turn-crisis-community

http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2011/09/16/cool-app-roundup-apps-for-disaster-and-emergency-situations.aspx

Get the Word Out: Event Fundraising Using Social Networking

This article was originally published by Fundraising Success in September 2011

 

Get the Word Out: Event Fundraising Using Social Networking
By Stacy Dyer

Fundraisers know the key to successful special events is good attendance. A well-attended event garners not only more revenue from registration fees or ticket sales, but also broader exposure for your cause to your community and their networks.

But, event fundraisers are on a hard deadline. Unlike an annual campaign or endowment drive –which can be ongoing throughout the year – in order for supporters to participate in your special event, they must be aware and take action before the big day.

How can you best spread awareness to as many potential supporters as possible when you have limited budget and resources? Leverage social media to get the word out quickly and efficiently throughout your nonprofit’s network.

In The Networked Nonprofit, authors Beth Kanter and Allison Fine write, “Networked Nonprofits work as social networks, not just in them.” According to Kanter and Fine, by connecting individuals with common interests and goals, nonprofits create an ecosystem of organizations and people eager to help.

And, by utilizing “free agents”individuals working outside the organization who can organize and raise funds – nonprofits can capitalize on the power of social media to get their message out.

Social Networks Disseminate Information

Individuals are more likely to support a cause when asked by someone they know, even if it is not a cause they would have otherwise supported. This is especially true if the audience you are trying to reach is Millennials.

According to the 2011 Millennial Donor Survey, a recent study from Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates (JGA) and Achieve, 56 percent of young donors between ages 20 and 35 report they get information about organizations to support from their peers.

The same study found that 33 percent of donors in the same age group learn about organizations to support from Facebook. Ninety-three  percent of those surveyed report giving to nonprofits in 2010. The power of social networks to disseminate information and motivate supporters to act is clear.

Case Study: Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg

While using social networks to maximize event fundraising may seem like a new concept, it actually is not. Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg is a nonprofit utilizing a team-based fundraising structure.

Since 1993, Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg has organized an annual special event called the Cycle of Hope.

“Riders journey 1,600 km and raise enough money to enable Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg to build a new, affordable home for a very deserving family,” says Heather Scott, the organization’s database and administration supervisor.

Each Cycle of Hope rider is required to raise a minimum of $2500 to participate. Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg encourages team members to tap into their own social networks for support.

“The cyclists said the easy-to-use, peer-to-peer fundraising tool we put in place made it easier for them to reach out to more people they knew,” explains Scott. “We also host about four meet-and-greets in the office, so new riders can talk to and learn from experienced riders. They discuss fundraising and other tips and techniques.”

The above-mentioned team members function as Kanter and Fine’s “free agents” for the nonprofit.

Enabling supporters with online fundraising tools they can share through their various personal social networks (email, Facebook, Twitter) is critical to Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg’s success.

“Using an online fundraising and event management tool made it very easy during the postal strike that occurred during this year’s Cycle of Hope,” says Scott. “Some supporters who would have normally mailed in cheques used the online system and I’m hoping they now see how effortless and quick it is to give in that way.”

Cycle of Hope participants can even embed special fundraising forms directly on their own blog or web site, allowing them to capitalize on people’s tendency to donate to causes their friends ask them to support.

“We raised $60,000 more this year over what we had hoped,” says Scott. “We received donations from all over Canada, the U.S., and Europe. In the past, I had only seen one donation come from overseas. Next year, I’m looking forward to seeing that market grow even more.”

The donors reached by these “free agents” may not have any particular affinity for Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg itself, or may not even live in the same country, but they have a great affinity to support their friends, so they contribute.

Social Media is a Contact Sport

As you can see, using social networks to increase support for an organization’s special events is quite powerful. If your organization has been sitting on the sidelines, now is the time to stand up and start engaging.  As Kanter and Fine say in The Networked Nonprofit, “Social media is a contact sport, not a spectator sport.”

Online Advocates Help You Raise More

This article about online advocates, entitled “Online Advocates Help You Raise More”, originally appeared in the May/June 2011 issue of Advancing Philanthropy

Empower your raving fans to fundraise on your behalf

By Stacy Dyer, Sage North America

Humans are social creatures.  We are more likely to support a cause when asked by friends or family.  Make the most of people’s natural social nature by empowering those individuals who are most passionate about your cause to share their passion for your cause and solicit support on your behalf.

“We work hard to develop long-lasting, strategic relationships with individuals, organizations, and businesses, so our pool of existing supporters and donors are essential to us,” says Jessica Anderson, communications manager for Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC). “Not only are they the most loyal event participants, but they also reach out to new supporters with whom we wouldn’t otherwise connect.”

It’s about more than just getting people to sign online petitions. Encourage your raving fans (you know who they are, right?) to ask their own social networks to support your cause online. There are several ways to encourage personal advocacy online.

Peer-to-peer fundraising

First, there is simple peer-to-peer fundraising.  This happens when a donor or supporter shares a link to your donation form on their personal email or Facebook, Twitter, or blog page, encouraging their friends, colleagues, and readers to visit your website and make a donation.

Make it easy for supporters to share your organization’s donation forms on popular networks by embedding “share” links on every donation and event registration form you create.

Personal Fundraising Pages

To engage your supporters even more, allow individuals and partners supporting your organization to host personal fundraising pages on their own websites or blogs.  Maximize distribution with a portable virtual form. Advocates will be more willing to host a form on their site if it does not require visitors to leave their site in order to complete the form.

Make sure you address security within the form itself.  Credit card transaction security is crucial. Allow advocates to host your form without needing to worry about security, and without needing to specially configure their own blog or website.  Sponsors and other organizational partners will find this particularly helpful and will be more likely to not only sponsor your organization or special event, but also fundraise and advocate on your behalf on their own websites.

Ideally, the form you distribute to allow others to fundraise on your behalf will be easy for you to update, at any time.  The wider your distribution, the more difficult it would be to contact each advocate and request them to manually update it.  Create a form that you control, so that if you need to update your message for an urgent call to action, or any other reason, your changes will be immediately reflected anywhere the form is published.

Personalized Advocacy Center

Bring e-advocacy even further by allowing individuals to create their own personalized fundraising page, tracking the donations they have raised for your cause, on your site.  This type of advocacy is often used by registrants of race events, as they ask their friends to sponsor their participation in your run, walk, or ride.  But you don’t need to host a race to encourage advocate fundraising; it can be used in any type of fundraising campaign.

Create widgets online that supporters and participants can customize and share with their own peer-to-peer networks.  Make it both fun and personal.  Allow advocates to upload an image and share a personal statement about why they are supporting your cause.

Encourage your advocates to thank their friends and family who donate or pledge their support. Collect and share the email addresses of donors with the advocate, so they can send a thank you message to each of their personal supporters.

Competition can be a great motivator, too.  Set clear goals for each advocate, and allow advocates to increase their goal to keep the support flowing even after the original goal is met and surpassed. Be sure that any donations your advocate collects offline are counted, too. Use visual progress meters to publically track progress and allow individuals to share their success.

“We’re excited to have an advocacy center for each of our Pennsylvania Environment Ride participants,” says Anderson. “Making it easy for riders to ask their friends to sponsor them in the event, plus get credit for all the donations they raise themselves, will increase the amount of money raised by the event.”

Expand Your Reach

You rarely get anything you don’t ask for, so ask for it!  Your network of supporters, participants, and donors are your greatest asset when it comes to expanding your organization’s reach.  Ask your raving fans and most motivated supporters for help and make it easy for them to do, and you’ll be pleased by the results.

 

About Advancing Philanthropy
With 32,000 subscribers, Advancing Philanthropy is written for the members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and executives of nonprofit organizations and institutions. The magazine provides ideas and strategies for the fundraising community, and includes information on education, training and advocacy for philanthropy. It also addresses ethical concerns and provides the latest news, resources, tools, models and technology for the sector. Web site: http://www.afpnet.org/Publications/IssueList.cfm?navItemNumber=544

Online Advocates.. from AdvPhil (pp33-41) Technology MayJun 2011

 

Method Tweeting: Using theatre techniques to engage your social media audience

At SXSW interactive festival in March, I attended a great panel discussion, Method Tweeting for Non Profits (and Other Players)
Click here to view the slides from this panel on slideshare.
Panel presenters included: Carie Lewis, Dir of Emerging Media The Humane Society of the United States (@cariegrls); Dan Michel, Digital Mktg Mgr Feeding America (@dpmichel or @FeedingAmerica); Eve Simon, Creative Dir Beaconfire Consulting (@NaiEve or @thebeaconsxsw); Geoff Livingston, CMO Zoetica (@geoffliving); and Jennifer Windrum, Founder WTF? (Where’s the Funding) for Lung Cancer (@jenniferwindrum and @wtflungcancer).
We have recently been witness to a great example of method tweeting in action, as Eve Simon pointed out via her Twitter handle, @NaiEve. The twitter sensation, @BronxZoosCobra is a prime example of developing an online persona that inspires a fanatical response.   
The facebook page contains many comments of fans, similar to this one:
Despite the Bronx Zoo’s accident, the right social media capital has turned this potential public relations disaster into a gold mine for reaching new audiences and future donors for the organization. 
While most of us do not necessarily want a quarter of a million followers, most of us aren’t going to so far as to impersonate a snarky snake, either.  And with results like that, you cannot deny the method clearly works.

What exactly is method tweeting?

Method tweeting is the concept that nonprofits must create a brand persona via their online presence that embodies a voice for the cause. 
If Shakespeare tweeted would he use his voice or characters? Method tweeting is based on the theory of method acting.  It is about starting a dialogue and tweeting based on authentic emotional and intellectual ties.

Nonprofits use of social media

There’s no doubt that the use of social media among nonprofits in on the rise. In 2010, 60% of nonprofits were on Twitter, up from 38% in 2009 and have on average 1800 followers. But what do they do with those followers? What do they say to them?

To thine own tweet be true

To create authenticity, there must a real-world tie between the person at the keyboard and the cause.  Carie Lewis pointed out, “In order to do my job well, you have to love social media and love animals…tweet what you love.”
The key is to select a staff member or free agent who is motivated by the charity’s cause to promote the organization on social media. If that individual doesn’t believe in what they’re tweeting for, they cannot be authentic. And your entire Twitter presence is based on deception.  To be successful, they must take on the identity of the organization on Twitter and truly embody all for which it stands.

Conflicted loyalties

There are inevitably times when choices are made with which not everyone in an organization may agree. These are the times when it is most important to believe in the organization. Tweeting is believing and anyone responsible for an organization’s public social media persona must have the passion to support the organization even if they disagree with the choices being made.
There is a balance to be struck between personal voice and professional tweets.  Many folks manage multiple twitter accounts.  Dan Michel pointed out that your personal tweets are everyday expressions of your casual self, while your organizational twitter voice is more “like me at a wedding – on my best behavior.”  It is fine to publish snarky commentary on your personal twitter account (as long as it doesn’t conflict with the organization’s position) but institutional tweeting requires more a conservative approach. Talk to people as you would at a job interview or other formal setting.

#gettngslizzerd

Personalities blur across accounts when you manage multiple twitter handles.  What happens when your personalities cross?  It happens to everyone at some point.  You know – that tweet you meant to send from your personal account accidentally gets posted to the wrong twitter account.  
This happened to the Red Cross when a staff member accidentally posted to the @RedCross account:
You can read about the faux pas and how the Red Cross dealt (BRILLIANTLY) with the error on the American Red Cross blog.
While it may be impossible to avoid the inevitable twitter mistakes, one thing you can do to avoid crossing your personalities is to use different tools for personal and organization twitter accounts. For example, I use TweetDeck for personal tweets and Hootsuite for organization tweets.

Avatars define voice

How does your avatar represent your social media voice?  Is it a photo? Is it a logo?  What does it imply?  For example, if you are an individual tweeting for your organization, do you use a personal photo so followers know the person behind the tweets? Or do you use a corporate logo and speak with a broader organizational voice?  
Many celebrities use their headshot as an avatar, but very few actually tweet for themselves.  Set the proper expectations instantly by selecting a powerful avatar image that defines your twitter voice authentically.

Emotions and tone

Personality is key to successful tweeting. Greatness doesn’t necessarily translate on twitter.  People like to follow people – not brands. Tweeting for your organization should be a mix of the institution’s founding principles and speaking in a conversational way. 
It is true that personal spokespeople get more followers.  Michel pointed out the clear example of Livestrong’s official twitter which has over 100,000 followers vs Livestrong CEO’s account which has over one million!
The most important takeaway to remember is that authenticity and personality go a long in effectively using social media, such as twitter, to reach your audience. Maintain an appropriate and approachable tone and let personal passions that align to organizational objectives drive content.
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
-          Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3

Turning Offline Events into Powerful Online Donation Engines

My article: Turning Offline Events into Powerful Online Donation Engines, has been published in the Desert Charity News.  Check it out here, page 37.

It has tips and tricks savvy nonprofits can use to increase online giving for real-world events; such as races, golf tournaments, or opening night galas.

SXSW: Nonprofits and Free Agents in A Networked World

In an interactive session with Beth Kanter (@kanter) CEO, Zoetica; Danielle Brigida (@starfocus)Digital Mktg Mgr,National Wildlife Federation; Jessica Dheere (@jessdheere) Founder/Dir, Social Media Exchange; Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) InvisiblePeople.tv at SXSW Interactive 2011, I learned how nonprofits can leverage free agents to support their cause.

First, Beth Kanter introduced the concept of a fortressed organization as one that is “opaque and impenetrable to outsiders.” (The Networked Nonprofit, B Kanter and A Fine, 2010)And what happens when a passionate, capable, and agile free agent who is eager to help meets this fortress? They crash into a wall.  


Instead, organizations must strive to be network nonprofits.  Networked nonprofits are more connected to the ecosystem of free agents (both individuals and other organizations.) They use more collaborative ways to issue and accept requests for work, for example, using social media to locate graphic designers.

According to Kanter, in order to exemplify a Networked Nonprofit, you must be comfortable with supporters experimenting with the organization’s brand.  Bridgida recommends getting buy-in from legal to allow them to do so.  Free agents don’t care about your branding document. Be sure your lawyers know not to send a cease and desist order when you support what the free agent is doing. Use creative commons licensing to freely allow certain uses of your organization’s intellectual property.

Free agents can sometimes accomplish things that the organization itself cannot, such as operating on the ground in foreign countries. Dheere points out that it is difficult to work as an NGO in certain societies due to cultural and government restrictions, especially with respect to open access to data and content.  This is one area where working with free agents isn’t just helpful, it’s crucial. Free agents have responsibilities too. They have to demonstrate how they help, not hurt, the cause.  Kanter mentioned having a code of conduct for free agents, so expectations and boundaries are clearly outlined.

Craig Newark and Beth Kanter
Craig Newmark (@craignewmark), founder of craigslist.org and Craigslist Foundation, and free agent extraordinaire, was in attendance.  He pointed out that free agents help charities and NGOs stay connected with the people they serve at the ground level.

A couple of key actions that you can do now to implement your strategy to becoming a “Networked Nonprofit”

  • Be a network weaver. Start by mapping out the relationships within your organization and you will probably find you are talking to the same people.
  • Develop an engagement strategy for people outside your organization and follow it
  • Fail fast and fail cheap. Reassess afterward.


Remember: “These networked nonprofits work as social networks, not just in them.” (Ibid)

I was lucky enough to meet Kanter after her session and briefly discuss how it went, including the integration of international free agents through live conference calls and recorded videos, as well as her informal moderation style and breaking down the physical barriers between audience and panel to facilitate the discussion.

Myself and Beth Kanter


All in all, this is one the BEST sessions I attended this year and I would highly recommend the book, The Networked Nonprofit (B Kanter, A Fine) to anyone interested in learning more.

The twitter hashtag for this session was #netnon.

Beth also has a great write-up of her reflections on this session on her blog.

Interview: 7 Things a Nonprofit Must do With Their Facebook Page

I was recently interviewed by Jennifer Flaten for the Nonprofit Technology News about tactics for maximizing a nonprofit’s Facebook page, including the importance of embedding online donation forms right onto the page.

Excerpts below. Please read the full article here: 7 Things a Nonprofit Must Do With Their Facebook Page

Stacy Dyer, Product Marketing Manager for Sage Non-Profit Solutions reminds non-profits to use their current marketing methods, such as direct mail or an email campaign, to bring people to their Facebook page. Your goal is to get fans to “like” you, that way your posts show up in their feed, which keeps them involved in your organization. In addition, “likes” encourage other users to “like” you too.

Engage

“Remember Facebook is all about conversation”, says Stacy, it is important that non-profits provide a rich variety of content that encourages people to comment. She stresses that non-profits should “post replies, you want to build a sense of community with two way conversations.”

Be Consistent

It is a good idea to assign one or two people to monitor the stream and perform the postings. To facilitate maintaining voice, Stacy encourages non-profits to use a publishing calendar. In addition, Stacy advises using scheduling tools like HootSuite to schedule posts in advance of upcoming events. It can also be used to post items related to the event as it is happening.

 

Please read the full article here: 7 Things a Nonprofit Must Do With Their Facebook Page