Posted on Tue, Aug 24, 2010
By Pete Carter, Senior Vice President
Monthly giving across the pond represents a significant portion of overall charitable contributions. In fact, several charities in the United Kingdom (Oxfam, for example) have several hundred thousand monthly givers. How do they do it? Is it even possible to replicate these results in the United States?
First, it’s important to understand that these monthly givers are not contributing via check. Paper checks are so last century. In Europe, and particularly the UK, monthly givers generally sign up via what they call “direct debit,” or what we call electronic funds transfer (EFT). So when conducting a monthly giving (or sustainer) recruitment campaign, don’t even think about accepting monthly mailed checks.
It is true that unlike in the United States, in Europe, it’s extremely common for consumers to use direct debit or “easy pay” for their personal bills. So if you think EFT will be too hard to sell to your donors, then a credit card option will work pretty well, too. However, it’s important to be aware that a sustainer file built on credit card giving will suffer from greater attrition than one based primarily on EFT.
These are the 5 most common techniques used around the world for recruiting monthly givers:
1. Face-to-face: Street canvass and door-to-door campaigns are very common in Europe. Some groups rely exclusively on this technique for recruiting new monthly givers. Face-to-face campaigns are gaining popularity in the United States. I was recently visited at home by a representative for the ACLU. I let him conduct his initial ask; after which I told him I was only going to make a one-time gift, which he seemed happy enough to take. This technique is expensive, which is why relatively few groups make use of it in the US. But if your organization is well-known, and if you target with careful accuracy, you might be able to build on this technique’s track record of success.
2. Telemarketing: Telemarketing is the bread-and-butter of most American monthly giving programs. Targeting those who just joined with a combo “thank-you” and “here’s another opportunity to help” telemarketing message has proven enormously successful for many organizations.
3. Television: Remember that Sarah McLachlan infomercial you’ve seen with sad puppies and kittens late at night? That’s the ASPCA using direct response television to recruit monthly givers. Television spots come in two varieties: long-form (usually 30 minutes or longer) or short-form (commercial sized, perhaps 30 or 60 seconds). Depending on length and placement, these spots can be very expensive, but we wouldn’t continue to see them if they weren’t working.
4. Direct Mail: Mail is less expensive than the first three options, but generally has a lower positive response. The good news: these monthly givers tend to be the most committed.
5. Online: The least expensive option, and one that allows for the greatest flexibility. Think of the price point options you can test, or the premium offers, or messaging points! If you don’t have initial success engaging donors with an online recruitment campaign, try it again with a different spin.
Are there any techniques that we’ve left out? And which have been the most successful for you?
Posted on Tue, Jun 15, 2010
Daniel Burstein recently wrote an excellent article in MarketingExperiments.com on how Adams Hussey & Associates client California State Parks Foundation took advantage of the power of social media to dramatically grow their web presence and raise close to a million dollars. The response to this article was so overwhelming that it was followed up with an interview with Adams Hussey & Associates' Senior Online Account Executive and Strategist Brenna Holmes, who advised the organization and helped to implement their online strategy. The text of this interview is below, and to view it in its original form, please follow this link.
Recently, I wrote about a case study that included excellent use of integrated marketing and social media – Facebook Case Study: From 517 to 33,000 fans in two weeks (plus media coverage). The MarketingExperiments community of marketers wanted to get a deeper look at the details, so I figured, why not go straight to the source?
Brenna Holmes, a senior online account executive and strategist at Adams Hussey & Associates (AH&A), was the digital brand strategic advisor on this campaign for her client, the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF). I asked her many questions from our audience along with a few of my own…
Let’s start with your role in this campaign. Social media operations is a huge challenge in itself. We’ll get to what you did in a moment. But first, how did you get it done?
Brenna Holmes: In the case of this urgent campaign, not only did I serve as an advisor, I also helped with implementation for all things social – optimizing their existing Facebook fan page with the custom welcome tab and many personalized Facebook Markup Language (FBML) widgets. Later in the campaign, I started and managed their Twitter account.
CSPF is a very small and tightly knit organization. Their Director of Membership, Greg Zelder, and Director of Communications, Jerry Emory, are my daily contacts and it was (and is) in collaboration with them that we got a full-scale multichannel campaign up and running within one week of learning of the Governor’s proposed budget cuts.
The first thing that catches my eye about this case study is the quick, large Facebook fan page growth that led to positive media stories. But when you explore this success a little deeper, it’s not just a case for social media marketing, but integrated marketing as well. Can you give us more details on how you used multichannel marketing?
BH: At AH&A, we LOVE multichannel integration. As a direct mail fundraising shop that has expanded to include pretty much in-house everything (online, telemarketing, creative, production, and analytics), practically every campaign we plan has multichannel components.
And this case was no different. CSPF had been a direct mail and telemarketing client of ours for many years, but 2009 was the first year that my department began working with them.
Actually…the budget cuts issue made us start our contract a month early! Within 48 hours the organizational website was redesigned to accommodate an Action Center, daily homepage updates, graphic social media sharing links, and embedded YouTube videos made by both the organization and passionate supporters.
The Facebook “Friend Get a Friend Campaign” was launched the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend, May 26, (which is when the Governor’s proposal was released) via an update to CSPF’s original 517 fans.
The update explained the imminent threat parks were facing and put a deadline – Friday, May 29 – and a goal – 5,000 fans. “This year’s cuts are ten times as bad, so we need ten times the fans on Facebook.”
Once supporters became fans, they were presented with an action item asking them to visit CSPF’s site to sign an email petition to the California legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger. We also set up and managed CSPF’s paid online advertising on both Facebook and Google to drive supporters to become fans and/or sign the petition. All this Web outreach was supported by an aggressive email petition and donation campaign to the house list and partner organizations in California.
The online campaign was mirrored in direct mail with three “urgent grams” that were in people’s mail boxes by the end of the week – one to high-dollar donors ($1,000+), one to all other members, and one to prospects. All three pieces netted funds and raised more than $200,000 in just over a month. Telemarketing was also excellently leveraged – existing campaigns were halted and new scripts were implemented, raising more than $88,000 in the first two weeks of the campaign.
That whole week in May, Foundation staff members were being interviewed and the story was picked up by SF Gate, Huffington Post, LA Daily News, Frommers, etc. They even made it onto Digg! By early June the Facebook growth was being referenced in mainstream news articles and on other environmental and California-based nonprofit Facebook pages.
Were these other channels used to primarily promote Facebook over the CSPF website?
BH: Facebook was never promoted over the website. Facebook promotion was always either in conjunction with site promotion (general “Find Us on Facebook” links) or as a secondary ask (“Thanks for taking action! If you are on Facebook, click through to join the conversation”).
Other than the specific “Friend Get a Friend” outreach on Facebook and some of the Facebook ads, we were primarily driving supporters to the online Action Center to sign the petition, make donations, and later on, print Save Our State Parks signs and upload their photos from the SOS weekends of action.
When people visit the CSPF Facebook fan page for the first time, they see a pseudo landing page that encourages them to become a fan or go to the CSPF website. I love the landing page, it’s a very clear way to communicate with your audience about the actions you’d like them to take (instead of just showing your wall to new visitors). Why did you decide to send users to a pseudo landing page instead of the wall?
BH: I’m a big fan of introductions, and maximizing the personalization of user experiences online. It’s a pet peeve of mine when sites (Facebook or other) don’t recognize that I’m new to the site.
So much of the online experience can be controlled from the backend to give a more customized experience. In my opinion, it would be silly to not take advantage of that with something as simple as a welcome tab.
We are trying to put the most efficient but comprehensive view of CSPF out there so people can absorb it in the seven seconds we have before they decide to click elsewhere. A cluttered (or worse barren) wall just doesn’t give the right first impression in my opinion.
And the Facebook landing page doesn’t solely encourage them to become a fan, it gives them other options as well.
There are three asks. This allows supporters to choose how they want to interact with the Foundation. The easiest is, of course, to “Like” the page. Then if they want to do more they can take action or join. The vast majority simply “Like” the page and move onto the “Wall,” but we have seen some petitions and new memberships coming in from these source-coded links.
This campaign helped raised several hundred thousand dollars for CSPF. (Congratulations!) How much came through Facebook, and how much came because of the other channels you used?
BH: Unfortunately we weren’t as proactive in source coding all the links on Facebook as we should have been from the very beginning, so the majority of donations do not show as coming from Facebook during that first burst of activity. However, we do know that 60% of our page connections are self-professed annual members.
In late July/August, we launched a social-media-only campaign promoting the Frequent Visitor membership level ($125 to get an annual parks parking pass) on Facebook and Twitter. Social media allowed us to quickly take advantage of the Parks Department halting annual pass sales for almost two weeks. In that campaign, CSPF gained over 700 new members from social media at the $125 level.
I can also tell you that while the entire integrated campaign earned $950,000, almost $300,000 was raised online and 46% of that came from supporters new to the e-file (either joining as annual members or by giving non-membership issue-based gifts). The e-file also tripled in size as the fan page grew and paid membership grew by 10% in the first two months.
We are much more meticulous about this now and see a steady stream of new memberships, renewals, and issue-based gifts coming in from both Facebook page promotions and the Facebook ads. (Stay tuned for this November’s Yes For State Parks ballot issue get-out-the-vote work on Facebook.)
What was the budget and team size? Social media seems very labor intensive, very manual.
BH: The online team size was only four of us – me, my vice president for strategic brainstorming, along with Greg Zelder and Jerry Emory at CSPF.
CSPF is on a monthly retainer with us, which includes all work except creative development. We have a larger offline staff that works closely with CSPF to get all the other pieces rolling and now CSPF has added another Web person internally to help out, but during last year’s campaign it was all hands for Greg and me in getting the online pieces up and running and properly maintained.
Social media is labor intensive, but if you have an urgent issue like this one, you drop everything to get it done and done as well as possible the first time around.
What is your follow-up plan for all these new Facebook fans that you have engaged?
BH: I’ve been managing the fan page for over a year now and it continues to grow. CSPF has, on average, a 15.5% month-over-month fan “connection” growth.
CSPF’s Communications Director is very hands on with the content generation and they post at a minimum of twice a week – a “feel good park story” every Tuesday and every Thursday there is a post for the new World’s Best Bike Commute blog that chronicles Jerry’s bike commute across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Greg and Jerry are also very good at posting from their mobiles to keep the page updated with pictures and information from the many live events CSPF holds throughout the year. Ideally I’d like to see a daily update to Facebook, but current staffing constraints at CSPF won’t allow for it. We are currently also working on some fun new content that will only be viewable after supporters “Like” the page.
How much are Facebook fans really worth? Are they very valuable? Or do they just “Like” something because they saw that their friends did?
BH: We find CSPF’s fans VERY valuable, whether they are the active donors or not, many are very outspoken evangelists for the cause. We are actually undertaking a much more robust tracking regime to identify the most engaged Facebook connections so we can do some additional personalized outreach.
Lately, the words Facebook and privacy seem to go hand in hand…
BH: We haven’t had any issues regarding privacy so far. Everything we do is on an opt-in basis and we are very proactive in answering fan questions – even going so far as to help a fan organize her newsfeed content so as to not be “overwhelmed” by our updates.
There are now a plethora of invites to social causes on Facebook. How does one cause really stand out from another?
BH: This is no different on Facebook than in other direct marketing media. Donors and activists have more choices of where to spend their time and money now than ever before. You stand out by staying engaged and listening to your base. Encourage them to be part of the process and they will extend your voice a thousand times over.
Can for-profit marketers use the same tactics you describe?
BH: I think that many of the tactics are the same whether the organization is non- or for-profit, and we “steal” concepts from commercial organizations ideas all the time. Typically the defining issue is cost, since corporations tend to have larger marketing budgets than nonprofits they could conceivably get even more value from social media like Facebook.
For the budding social media marketers out there… what applications have you found to be most valuable in engaging Facebook users?
BH: Custom FBML wall widgets and tabs are a must – like the welcome tab and our Get Involved menu of options. If you have a blog, sync it up with the Notes RSS. Sync your YouTube uploads and add as many of the newly released social plug-ins to your website as feasible. You want to engage supporters where they already live online.
Daniel originally found this case study in the brand new Social Marketing ROAD Map Handbook. If you’re looking to improve your social media marketing, you might benefit from the Handbook’s case studies (in addition to the one I covered above, there are ten more in the Handbook).
If you have any additional questions about our interactive marketing or digital brand management services, please leave a comment below.
Posted on Tue, Jun 01, 2010
No one wants to listen to complaints every day. Whether the complainer is a spouse (“Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher!”), one of your kids (“Why can't you take me to the mall?”) or a donor (“Stop sending me so much mail!”), it might seem easier to ignore the situation than to do something about it.
But just as you don't want your spouse to file for divorce or your child to hitch a ride to the mall from a stranger, you also don't want a valuable donor to say goodbye to you.
Too many nonprofit organizations don’t deal with complaints in the best manner, and many complaints end up in the garbage can with no response. What’s the best way to deal with them? Your strategy should first depend on whether the complainer is a donor or non-donor.
If the complainer is a donor, you need to pay extra-special attention to what the person is saying - and to how you respond. Probably the most frequent complaint from donors concerns the frequency of solicitations. Too often, organizations respond to such complaints by automatically suspending most solicitations to the donor. This is a major mistake.
Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and one of the early innovators of direct-response fundraising, once told me about an analysis he conducted into the giving histories of SPLC's most frequent donor complainers. He surprisingly determined that these complainers actually were the most valuable contributors on his donor list, with higher retention rates and longer donor histories than other contributors.
Dees realized that instead of suppressing these donors from his mail schedule, which effectively would lower a donor's likelihood of responding again, he should pursue another strategy. Instead, he developed a sophisticated response system to directly address complaints. In the case of a complaint about the frequency of solicitation, he would send a thorough letter explaining the necessity of frequent solicitations, while also explaining the benefits of SPLC's sustainer program, which would allow the donor to contribute on a regular, pre-determined basis.
Dees’ strategy resulted in increased donor bonding, with many donors joining the sustainer program and pledging regular contributions. As he explained, donors just want to know they have been heard. A personal and quick explanation on the organization’s part often will be rewarded with even more loyalty by the complaining donor.
This strategy also will work for other types of complaints.
- If a donor complains about the use of telemarketing, tell her why your organization uses it.
- If a donor complains about a stance your group has taken on an issue, send a thorough reply explaining why the organization did what it did.
You'll be surprised by positive responses from donors who are grateful to know that their opinions are important.If the complainer is someone who’s never donated to your organization before, and who probably is responding to an acquisition effort, there are other considerations to incorporate into your response.
For organizations that address politically sensitive issues, complainers might disagree with your stance. If this is the case, a response generally isn’t needed, although do yourself and the complainer a favor by including the individual on a do-not-solicit suppression file, which you should use with each merge/purge.
What if the complainer is belligerent? Calls you names? Thankfully, the days when such characters attach your BRE to a brick and mail it back are long gone. But such individuals still gladly will send you letters filled with vitriol. While it might give you temporary enjoyment to answer these people in kind, such a letter could find its way back to your boss or, worse, the press. Avoid the temptation and just add the complainer to your suppression file.
Any advice on how to deal with complaining donors or supporters? Please share your thoughts with us!
Posted on Tue, May 25, 2010
By Jim Hussey, President
Today, our nation and our world face a lot of "big picture" problems. The Gulf of Mexico is flooding with oil. Haiti is in ruins from a shattering earthquake. Global warming is melting our polar ice caps. Major wars rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and numerous other spots around the world. The fear of terrorism is higher yet. AIDS and other epidemics threaten to kill millions. And thousands of people across the world die every day from starvation.
Nonprofit organizations are rising to the challenge by educating the public, organizing support and raising revenue to address these major problems. And while these organizations need to focus on the “big picture” in most of their public-education efforts, often they should do the opposite in their fundraising campaigns. In other words, and in a reversal of an often used phrase they need to “see the trees, rather than the forest!”
Huh?
“What is he blabbering about?” you might be asking right about now. Here’s what I'm trying to say:
Often, nonprofit organizations focus their fundraising communications on such massively big problems that the potential donor believes that no amount of his support could possibly help. This is what I refer to as a “drop in a bucket” scenario.
Here’s a fictional example of how an environmental group addressing global warming might, in fact, create this kind of situation:
Dear Friend,
Global warming is rapidly heating our planet. A huge hole has opened in our ozone layer. Polar ice caps are melting away. Chunks of ice the size of Texas have split away from Antarctica. Current coastlines will begin to disappear as water from the melting ice drowns our coastal cities. Millions of people will be displaced or die from the resulting change in weather patterns.
Please send us $15 to stop this catastrophe.
See what I mean? A recipient who reads this literally could envision a drop of water plopping into a huge bucket… because that's how he’ll view his relatively small contribution in comparison to the problem it’s supposed to address. It will discourage many potential supporters from even addressing the subject.
OK, that example may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it's not so far off of the mark.
Some fundraisers attempt to fix this problem by changing the ask to something like, “Please send us $15 to stop this catastrophe, and we'll send you this really cute teddy bear.”
In other words, they overcome the donor’s hesitance by offering a bribe for a contribution. I’m not condemning those who use premiums to overcome the reluctance of potential donors. A few of my clients will testify that, in some cases, I’ve urged them to do just that.
Bring it home
But before succumbing to the easy solution of premiums, you should try another method when addressing “big picture” issues such as global warming, war, world hunger or deadly diseases. First, you should attempt to bring the issue down to a level that the potential donor can more easily understand, and can more easily visualize how his $15 contribution will make a difference.
Child-sponsorship organizations understand this strategy better than anyone. Can one person stop world hunger? No way. But can one person, feed one child in a Third World country? Yes... that is a manageable goal. And can a single person stop global warming? No- But one person can support lobbying efforts in Congress to pass higher automobile mileage standards or other regulations that stem emissions that cause global warming.
The next time you attempt to communicate with potential donors about the “forest” of challenges that your organization wants to address, remember to take the time to point out a few of the trees.
How are you successfully showing the "trees" in your appeals?
Posted on Tue, May 11, 2010
By Annie Hughes, Vice President of Client Services
Mother’s Day was this past Sunday, and this holiday is always a great reminder for all of us that we need to recognize some of the most important people in our lives: our mothers.
Whether you send flowers, give a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant or simply a card from the heart, the motivation is the same—you want to show Mom how much she means to you.
There is a connection between the love we want to show mom and the appreciation organizations should be showing their donors all year long. And, the best way to show your donors how much their support means is to thank them – with an appropriate, timely message.
The amount your organization is investing in those thank you notes is worth it! It’s widely accepted that the health of an acknowledgement program and the quality of an organization’s cultivation tools are directly related to strong renewal rates, multiple gifts from donors and improved lifetime donor value.
Acknowledgements and other cultivation efforts should be seen as opportunities to expand on a donor’s relationship with the organization and further bond a donor to your cause, but there are some tricks of the trade that can help you get the most bang for your buck.
- Welcome Kits: Welcome kits do more than say thanks, these important packages showcase opportunities for additional engagement with donors who are just getting to know your organization and reminds them that they made a smart investment by joining your cause.
- Ask for A Second Gift: Don’t shy away from asking for a follow-up gift. Acknowledgements provide a golden opportunity to convert new donors to multi-giving donors with a special second gift ask.
- Cultivation Campaigns: It doesn’t hurt to send donors a no-ask cultivation letter and/or email to inform them of recent happenings at your organization. This will ensure that your donors feel a part of your efforts and that they are kept in the loop on the critical work your organization is doing. (You can even include a BRE to help offset the costs of a cultivation mailing.)
- Showcase Leadership Giving or Sustainer Programs: Within your welcome kit or acknowledgement program you can showcase special giving programs by inviting new donors to join the monthly giving sustainer program or major donor program depending on level of their first gift.
Just like you showed your mom how much you care last Sunday, a smart organization will make the most of every opportunity to cultivate the relationship they have with their donor base by showing their members how their involvement is critical to the success of the organization’s mission.
Is your nonprofit thanking and cultivating your donors? What other ways can an organization show their donors how much they care?
Posted on Thu, May 06, 2010
The Abigail Van Buren of fundraising gives it away for free.
By Jim Hussey
I’ve decided to offer my advice to all of you out there with questions about your fundraising troubles - a sort of “Dear Abby” column for the fundraising forlorn. I'm even willing to dole out this advice free of charge. Those with questions need not fear a monthly retainer bill or any other type of charge. Just please don’t tell any of my clients I'm giving it away for nothing! :-D
Since this is a new idea, I have no letters to answer — yet (though I expect my inbox to swell soon!) — so to start the ball rolling, I’ve simply forged some on my own, based on questions I frequently hear. I'm hoping it’ll inspire you to comment with your own queries.
Dear Jim,
I come to you with an urgent problem. My boss has told me that I need to conduct “regression analysis” concerning previous fundraising campaigns for my organization. I hate to admit it, but I don’t even know what regression analysis is. I don’t want to appear stupid to my boss … can you please help me by explaining this term?
Sincerely, Unanalyzed
Dear Unanalyzed,
This term is a catch-all phrase for any type of analysis that utilizes previously gathered information. For example, if you want to figure out if men or women are more likely to respond to one of your fundraising solicitations, you can take the response data of previous campaigns and compare these results to the initial audience. Let’s say the results show that 50 percent of the original audience was male, yet 75 percent of your respondents are female … then you've figured out that women are your best prospects. Regression analysis also can be used to determine a multitude of other factors, such as seasonality, and retention and attrition rates.
Dear Jim,
My nonprofit organization is about to celebrate an important anniversary, and my boss wants me to develop a fundraising campaign around this date. Is this a smart thing to do?
Sincerely, Perplexed
Dear Perplexed,
Anniversaries can serve as an indicator to potential donors that your organization has stamina and isn't a fly-by-night operation. However, it’s always critical to remember that donors never provide you with a reward for past service. Donors always contribute toward a current or pending situation. A sense of urgency almost always is a requirement to any successful fundraising campaign. So proceed with your anniversary campaign … but put most of your focus on the present and future.
Comment with your Dear Jim questions and I'll answer a few each month!
Posted on Tue, Apr 27, 2010
How to keep them coming back for more!
By Lynn Waller, Vice President of Client Services
You’ve done the hard part – recruiting new members – so now what?
The first year of membership is crucial to building a relationship with your members and getting that first renewal. Creating a stream of coordinated new member contacts is the key to building this relationship and is one of the most important things you do for your organization.
You’ve already “sold” them, so now how do you continue to engage them?
Don’t Tell the Whole Story at Once.
Just give the new member enough information in your first contact to get started – login information they can use to access their online benefits for instance, and get information from the member that can help you send them more targeted contacts later on (interests, email address, birthday, etc), and most importantly, welcome them into the organization and make them feel great about their decision to join.
Use What’s Already Working.
A newsletter or magazine are the perfect vehicles to push information out to your members. Try creating a new member version with an article that highlights a benefit, an online tool, a volunteer opportunity or another way they can easily get involved. Include a member page in each issue of your magazine – a place where members can go to read about new benefits and what the nonprofit is doing for them.
Don’t Forget to Integrate.
Make use of ALL communication channels, including online, and telemarketing. Call your new members, send them a video from the president, and/or invite them to a new member event. If you have their email address, send new members an email with a link to a tutorial, or a webinar that will show them how to use the products and services that you offer. Include a new member section on your website, exclusive for 1st year members – a place where they can interact with other members, volunteer, or read why a long-time member is glad that he/she joined.
The first year of membership for ANY member is the most important – if you are successful in building a solid relationship with the member they will be more likely to renew and become an active part of your organization.
How do you make new members feel like a vital part of your organization? Any ideas we left out?
Posted on Tue, Apr 06, 2010
Here are some tips to break out of that writing rut.
By Jim Hussey, President
Whether professional writers generating grant applications, direct-mail copy and annual reports or just authors of everyday memos, all of us have been plagued by writer’s block.
Writer’s block is something that I consistently battle. As a copywriter, the author of frequent memos and proposals, and, in this case, a blog, I constantly find myself facing the mental brick wall that brings the flow of writing to an abrupt halt.
Great authors such as Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Hemingway often turned to alcohol as their remedy. However, drunkenness generally is frowned upon by clients, colleagues, family members and family doctors. As a result, I have attempted to avoid this route.
Instead, I’ve developed other tactics and queried fellow writers about their own strategies. Maybe some of these ideas can help you.
Plow on through
The most common strategy is just to start writing and push through the mental barrier that’s blocking you. In this case, it doesn’t matter what you write, just write it. You can go back and edit later. Chances are you’ll find yourself on a roll within a couple of minutes.
I also find it helpful to occasionally walk away from the computer and do it “old school” style by getting a pen and paper and just writing longhand. I often find that while writing on a computer, I edit my work as I go along instead of concentrating on the idea I’m writing about. Writing by hand breaks me out of that habit.
You also don’t have to write in a coherent order. When I'm writing a four-page direct-mail package, I often will skip from the first page to the last page. Or if I hit a wall, I’ll skip away from the letter altogether and begin writing another component, such as the reply form or an informational insert.
Look at the competition
All of us have hundreds of seed packages from other organizations laying around our offices. Grab a handful and start reading. You probably will learn a few new techniques that will open your mind to new possibilities.
Such methods not only will help you break out of writer’s block, but they also will help you expand your arsenal of writing styles.
Avoid distractions
A ringing telephone and the quiet “ding” heralding the arrival of new e-mails often will prevent you from getting into the flow of writing. When I’m under a tight deadline in such situations, I often grab my laptop or a pen and some paper and head out of the office to a local coffee shop to find some peace, quiet and inspiration. A latte and a dose of Muzak can work miracles.
As one of my colleagues told me, “Never underestimate the power of caffeine."
Start again in the morning
My business partner, Greg Adams, refuses to start a project late in the afternoon.
“When you've reached a point of frustration, it’s OK to leave and come back to it the next day,” he adds. “Then, in a moment of relaxation, the idea hits you. Your subconscious keeps gnawing on it until a solution is found.”
How have you overcome writers block? I'd love to hear your tricks and techniques!
Posted on Tue, Feb 09, 2010
Check your politics - and your big mouth - at the conference door.
By Jim Hussey
Something disturbing happened at a recent DMA Annual Washington Nonprofit Conference (not this year's).
It occurred at the beginning of the question-and-answer phase of a panel discussion titled “How to Beat a Long-Standing Control.” According to accounts, a member of the audience stood up and harangued the DMA for allowing one of the participants — who works for the national office of Planned Parenthood — to be on the panel.
He lectured the audience and the panel about the supposed evils of Planned Parenthood, and he upset many of those who attended.
When he finished, another person stood up to offer a countering opinion. Before others could jump into the debate, the moderator stepped in and did an excellent job of calming everyone and steering the discussion back to the session’s true subject.
This incident greatly concerns me. In this increasingly partisan world, conferences and other activities organized by the DMA and other industry groups should be a welcome refuge from the mudslinging that often can dominate discussions concerning sensitive issues.
Along with their coats, participants should check their politics and partisanship at the door. No one should feel threatened or open to harassment at these functions.
Like most people, I have my own opinions, but I'm not about to use this blog to argue the complicated issues of abortion, birth control and reproductive rights — or any other issue, for that matter — or to rail against those who oppose my viewpoint.
Industry events should be free of politics. Industry events should offer tools to help fundraising professionals improve their skills and raise more money for their organizations. No one will benefit by transforming industry events into debating societies - unless, of course, you’re debating analytical tools or the use of one direct-marketing strategy over another.
The effectiveness of these events would be greatly endangered if such outbursts become more common. These conferences provide educational opportunities for those seeking growth within our sector and a vital chance for all of us to network.
The next time you attend an industry conference, if you happen to sit in on a session that includes a panelist from an organization that really upsets you, keep quiet or walk out. If you don't think you can do either, pay attention to the information in the program you receive when you register. If someone's participation will be troubling to you, don't go to that session.
Voicing protest at these events will not win converts. Many attendees of the session in question were greatly angered by the incident, according to a source who read the feedback comments submitted afterwards.
If you’re really opposed to a panelist’s viewpoint, what better way to counter it than to attend his session, learn all about the successful strategies the organization is using, and then go back to your office and try to figure out how to apply your new knowledge on behalf of a mission that you do support?
That way, you’ve made a real-world difference without compromising the conference experience for your colleagues — all of whom, believe it or not, are as passionate about their beliefs as you are about yours.
Don't you agree?