Raise Your Voice Page 8

How many times in a year would you like to hear from us?

  Are there any changes in your grantmaking policies that we need to be aware of?

  From your perspective, are we meeting the needs of the community through our programs?

  Do you think we could have greater impact through collaboration or a more focused application of grants?

  We see the value of including design and communications expenses as part of the program funding for which we’re requesting grants. What is your opinion on that perspective?

  We think we can become more sustainable and effective by increasing awareness of our cause. Would you consider providing support for a communications plan that aligns with our programs?

  The last two discussion points will perhaps be the most awkward to discuss. Many supporters and funders still see design and communications as capacity building or overhead expenses. In reality, they are a critical component of program delivery.

  This is where nonprofits need to engage their enlightened supporters and funders in an honest conversation about the value of design and communications as program support – not overhead.

  Strategic grantmaking is the preference of the specific funder or philanthropy, but to create and fund a program without a supporting design and communication strategy is like building a stool with only two legs. You can’t expect great results and impact without committing to a complete investment.

  A challenge to the board: How many directors own a business or are an executive of a corporation? Think about your own firm’s marketing budget, and compare it to what the nonprofit you govern has budgeted for design, communications, and fundraising. Most likely, the figure is much less than one percent of the overall budget.

  How do you expect great results if you’re unwilling to make an investment in communicating to the results you expect to achieve?

  DAY-TO-DAY ENGAGEMENT

  Interacting with your audience happens at a very practical level as well, on a day-to-day basis. Processes, technology, volunteer experience, and donor experience should all be evaluated from your audience’s perspective. What works well for the organization may be a miserable experience for your audience.

  I’m a big advocate for user experience (UX). You may be familiar with UX – it’s how people interact and experience something, whether it’s software, an event, or any other user interaction.

  Designing user experience not only builds affinity for your organization and the cause, it can also have a profound effect on your staff and culture. It shows that you’re thinking about what matters to your audience and your staff.

  Think about every possible touch point between your nonprofit and its audience. What could you do to improve these interactions? First, ask your audience for feedback, and then ask your staff as well.

  Here are two very practical examples that touch the staff and the donors:

  Making Time for More Service

  Every year in November, the inbound call volume at Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio would begin to rise. Individuals and families would call the Food Bank looking for information about where to find emergency food assistance.

  The volume of inbound calls reduced the amount of time that staff could attend to other business, such as agency relations, and sourcing and shipping food.

  Recognizing how critical it was to solve the problem, the board approved and funded a new web site that included a transformational component: a directory of food pantries, soup kitchens, and hot meal programs that could be searched on mobile and desktop devices.

  The directory can be searched by type of program, city, county, and zip code. Once the results are delivered, the search results reveal the date, time and location of the resource.

  This is significant – the nature of food pantries is they are often hosted at faith-based organizations that rely on volunteers. The dates and times a pantry is open can vary widely (e.g., the second Thursday from 11 am to 1 pm; and the third Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm).

  This solution came from listening to what staff felt would help them to more effectively do their jobs and meet the needs of the hungry, by providing direct access to the resource. The food assistance portal is consistently the second-most visited section of the Food Bank web site.

  Listening to Donor Experience Improves Online Giving

  If engagement is a dialog, how closely are you listening? In order to make the case for the cause, you must adapt to the needs of the audience; don’t expect the audience to adapt to you. Listening closely to stakeholders enables you to influence the way individuals perceive your cause and interact with it.

  Historical giving data revealed that individual donations were a growing portion of funds raised by Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. Research from GivingUSA.org backed up this data. However, donors constantly commented that online giving was difficult and frustrating. This was due to several factors:

  Second Harvest’s online donation platform was a third-party ecommerce platform, better suited for product sales than online donations.

  Donors were forced to leave the parent web site, which diminished trust in Second Harvest and created a disruptive, instead of a seamless experience.

  The ecommerce platform required the donor to set up a user account   –  a step that became a barrier to the donor’s desire to make a contribution.

  The platform offered limited options for customizing the appeal to the donor’s interest in giving (to support a specific program or campaign). This prevented Second Harvest from asking for the donation with confidence.

  Rather than feeling good about impacting a specific area of hunger relief, what the donor remembered most was the difficulty of donating. The gift-giving experience was less meaningful than it should have been and potentially contributed to a negative perception of Second Harvest.

  It is acknowledged within the fundraising community that donors give because they are asked, and because it makes them feel good. If you start from that perspective with your fundraising appeals, you can listen for other influences and motivations, and refine your appeals as you learn.

  Because of this feedback, Second Harvest made major changes to its online donation process:

  Second Harvest chose a new payment processor and integrated donation forms into their web site; as a result, donors welcomed the opportunity to give without being redirected off-site.

  Second Harvest customized their appeal pages to match the donation form with the program that the donor is interested in supporting.

  Second Harvest enhanced their generic appeal page with an image of impact   –  individuals who would benefit from the donation   –  to remind donors that their gifts impact people, not programs.

  To gain insights, a single question was added to the donation form: “Why do you support Second Harvest?” It’s humbling and revealing to read the responses, especially the one that read, “Because I was poor once.”

  KEY INSIGHTS

  Engagement is a conversation that gives your audience the reasons to believe in your cause. Giving is meaningful to donors, but the ease of giving is as important to them as the satisfaction they receive after giving. Leadership must have the courage to change established procedures, even if it means changing how donations are processed, and in the way requests for funding are made. In particular, your technology must adapt to how donors interact with it; you should never expect donors to adapt to your process or technology. True engagement considers the needs of the audience first.

  TWEET IT

  Listen as often as you speak, to hear what the community is saying. #beEngaging #causemanifesto

  Part Two: Chapter Seven

  There is a groundswell of well-intentioned, but unfounded faith in social media as the cure-all for a lack of mission-driven design discipline. This is particularly true for organizations that have grown so large that they suffer from undiagnosed mission creep. It is also popular as a topic of discussion at conferences that seek to educat
e the nonprofit and higher education sectors. Technology and social networks will never replace personal interaction, one-to-one relationships, and authenticity in storytelling. As with any relationship, you can’t be social without knowing your audience.

  If an organization lacks clear mission focus, its communications will be unfocused. Social media is often seen as the way to target the masses and hope for results.

  Here’s what you may not realize: All media is social media.

  That’s brilliant, right? It’s also a blatant display of the obvious. What is social can be shared: conversations, printed literature, experiences, events, memories, and more.

  Online services may help to build community; they can be an effective way to leverage an interpersonal social network. But they are, and always will be, part of the relationship mix – just one of many touch points and design choices available to help your organization communicate better.

  Social media, like any other touch point, requires a strategic, focused plan based on the design, marketing, and communication objectives. Not only must the editorial aspects of social media planning be considered; so too must the tools that will enable the cause’s followers to share the stories.

  Sharing tools can help ambassadors. Ambassadors include the board of directors, the staff, and stakeholders (those who receive services from the organization or institution), volunteers, donors, advocates, grantmaking organizations, the media, and legislators. Do you see? Everybody is a potential ambassador. How have you equipped them to be able to share your story in a manner that is meaningful to them?

  MESSAGE, STORY, AND AUTHENTICITY

  “Keep your story straight.”

  “Stay on message.”

  “These are the talking points.”

  Each of these phrases is more about presentation than about practice. Words can be rehearsed; conversations can be practiced; speakers can be prepped for what they will say. What truly resonates with an audience is authenticity. Ambassadors and advocates should be familiar with their content, so it can be delivered in a way that is natural, confident, sincere, and uplifting.

  Core messages aren’t stories. They are the foundation upon which stories can be created, and serve as the filter for what stories support the organization’s purpose. Core messages are built upon facts and information, formed from the purpose for which the organization exists, and are the elements of truth that will inform your audience.

  Stories are what inspire your audience. Good storytelling can come from a variety of sources – from those who are impacted by your work, testimonials from your audience, and everyday experience in delivering programs and services. Good stories have the potential to touch the heart and motivate listeners to action.

  Stories can be truthful or fictional. We’ve all read fiction, heard fairy tales, and certainly have had a nonprofit represent itself through fictionalized stories. We’ve heard speakers embellish the truth of the message with facts we later find to misrepresent the truth.

  Simply reciting core messaging and telling second-hand stories is not authentic. You can’t fake authenticity and sincerity. As an ambassador and advocate, there comes a point at which how you act and behave, and how you speak and listen, flows from within. Either you believe in the cause and the purpose for which your organization exists, or you’re faking it.

  Communications begin with core values. Consider the Manifesto as a set of guiding principles, in setting the tone for your organization’s voice and how it communicates through every touch point.

  Every piece of literature, every communication tool – from its collateral to its web site – could benefit from the perspective of core principles to help guide messaging toward authenticity.

  Likewise, those who are in the role of ambassadors for their organization would benefit from principles that help them set the tone for how they deliver the core message.

  It’s imperative any communications follow principles that uphold the values of the organization or institution. Those who are in the role of ambassador are obligated to put the cause first, and understand how their words and the communication toolkit are designed to support that cause.

  The resolutions of the Manifesto are a set of guiding principles that can enhance your organization’s ability to speak with one voice. When your audience hears one voice that supports your purpose, character, and culture, the outcome is verbal and visual design continuity, and a culture of authenticity, accountability, transparency, and trust. Think of an orchestra – many instruments under the direction of a conductor – blending into a cohesive performance, unified by the theme, and yet interesting because of its variations.

  Your voice – and the touch points that appeal to our ears, eyes, and minds – must be as carefully guarded as spoken words.

  The truth of authenticity is always revealed in the expression of an ambassador who is speaking on behalf of a cause. The written word gives the writer the luxury of review. Speaking engagements can be scripted (designed) and planned; and, where possible, allow minimal opportunity for off-the-cuff remarks.

  Those in positions of authority and leadership have a responsibility to their cause and their constituents. The way we think is shown by our actions; our words express what is in our heart.

  Action reveals thought and words reflect the heart. What we believe, and what motivates and inspires us, is eventually revealed through words and actions.

  The Heart and Mind of an Ambassador

  When you are an ambassador, you live your life as a representative of the cause. When your words flow from believing in the purpose, and with the conviction of character values that define the organization, you embody its culture.

  You believe your cause has the power to change the world. You believe the core message points are true and speak them from the heart, because your mind has acknowledged that they are true. You become part of the narrative and express your experience from your own perspective.

  You become an example of one who has moved from being a follower to a believer that will live and give sacrificially.

  This Is Who We Are

  We are all ambassadors. As an ambassador, you can pretend to believe in the cause, or you can live with purpose.

  If you are involved with any nonprofit that represents a cause that matters, then you are an ambassador. And since you are an ambassador, it’s up to you to represent the cause well, be aware of your role, and be authentic.

  SOCIAL EVENTS

  Many cause-related fundraising activities, particularly donor cultivation and acquisition, have event-driven components. Many fundraising events involve vast amounts of time, volunteer and staff commitment, planning, and resources. At the end of the event, many organizations realize that the return on their investment, in terms of actual dollars raised, was not worth the time and effort involved.

  Many organizations will excuse this low ROI and claim that the event raised awareness of the cause, even if it didn’t raise the amount of money that was intended. If this is the case, then wouldn’t the investment of time, effort, and financial resources been better spent on an awareness-building campaign that had the potential to reach hundreds, if not thousands, more individuals?

  Consider this example of an international organization that sought to improve donor cultivation. The organization hired a consulting firm that recommended a strategy of donor cultivation that focused on high-value potential donors. Its process pre-qualified them before inviting them to a friend-making event, where an appeal would be made to contribute to the organization and support the cause.

  This approach focused on building a relationship, over time, with potential donors who had an expressed interest in, and motivation for, making a gift. The approach was very effective, resulting in larger donations that fueled the growth of the organization.

  Yet at the same time, it became more and more challenging to sustain the level of giving needed to maintain the requirements of the organization as it grew. The goal of the strategy wa
s creating sustainable funding for the cause, but the organization was allowed to grow in an unsustainable way because of the increase in income. The strategy did not realize the intended effect of creating a stewarded resource of donors. Instead, it created a small pool that quickly reached the limit of its engagement and donation capacity.

  Why was this strategy flawed? One perspective suggests it was the apparent lack of sustained continuity. It appeared that the engagement continuum was followed:

  Attract > Inform > Inspire > Engage

  But the continuity aspect of the engagement continuum was missing:

  Attract > Inform > Inspire > Engage > Steward

  Mission-driven design recognizes the ultimate goal isn’t to cultivate or acquire donors, it is to build relationships and create ambassadors and believers in your cause. Donors will give if they are asked. Believers will support your cause sacrificially, and often without being asked – out of generosity rather than duty. Ambassadors will represent your organization and advocate for the cause wherever they go.

  This is where the difference between nonprofit marketing and communications is most distinct. On the engagement continuum, marketing decreases while relationship building increases.

  Marketing touch points are intended to attract the most attention possible, and draw people into the engagement continuum. How you inform and inspire them are mission-driven design choices, and require information and storytelling in order to build credibility and be effective. As individuals move through the continuum, the touch points are more personal and meaningful. They may take the form of traditional media, but their content needs to speak to the mind and appeal to the heart – according to how these individuals are motivated, and how their values align with your cause. Your supporters start off as strangers; become acquaintances; and, when they become engaged and active, grow into community members. Some will move through the entire continuum and become believers, having been stewarded in their relationship with your organization.