For the second year running, we asked our team to forego the typical, boring Halloween costumes and dress up as some of their favorite nonprofit organizations. Here are some great examples you can still throw together in time for trick-or-treating MORE
If you work in communications, marketing or fundraising, it’s wise to remember to focus on that mini-impression formed in the first few instants of engagement. You can be sure the Super Bowl advertisers knew that - heck, they were spending $116,667 a second to make a good impression. In the Harvard Business Review blog this week, Ron Ashkenas shares reflections on the three things needed for the best possible mini-impression, drawing on lessons from the Super Bowl. MORE
Honestly, I’m not impressed with the message and I think the design is weak. Alaska’s residents are allowed to share in the revenue the state enjoys from investments in mineral royalties. In order to get their dividend they have to apply for Permanent Fund Dividends. MORE
Again, neither of these well-respected nonprofits need to be sensational to impress a newsy audience, yet visiting the PBS website immediately spoke to their desire to engage the digital divide. MORE
They are often the first impression that your supporters will have with your brand, especially online or on social media channels, where your logo has to fit into tiny profile photo spaces, and follows you around with every tweet and every post. MORE
You’ve likely heard the saying that you get one chance to make a first impression. The first sentence of your Thank-You letter is your first impression with your donor in acknowledging their gift. Get it right and they’ll read on. Mess it up, and they’re done reading. How do you mess up the first line of a Thank-You letter? Make it boring and predictable. MORE
In fact, I think there are a number of other small things, when considered, we should also commit to as we are representing our agencies and aiming to make a great first impression. Would love to hear what other little things you do to make a big first impression? MORE
Maybe it’s a short anecdote, or a telling testimonial, or even an impressive statistic. Donors are Testing Nonprofits, and Nonprofits Are Failing. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, first-time donor retention is a measly 19%. MORE
Conflict Generational clash ageism arts Brexit Brexit decision canadian fundraising first impressions of brexit Fundraising nonprofit Brexit nostalgia rosemary metz UK fundraising US fundraisingWhat will Brexit mean for England’s charities? MORE
When we fail to do this, we overwhelm people and create the impression their support won’t make a dent in our social problem. I’m back from the Nonprofit Technology Conference. MORE
Social media mentions jumped a whopping 86 percent, topped by 114 BILLION impressions on Twitter. Love it or hate it, #GivingTuesday has become a VERY BIG DEAL for nonprofits. By every measure, this giving day has exploded into a new, influential holiday. MORE
When I did PR for a big nonprofit early in my career, I was amazed by how much emphasis was put on “impressions.&# If I got a mention of my organization in the paper, we’d count that paper’s circulation, plus pass-along readership, and come up with number of “impressions&# —as if that many people had read and internalized the mention. Now I read in the Harvard Business Review that Coca Cola measures social media in terms of expressions not impressions. MORE
I’ve seen dozens of CEOs, communications and development directors waste countless hours fuming, fussing and meeting over these egocentric tomes in hopes of impressing donors. It’s hard to come up with an example of a greater waste of nonprofit funds and time than the annual report. Well, most annual reports at least. MORE
But they can’t draw without a vivid, memorable impression to reflect upon and then interpret. You — i.e., your organization — are an important shaper of that impression, but not the only one. MORE
By using Meet Edgar (they have nonprofit pricing) and repurposing Invisible People posts, I was able to bring traffic back from 5 million to 10 million impressions a week. MORE
This organization just keeps impressing me over and over. You bet it is! I recently received this email from Charity: Water. Click below to watch the video. Rachel’s Gift. One Year Later. Call me a marshmallow, but it got me crying. See how long you last. MORE
I was hugely impressed and indicated my expectation that Greenpeace would probably do more than merely bask in the satisfaction that I was one of (then) 5 million viewers of their powerful video. MORE
You can set your daily budget , or “lifetime” budget, and you will need to choose a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) or CPC (cost per click bid). You only pay for the impressions or clicks that your ad receives, and if they are targeted well, this can be very effective. MORE
You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website. You can’t just add a “Donate” button to your nonprofit’s website and expect it to be successful. Many online gifts are impulse purchases. MORE
I mean, I am super impressed that they do a pedi-cab as well as fundraising, but let’s face it, fundraising at the lower levels is poorly paid. Why do we keep getting up, day after day, to go and do this work? MORE
Makes a Good First Impression. I know what you’re thinking, “How can a website make a first impression? Thanks to guest blogger Alex McLain, who designs engaging websites for nonprofits as a member of the Wired Impact team. Creating a new website for your nonprofit is a mind-boggling task. You’ve got a million questions reeling through your head throughout the process, but one of the key questions to consider is: “How important is the role of design in our website?” MORE
Here are three reasons I’m impressed with Google+. I joined Google+ exactly one month ago. I started out with my curiosity piqued and then I got a vision for how nonprofits could benefit from Google+. I was even interviewed about Google+ last week. MORE
I’m always looking up new stats about search engine and social media use and behavior for various online marketing presentations, and I decided it would be more useful to share them with the world (and have a convenient spot for me to reference them in the future). So here you go: More than 81% of all Internet users find their destination via a search engine. Jupiter Research, 2008. 87% of people click on the natural results (vs. paid) & Organic results convert 5.66x that of paid ads. MORE
This interaction gives an impression of your organization. If your staff is friendly and warm, people get a positive impression and they’ll be much more likely to give when the time comes. If they have a sour impression of your staff as grouchy or uncaring, they may not want to support your organization financially. Whether they know it or not, everyone in your organization is part of the fundraising process. So you may as well be purposeful about involving them. MORE
There’s heaps of advice floating around, especially in the commercial space, for how to improve response to email marketing messages. But it always comes back to … you’ve got to test for your own organization and circumstances. With so much in email marketing that could be tested, where do you begin? Here’s a useful approach proposed by Kara Trivunovic of Strongmail, writing in email Insider. Roughly, from easy to hard, she suggests … Subject lines. MORE
You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website. You can attend just this webinar for $99 and learn the basics of making a great first impression on website visitors. MORE
Who says first impressions don’t matter. I was browsing through my email, as one is wont to do, and noticed a praising mention of an unfamiliar nonprofit called Possible Health. And, as donors are wont to do, I went to their website to check them out. You’ll recall that #2 on my recommended 2015 ‘To do’ list yesterday was getting your nonprofit’s website in top shape for attracting and converting leads.] I loved this site. MORE
The Key Yardstick: Of three basic metrics, number of impressions is the [.]. The Research: Many media – billboards, TV, newspapers, skywriters, etc – can promote your brand. Each has different impacts. And different costs. Here’s a look at the research that compares expense and results. This is information you will want to keep for reference.) MORE
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a message that they want to get out; “foreign aid really works.” And the foundation, in conjunction with the Cannes Lions Festival is funding a million-dollar contest to see who can best get that message out. The submission is pretty straightforward and is limited to just two pages. The entry deadline is 15 May 2012. What might the judges base their decision on? MORE
A while back she wrote a post about what she wished more people knew about her and I was so impressed by it and the follow-up posts that I committed to writing one. I've mentioned that I like Amber Naslund's ideas over at Brass Tack Thinking. So if you're thinking this post has nothing to do with your small nonprofit, you're right. Many times since I said I would write this post, I've thought. me myself and I MORE
So, if you want to keep up with their struggle –and their impressive investment in testing and figuring out the future—I recommend you subscribe (free) to the Neiman Journalism Lab . These are some impressive folks. The newspaper industry is struggling for its life. Of course, that’s not news, but what they’re doing by way searching for life rafts is indeed important and worthy of attention. MORE
You’ve likely heard the saying that you get one chance to make a first impression. The first sentence of your Thank-You letter is your first impression with your donor in acknowledging their gift. Get it right and they’ll read on. Mess it up, and they’re done reading. How do you mess up the first line of a Thank-You letter? Make it boring and predictable. MORE
Your writing should not be designed to impress your donors. I failed to get into business school. I hoped to be a business major at the University of Maryland in the 80’s. But my ability to read, comprehend and recapitulate the institution’s business lessons was not so good. I didn’t make the cut and failed to get even close to acceptance into the business school. So, I decided to become a journalism major instead even though I wasn’t very good at writing. MORE
In his Friday post , Roger asked: How many donors must we lose before we learn? The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that initial results from #GivingTuesday show terrific growth. As they put it, the initial “haul” of #GivingTuesday looks to be $168 million, up from the estimated $117 million last year. MORE
It brought a smile to our faces and impressed us with the attention to a detail that many overlook. You'll increase the likelihood that they will continue using your site and you'll leave a positive impression that will last. . . MORE
Cost-per-Thousand Impressions (CPM). Cost per 1,000 Impressions (CPM). For every email list, there is churn, churn, churn. People leave your list and emails bounce. Are you replacing those names? MORE
We’ll be talking about how you can fix those errors by: Making a good first impression. Mistake #1: Not Making a Good First Impression. As previously stated on this very blog , “You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website.”. MORE
I am impressed by their mission: “ MissionBox.com is committed to a world where nonprofits no longer work in isolation, but instead are empowered by essential mission-related knowledge and colleague connections.” MORE
I was so impressed with the creativity in all of your comments that I enlisted the help of Julia Reich Design to illustrate several of the ideas. I’ve never liked fundraising thermometers. MORE
And if your website doesn’t make a good first impression, you’ll lose the donor and the gift faster than you can say ‘goodbye online donation.’. You certainly don’t want to give the impression that you don’t want volunteers! MORE
Go to it—Make your About Us content as lively, compelling and impressive as your people and impact. MORE
The mobile Web is rapidly becoming a key way to communicate your message to donors; it’s important that your nonprofit website isn’t giving them a bad impression. . Nonprofits are now reporting that up to a third of their Web traffic is coming from mobile devices. MORE
They can have many responsibilities, including being the heartbeat of the office and the first person clients or supporters talk to, leaving them with a wonderful first impression. Receptionists can be a lifeline for your organization. MORE
Impression Related Topics A Small Change
MARCH 16, 2015
In fact, I think there are a number of other small things, when considered, we should also commit to as we are representing our agencies and aiming to make a great first impression. Would love to hear what other little things you do to make a big first impression?
The Agitator
DECEMBER 4, 2016
In his Friday post , Roger asked: How many donors must we lose before we learn? The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that initial results from #GivingTuesday show terrific growth. As they put it, the initial “haul” of #GivingTuesday looks to be $168 million, up from the estimated $117 million last year.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
FEBRUARY 7, 2012
If you work in communications, marketing or fundraising, it’s wise to remember to focus on that mini-impression formed in the first few instants of engagement. You can be sure the Super Bowl advertisers knew that - heck, they were spending $116,667 a second to make a good impression. In the Harvard Business Review blog this week, Ron Ashkenas shares reflections on the three things needed for the best possible mini-impression, drawing on lessons from the Super Bowl.
Get Fully Funded
NOVEMBER 16, 2011
You’ve likely heard the saying that you get one chance to make a first impression. The first sentence of your Thank-You letter is your first impression with your donor in acknowledging their gift. Get it right and they’ll read on. Mess it up, and they’re done reading. How do you mess up the first line of a Thank-You letter? Make it boring and predictable.
Get Fully Funded
NOVEMBER 16, 2011
You’ve likely heard the saying that you get one chance to make a first impression. The first sentence of your Thank-You letter is your first impression with your donor in acknowledging their gift. Get it right and they’ll read on. Mess it up, and they’re done reading. How do you mess up the first line of a Thank-You letter? Make it boring and predictable.
EveryAction
OCTOBER 30, 2015
For the second year running, we asked our team to forego the typical, boring Halloween costumes and dress up as some of their favorite nonprofit organizations. Here are some great examples you can still throw together in time for trick-or-treating
Cause Related Marketing
MAY 3, 2012
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a message that they want to get out; “foreign aid really works.” And the foundation, in conjunction with the Cannes Lions Festival is funding a million-dollar contest to see who can best get that message out. The submission is pretty straightforward and is limited to just two pages. The entry deadline is 15 May 2012. What might the judges base their decision on?
Get Fully Funded
SEPTEMBER 24, 2012
And if your website doesn’t make a good first impression, you’ll lose the donor and the gift faster than you can say ‘goodbye online donation.’. You certainly don’t want to give the impression that you don’t want volunteers!
Wild Woman Fundraising
JULY 25, 2016
Conflict Generational clash ageism arts Brexit Brexit decision canadian fundraising first impressions of brexit Fundraising nonprofit Brexit nostalgia rosemary metz UK fundraising US fundraisingWhat will Brexit mean for England’s charities?
Search Marketing for Nonprofits
SEPTEMBER 13, 2010
I’m always looking up new stats about search engine and social media use and behavior for various online marketing presentations, and I decided it would be more useful to share them with the world (and have a convenient spot for me to reference them in the future). So here you go: More than 81% of all Internet users find their destination via a search engine. Jupiter Research, 2008. 87% of people click on the natural results (vs. paid) & Organic results convert 5.66x that of paid ads.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JULY 25, 2016
You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website. You can attend just this webinar for $99 and learn the basics of making a great first impression on website visitors.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
APRIL 20, 2016
We’ll be talking about how you can fix those errors by: Making a good first impression. Mistake #1: Not Making a Good First Impression. As previously stated on this very blog , “You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website.”.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
OCTOBER 19, 2015
They can have many responsibilities, including being the heartbeat of the office and the first person clients or supporters talk to, leaving them with a wonderful first impression. Receptionists can be a lifeline for your organization.
NonProfit Branding
SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
The Key Yardstick: Of three basic metrics, number of impressions is the [.]. The Research: Many media – billboards, TV, newspapers, skywriters, etc – can promote your brand. Each has different impacts. And different costs. Here’s a look at the research that compares expense and results. This is information you will want to keep for reference.)
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
MAY 4, 2016
Cost-per-Thousand Impressions (CPM). Cost per 1,000 Impressions (CPM). For every email list, there is churn, churn, churn. People leave your list and emails bounce. Are you replacing those names?
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
DECEMBER 3, 2015
Social media mentions jumped a whopping 86 percent, topped by 114 BILLION impressions on Twitter. Love it or hate it, #GivingTuesday has become a VERY BIG DEAL for nonprofits. By every measure, this giving day has exploded into a new, influential holiday.
The Agitator
JULY 30, 2015
So, if you want to keep up with their struggle –and their impressive investment in testing and figuring out the future—I recommend you subscribe (free) to the Neiman Journalism Lab . These are some impressive folks. The newspaper industry is struggling for its life. Of course, that’s not news, but what they’re doing by way searching for life rafts is indeed important and worthy of attention.
Social Media Bird Brain
AUGUST 1, 2011
A while back she wrote a post about what she wished more people knew about her and I was so impressed by it and the follow-up posts that I committed to writing one. I've mentioned that I like Amber Naslund's ideas over at Brass Tack Thinking. So if you're thinking this post has nothing to do with your small nonprofit, you're right. Many times since I said I would write this post, I've thought. me myself and I
iMarketSmart
JUNE 26, 2015
Honestly, I’m not impressed with the message and I think the design is weak. Alaska’s residents are allowed to share in the revenue the state enjoys from investments in mineral royalties. In order to get their dividend they have to apply for Permanent Fund Dividends.
J Campbell Social Marketing
FEBRUARY 14, 2017
I am impressed by their mission: “ MissionBox.com is committed to a world where nonprofits no longer work in isolation, but instead are empowered by essential mission-related knowledge and colleague connections.”
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
MAY 14, 2015
Go to it—Make your About Us content as lively, compelling and impressive as your people and impact.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
DECEMBER 9, 2015
Maybe it’s a short anecdote, or a telling testimonial, or even an impressive statistic. Donors are Testing Nonprofits, and Nonprofits Are Failing. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, first-time donor retention is a measly 19%.
The Agitator
AUGUST 2, 2012
This organization just keeps impressing me over and over. You bet it is! I recently received this email from Charity: Water. Click below to watch the video. Rachel’s Gift. One Year Later. Call me a marshmallow, but it got me crying. See how long you last.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
JULY 20, 2016
Again, neither of these well-respected nonprofits need to be sensational to impress a newsy audience, yet visiting the PBS website immediately spoke to their desire to engage the digital divide.
The Agitator
AUGUST 3, 2014
I was hugely impressed and indicated my expectation that Greenpeace would probably do more than merely bask in the satisfaction that I was one of (then) 5 million viewers of their powerful video.
Get Fully Funded
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
This interaction gives an impression of your organization. If your staff is friendly and warm, people get a positive impression and they’ll be much more likely to give when the time comes. If they have a sour impression of your staff as grouchy or uncaring, they may not want to support your organization financially. Whether they know it or not, everyone in your organization is part of the fundraising process. So you may as well be purposeful about involving them.
Fundraising 123
APRIL 25, 2012
It brought a smile to our faces and impressed us with the attention to a detail that many overlook. You'll increase the likelihood that they will continue using your site and you'll leave a positive impression that will last. . .
The Agitator
JANUARY 13, 2015
Who says first impressions don’t matter. I was browsing through my email, as one is wont to do, and noticed a praising mention of an unfamiliar nonprofit called Possible Health. And, as donors are wont to do, I went to their website to check them out. You’ll recall that #2 on my recommended 2015 ‘To do’ list yesterday was getting your nonprofit’s website in top shape for attracting and converting leads.] I loved this site.
Fundraising 123
MAY 29, 2014
You can set your daily budget , or “lifetime” budget, and you will need to choose a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) or CPC (cost per click bid). You only pay for the impressions or clicks that your ad receives, and if they are targeted well, this can be very effective.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
DECEMBER 5, 2011
I was so impressed with the creativity in all of your comments that I enlisted the help of Julia Reich Design to illustrate several of the ideas. I’ve never liked fundraising thermometers.
Getting Attention
NOVEMBER 19, 2014
Makes a Good First Impression. I know what you’re thinking, “How can a website make a first impression? Thanks to guest blogger Alex McLain, who designs engaging websites for nonprofits as a member of the Wired Impact team. Creating a new website for your nonprofit is a mind-boggling task. You’ve got a million questions reeling through your head throughout the process, but one of the key questions to consider is: “How important is the role of design in our website?”
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
MARCH 26, 2015
You have less than 25 seconds to make a good impression on first-time visitors to your website. You can’t just add a “Donate” button to your nonprofit’s website and expect it to be successful. Many online gifts are impulse purchases.
Wild Woman Fundraising
MAY 13, 2014
I mean, I am super impressed that they do a pedi-cab as well as fundraising, but let’s face it, fundraising at the lower levels is poorly paid. Why do we keep getting up, day after day, to go and do this work?
Fundraising 123
MARCH 11, 2013
The mobile Web is rapidly becoming a key way to communicate your message to donors; it’s important that your nonprofit website isn’t giving them a bad impression. . Nonprofits are now reporting that up to a third of their Web traffic is coming from mobile devices.
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
AUGUST 18, 2016
By using Meet Edgar (they have nonprofit pricing) and repurposing Invisible People posts, I was able to bring traffic back from 5 million to 10 million impressions a week.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
APRIL 15, 2013
When we fail to do this, we overwhelm people and create the impression their support won’t make a dent in our social problem. I’m back from the Nonprofit Technology Conference.
J Campbell Social Marketing
JUNE 13, 2017
They are often the first impression that your supporters will have with your brand, especially online or on social media channels, where your logo has to fit into tiny profile photo spaces, and follows you around with every tweet and every post.
The Agitator
APRIL 21, 2013
But they can’t draw without a vivid, memorable impression to reflect upon and then interpret. You — i.e., your organization — are an important shaper of that impression, but not the only one.
iMarketSmart
JANUARY 18, 2017
Your writing should not be designed to impress your donors. I failed to get into business school. I hoped to be a business major at the University of Maryland in the 80’s. But my ability to read, comprehend and recapitulate the institution’s business lessons was not so good. I didn’t make the cut and failed to get even close to acceptance into the business school. So, I decided to become a journalism major instead even though I wasn’t very good at writing.
The Agitator
APRIL 17, 2016
I’ve seen dozens of CEOs, communications and development directors waste countless hours fuming, fussing and meeting over these egocentric tomes in hopes of impressing donors. It’s hard to come up with an example of a greater waste of nonprofit funds and time than the annual report. Well, most annual reports at least.
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