Talisman Thinking Out Loud

Thank You Seth Godin! Engagement Tips for Nonprofits

July 26, 2012 at 9:49 am Barbara Talisman, CFRE Leave a comment

I am still coming off the high of information and action from #MCON2012 and then this post Feet on the Street from Seth Godin appeared today. Seth has shared some great tips for us nonprofiteers. I have substituted organization or nonprofit or donor where he refers to customers, competitors, business. Note: My changes/notes in italics, bold emphasis also mine.

Seth writes:

An organization (read nonprofit) with feet on the street and alert and regular attention to detail can build more trust and develop better relationships than one than hits and runs. Now it that isn’t a description of great nonprofit engagement, I don’t know what is. 

• Contact every user donor who stops using giving to your service nonprofit and find out why.
• Create a newsletter for every journalist who covers your space, and deliver it every three weeks, even when you’re not asking for anything. Just to keep them in the loop. We always talk about engagement without asking for anything. This applies to the fourth estate as well. 
• Eagerly pay attention to people donors, activists who mention you online and engage with them in a way that they prefer to be engaged.
• Sponsor/Participate in industry events and actually show up.
• Write a thank you note every single day, to someone who doesn’t expect one. Donors, prospects, volunteers, activists – NOTES not email even to those who are mostly online. Fill their mailbox with love!
• Build your permission asset (See Seth’s blog on this.) by 1% every day. Every day, 1% more people/donors/volunteers/prospects/activists are eager and happy to hear from you.
• Write a blog every day, not to sell, but to teach.
• Connect people in your industry, because you enjoy it. See Brian Uzzi on being a network broker!
• Host community meetings in your store nonprofit organization.
• Put a lemonade stand in front of your business nonprofit and let the local kids donate raise the money awareness for your organization to whatever charity they like.
• Hand out free samples every chance you have. Share share share.
• Keep in touch with people/donors/volunteers who used to work with you and continue to help them get great gigs and new business, even years later.
• Put together an honest buyer’s guide, pointing out in which instances your competitor’s products are a better choice. Ok will have to think on this one a bit relative to the third sector. But collaboration comes to mind immediately.
• Run classes for your customers donors/volunteers/activists.
• Run classes for your competitors. Collaborate on leadership training.
• Build a recruiting pipeline that is in place more than a year before you need to hire someone. YES! Volunteers, donors, Board members can and are a part of that pipeline.

None of this is sufficient. Your product mission, programs and your strategy have to be brilliant. But a lot of it is necessary. Hearts and minds…

Thank you Seth Godin!

Entry filed under: A Better You, Fundraising, Nonprofit fundraising, Resources You Can Use!, Storytelling. Tags: #mcon2012, building better donor relationships, Donor engagement, Fundraising, permission asset, permission marketing, Seth Godin.