As we tentatively make the shift from crisis response to economic recovery, it’s time for nonprofits to get back to the basics of building relationships with their audiences. 

And that means working on building relationships and some variation on that dreaded term “increasing engagement.” Engage more donors, have more engaging content, build more engagement strategies. 

What the heck does it all really mean? Why is it so important? And how do you do it? ...

As we slowly (and safely) emerge from the shadow of this pandemic, there’s a big question facing us: 

What is the world going to look like for our clients, our supporters and our nonprofits?

There has been a lot of gloom and doom - about the length of this crisis, about our economy’s ability to recover, and about whether nonprofits will be able to survive these changes. Loss of revenue, loss of volunteer hours, cancellations of major fundraisers are all a very legitimate...

Right now might not seem like the time to try to get publicity for your nonprofit.

If you are serving in an organization that’s in the middle of the pandemic storm - nonprofits that are dealing with homelessness, food insecurity, financial assistance or public health - you probably aren’t looking for earned media, because the reporters are coming to you.

But even nonprofits who are not front and center right now shouldn’t abandon outreach to the media. One of the ways we...

To paraphrase the old Virginia Slims campaign, email has come a long way, baby. 

Gone are the days of sending a generic email blast to everyone on your list, just because you had their email address. 

From personalization to automation to segmentation, each technological advance of an email platform like Aweber, Constant Contact, MailChimp, and the like means that you can target your emails and make sure that the right message gets to the right people at the right time. 

And...

For two months now, we’ve focused on topics to help nonprofits deal with the challenges of the coronavirus, with an eye on coming out stronger on the other side of this pandemic. And in the spirit of emerging with more confidence in marketing our missions, I wanted to take a small dive into the M+R Benchmark Report. 

Because this report, released just a couple of weeks ago, is telling me that the steps we have taken during the era of COVID-19 are actually what we might want to be...

#GivingTuesdayNow is right around the corner and your nonprofit should be there. This day of global giving and unity is the financial and feel-good event we have all been needing during the coronavirus pandemic. 

It’s got big backers (Bill & Melinda Gates, PayPal, and Ford among many others) and lots of media coverage (NBC is a big sponsor) so you know awareness is going to be high. And it’s very different from the traditional #GivingTuesday right after Thanksgiving that...

It has been hard times for many nonprofits as passionate, heart-centered professionals to try to market their mission and get the support they need - or just keep things afloat during these unusual times. 

Recently, when I asked the almost 200 members of the Smart Marketing for Small Nonprofits Facebook Group what they needed from me most right now, they overwhelmingly said fundraising ideas. Which makes perfect sense; this is the time when we typically host our galas, Spring Flings,...

E-communications is your biggest asset right now in this time of social separation and I’ve talked a lot about how you need to pivot to better connect with your existing supporters, but there’s another piece of the puzzle…

Attracting new subscribers. 

Just like with donors, it’s more cost-effective to keep the ones you have, but that doesn’t mean you stop acquiring new ones. You need new subscribers to grow your cause and to replace subscribers who fall...

Email is every nonprofit’s biggest asset right now. 

Your organization probably already has a robust email list that you use to connect with all of your audiences on a regular basis - financial supporters, board members, volunteers, and clients. 

And it’s where people are right now. Working from home and being online for most of the day means people are checking their inboxes more often and opening more emails.

This podcast is all about what you can do to keep...

Testimonials for nonprofits can’t provide the “main meal” of your marketing messaging about your cause. By themselves, they don’t illustrate how you are meeting needs, and they don’t offer the important details concerning your programs or how they work. They are too brief and, honestly, too subjective for that.

Instead, I think of them as the seasoning for your meal - the salt or pepper or hot sauce of your marketing efforts. 

They lend credibility...