Asking matters

 

Last night, I completed the third book in the Hunger Games series.  Definitely not my cup of tea. Yet, I was willing to complete this particular endeavor.  

Why?
Because someone I care about asked me.

What's the #1 reason people give for why they did not contribute?
 "No one asked me."

Sometimes all it takes is the right person making the right ask -- directly, passionately, and clearly.

P.S.  All the asking in the world still hasn't convinced me to see the movie. But I say, never give up....

More on those e-newsletters...

One of our readers wrote and asked what this meant: 

"Think about your e-news as the place where you celebrate your mission far more often than you're earnest about it."

It's really about style -- thinking about the mental space people are in when they check email -- thinking about what will get a busy person to stop and look... or read... or click... or watch a video....  

It's about exceptional moments... positive progress... intriguing personal stories... surprising images... short takes....

It's not about the lengthy scholarly report or news article that illuminates how much work is yet to be done.

Think of each e-news as a quick snapshot impression of your organization.  What picture do you want people to hold in their minds until their next interaction with you?

Show... don't tell

Flipping through a magazine yesterday, I ran across an intro letter that included a big, bold, colored line in all caps: 

IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

If you want your publication to be fun, then by all means, make it fun.  Make every page so fun that people can't help but notice the fun -- all on their own -- without being told.

Because then the fun you create belongs to the reader who discovers it, not to you. And that's where connection and loyalty really starts -- when people make your work a part of their world.

Sizzling e-newsletters part II

How do you know if you're providing amazing content?

Track your open rate. If it's steady or increasing, you're probably giving people at least some of what they want.  

Track what people click on. Work to find or create more content that's similar to the stuff that encourages people to find out more and spend more time with you.  

If you have a share function, track what type of content is shared most by your subscribers.

Track what you hear. Ask people what they think.  Ask them what they like.  Ask them what they think would be interesting or helpful.

Write it down. Put it all in a report.  Don't trust your memory.

How do you find all this amazing content in your already busy day? 

Create a posse. Find a group of people who understand what you're trying to accomplish -- people who love to surf the web and find cool stuff. Then start finding and sharing stuff with each other.  

Not only do you have more finders of great stuff... but you also have a built in pre-publishing feedback loop. Let the posse decide the awesomeness quotient before you send it out to the public. 

Have fun finding and creating!

Make your e-news sizzle

Your e-newsletter is not free.  Nor is it the "free" place for everyone in your organization to promote their own project, event, or initiative.

Your e-news asks for attention in crowded in-boxes. Which means you need to know what your strategy is... know why it's your strategy... and then give someone at your organization the editorial control to execute the strategy (which includes saying "no.")

Here are a few tips for making the most of your e-news:

BE A HUB FOR AMAZING CONTENT

• Focus not just on what your organization wants to say... but on creating and finding content that people will find interesting, engaging, and even cool. 
• Give people the opportunity to be amazed by the world you inhabit.  And let them see that you're "in the know" and taking the time to share what you know with them.
• Think about your e-news as the place where you celebrate your mission far more often than you're earnest about it.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

• Have the newsletter come from an actual person at your organization.  A person with a name.  A person who might sign a brief letter at the top, or place their signature at the bottom.
• People connect with other people, not organizations.

MAKE IT TARGETED

• Too much content doesn't engage people... it overwhelms them.  Choose your subjects carefully and set limits. 
• Find a way to mark or break up sections so people can see where to look and follow what you're saying. And keep the sections the same from week to week so they know where to look for their favorite content.
• Print out your e-news on actual paper. If it's more than about two pages long, it's too long.

Have fun... be creative... be personal.  Your readers will appreciate it and follow along.

Splash of the week

Thank goodness we had another worthwhile television event to distract us after the Olympics. Shark Week!

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks, it surely also had something to do with creating a stunt that would raise ratings and advertising revenue in the height of the summer TV doldrums.

Twenty-five years in, what's most applicable to our line of work is the bandwagon effect -- how Shark Week evolved from being a Discovery Channel stunt, into something we all want to be a part of. 

The local news had their own themed reports.  The Nature Conservancy provided fans with a special shark infested cover photo to update their facebook timelines. And even PBS' NOVA, posted this about one of their biggest competitors, "Shark Week commences over at The Discovery Channel!" It was everywhere.

The Discovery Channel did it right.  They built a strategy that had potential. They relentlessly stuck with their strategy over time (25 years!)  And they are reaping the rewards of the big payoff today.

They win, and the sharks win too, because we really do care more about the amazing world of sharks than we might have ever imagined we would -- thanks in part to Shark Week!

Spectacular!

 BIG * BOLD * BRIEF * CONNECT * TRANSFORM * IMMERSE

In the afterglow of the octopus-laden extravaganza that was the Olympic closing ceremonies, we got one of one of our favorite idea books off the shelf -- Spectacle by David Rockwell with Bruce Mau. 

From the Olympics to Burning Man to the Running of the Bulls... Carnival... the March on Washington and more...  intriguing photographs along with interviews with creators, artists, designers and people involved... unpack what spectacle truly means and how it happens.  

Even though it's likely that none of us is in a position to create such an occurrence, this book is filled with powerful examples of ways to engage, inspire, and think more broadly about how we build our interactions with people.

Whether we're creating a social media presence, writing a brochure, planning a campaign or designing an event, these ideas can help you get closer to that "something important is happening here" feeling. And that's definitely where you want your donors to be.

Consistency matters

  

Know your message.

Know why it's your message.

Don't get bored of your message.

Stay consistent.

Is it yours?

In the wake of the ruckus over Jonah Lehrer's fabricated quotes in his best-selling book, Imagine, I was looking through one of my little idea notebooks. I found these words. "Might be stolen." A warning to my future self that this idea probably didn't belong to me.  

As fundraisers and marketers, we're constantly called upon to create, write, produce and dream up new ways to express the value of our mission. That's why we need notebooks and file folders and Pinterest pages to collect our thoughts.  

But ideas aren't created in a vacuum, and there are very few that are completely new, yet there are infinite possibilities for how we string them together and make them our own.

Sometimes it might feel easier to just use a found idea before letting it mix, gel and settle with other ideas to become all yours. "It's only an annual appeal... it's only a paragraph in a newsletter... it's only a quick post on facebook...."

It's a tough choice to make. While you might get the job done faster and get to go home on time... in the end, it risks the strength of your program, it risks your own growth and it risks the pleasure you get from doing your job well.

Maybe Lehrer was pressured to produce his work too quickly... maybe he was too in love with his ideas and felt compelled to alter the truth... maybe it was something else.  It doesn't really matter.  It's simply unfortunate that it now calls into question the integrity of all of the intriguing ideas he brought forth.

The view from here

This time of year, many of us travel elsewhere to seek a different view or experience. When it comes to your organization, the most important view is of the place you do your work.

Do you know why people love to live in your community? Maybe it's the natural beauty... or perhaps it's the cultural scene... or maybe it's a small town independent feel... or the energy and diversity of a metropolis.... 

There are so many different ways a place can be brilliant to people who live there. And place deeply defines us.  It's our community.  It's the feel of our surroundings.  It's the conscious choices we make about where we spend our time.

Open your doors to the sensibilities of your community. Make place a part of who you are. Highlight how your organization contributes to the specialness of the community where you belong. And you'll connect so much more completely with people.