Seth writes:

Old time factories had a linear layout, because there was just one steam engine driving one drive shaft. Every machine in the shop had to line up under the shaft (connected by a pulley) in order to get power.

That metaphor extended to the people working in the factory. Each person was hired and trained and arranged to maximize output. The goal was to engage the factory, to feed it, maintain it and have it produce efficiently.

Later in the post he says:

Now it doesn’t matter where you sit. Now it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re adding to the efficiency or productivity of the machine. Now you don’t market to sell what you made, you make to satisfy the market. Now, the market and the consumer and idea trump the system.

How do you think about your work at your organization (or work for your organization)? Could we say that the donor and the donor’s desire trump what the organization might want to do? If we who serve don’t listen to donors, we could end up working in an empty factory (or maybe for an organization whose donors are deserting in droves).

I see a lot of takeaways for the nonprofit/ministry world in Seth’s post.

Consider another post he wrote a day or two back about the importance of people versus infrastructure. Maybe many of us could substitute “mission” or “program” for infrastructure? It is thought-provoking.

Could you see your nonprofit or ministry a “factory” as Seth describes? How is it similar? Do you know the “product” you’re assembling? Or is it impossible for you to imagine your role as a factory worker?

I’d love to know what you think.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: House Of Sims)

On generational stuff. The Pew Foundation has some fascinating information and a quiz.
Click here to get the info.

And click here to find out how Millennial you are.

I took the quiz. Can you imagine I scored as a Millennial–at 91??. Who’d have thought??

Let me know how you do. Cut and paste your results if you want and let me know what you think.

Also, we were fortunate to spend time this weekend with our friend and mentor Mari Smith. What a classy, sharp, fun and genuine person. We had the opportunity to show her a bit of Seattle and chat about the future of social media. What an energizing and challenging morning. So even though we shouted her out in August, just because I can, I’m doing a second Good Job Monday shoutout to Mari. Good Job Mari. You’re simply the best! You can see a few of the photos from our morning with Mari on the Oneicity page on Facebook. And, we’d love to have you become a fan and join in the discussions!

Oh, and on Friday I asked what you worried about. So, how about it? What are you worrying about?

As always, I love knowing what you’re thinking.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

1. They were a worrier. To me, they seemed far too cool, collected and together to worry.

2. They were worried about something totally lame. (OK, that’s mean and judgmental, but I couldn’t believe that they were worried about what they were worried about, trust me, it was a “nothing.”)

So, that got me to thinking about my worries and your worries. I remember one time polling my friends (they were mostly guys my age) and I was astounded that some of them woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble going back to sleep because they were worried about something — just like me!

Here’s what I’m thinking. Much like surgery, worry is uniquely personal. “Minor surgery” is anything you have done in a hospital. “MAJOR SURGERY” is any kind of “procedure” that happens to ME, even like having my teeth cleaned. Yet unlike most surgeries, the power of worry is its hidden nature.

Here are my top three professional worries:

1. Disappointing one of my clients. I hate the idea of letting them down. Nothing bugs me more than a problem I can’t solve or a project that doesn’t go the way I want it to. We’ve been blessed to deliver great results for our clients, but I worry about some how, some way, some day not “knocking their socks off.”

2. Wasting time. I hate the idea that I’m not using my time well. I am allergic to inefficient and wasteful. I can discuss and talk for hours, but when it comes time to get to work, let’s get to work. I’m about getting things done.

3. Meteors falling on my head. Well, not actually meteors falling on my head. I mean the range of bad things that “might” happen in my life but I have no control over whether this bad thing will happen or not. These are the worries that involve interest rates, postal rate increases, websites going down, people’s thoughts I’m not privy to, weird board decisions, etc. etc….. All things I worry about BUT that I have no control over. In fact, over the years, almost every worry in this category has never, ever actually come true. But of course, I worry that they might.

Enough about me. What’s this have to do with Oneicity and NPO leadership? Well, I’m realizing that worry is paralyzing. At times, I’ve worried rather than worked to solve a problem (dumb, I know).

I’d like to have the discussion here about what you worry about because I’ve realized that a lot of us worry but we keep it inside (probably a guy thing). The more we know we aren’t alone in our worry, the more freedom we’ll have. And then in future blog posts, if my theory holds true, we’ll talk about how that works. Maybe I’m the only worrier out there. If so, I can’t wait to hear how you guys help me not worry. If, as I suspect, there are a couple of worriers out there, I think we’ll learn something together about how to not let worry keep us from fulfilling our mission and our dreams.

What do you worry about? Because this is so personal, if you want to remain anonymous, no problem, just put your alias in the name field and as long as you’re not selling some crazy get-rich scheme or pharmaceuticals or brand-name watches then we’ll let you post one this time.

So tell me, what keeps you up at night?

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: jurvetson)

Harvard Business Review (HBR) has just published an interesting article that offers applications to the world of nonprofits and ministries. The article sketches out how Dessert Gallery (DG), a popular Houston-based bakery and café chain used Facebook. The Dessert Gallery began by emailing 13,270 customers from their mailing list to gather store evaluations and data on shopping behavior; 689 people responded. Three months later, DG resurveyed customers, this time they got 1,067 responses.

People who had replied to both surveys and had become fans ended up being DG’s best customers. Fans spent about the same amount of money per visit but increased their store visits after becoming FB fans. These fans also generated more positive word of mouth than nonfans. They went to DG 20% more often and gave the store more of their eating-out spending. Also, they were the more likely to recommend DG to friends.

Here’s a key point: Only 283 (or 2.1%) of the customers on DG’s mailing list became fans within three months.

HBR points out that in an analysis of 50 Zagat-rated Houston restaurants, Facebook pages averaged just 340 fans despite the fact that most of the businesses had tens of thousands of customers. So in the restaurant game, at this point most of the bakery’s competition also has a relatively small number of fans compared to the number of customers each had.

So. What does it mean? Well HBR makes it clear that these are early indications and not definitive, you can expect more from HBR on this.

HBR’s conclusion is that FB is a tool with a narrow niche application. OK, makes sense if you’re a café/bakery in Houston. What if you’re a nonprofit or ministry? What does it mean?

I think there are a few take-aways for you:

1. Be intentional. They set out to learn something and designed the promotion to allow them to track what happened. I’m continually amazed at the number of smart organizations who aren’t tracking basic online and social media stats. If you track stats (everything you can get your hands on: fans, friends, clicks, hits, bounce rate, etc) you have the ability to test and learn.

2. Be realistic. On one hand, such a small number of fans doesn’t seem like a good investment of time and energy (maybe money). On the other hand, increasing traffic and giving people who love your bakery a platform to brag on you is huge. You may not gather huge numbers of fans at first, but your donors are looking for a platform to dialog with you and brag on you. Set reasonable expectations. Don’t expect income to increase when you begin using FB. But giving your friends and fans a place to interact with you will help. Big numbers aren’t the key in social media…devotion is the key. You really, really would rather have a few people who love you beyond all reason than a horde of people who clicked “become a fan” with as much enthusiasm as they bought a goat on Farmville. Once you get your mind around the few fans concept, then Facebook becomes the tool you can use to change things.

3. Be present. You gotta get out there and swim. No way around it. This HBR article makes it clear that everyone’s trying to sort it out. You’re unique. Your organization is unlike any other. Learn from what other people are doing but don’t try to do exactly the same thing. Try. Fail. Learn. Try… that’s the way it works.

So, what about you? What do you think of Facebook as a tool for your nonprofit? How are you using it? Are you tracking and measuring to improve your intentionality (and repeatabiiity)? I’d love to know what you’re thinking.

Oh, and you can always become a fan of Oneicity to see what we’re up to. (You knew I was going ask didn’t you?)

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: ms.Tea)

1. What’s the goal? No fair having some vague goal like: raising awareness. Come on, step up and pick a goal. Is it income? Is it finding new donors? Is it because you’ve always done a breakfast and having a breakfast is really your big goal? Oh, and if your goal is income, NET income is the only income that counts, right?

2. Why would people attend? Again, have you always done it? Do they want to see the PowerPoint presentation you could host on your website or YouTube? Is it the food? Do you want them to come because they need to see that they are not alone in supporting you?

3. What’s your competition? Not for their dollars, but for their time and attention. What do you deliver that will “beat out” the other options like the Olympics or sitting in their comfy recliner? How are you going to make it worth it to them to show up? Will what happens at your gig be better, more interesting, more engaging, more fun, more life-changing, more fascinating, more provocative than anything else happening in their life that day?

4. What’s your age target? Is your event designed to reach your target demographic? As my young colleagues continue to remind me, 30 year-olds could care less about what we whiny baby boomers want. Is your event age appropriate? Try launching into anything that looks like a boring speech in front of a group of busy, successful 35 year-olds and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

The great Seth Godin put it this way recently:

“If you’re going to have an event, better make it big. Or even bigger than that. It needs to be awe-inspiring, frightening, on deadline and worth losing sleep over.”

Read his post on the topic here.

And remember, you (and everyone inside your organization) will not be good judges of “big.” Pitch an outsider and watch for their eyes to light up. If they don’t light up, don’t hold the event. Do something else.

In the category of “do something else,” Oneicity is beta testing a new kind of event for charities and ministries. We’re looking for a few daring organizations who want to hold events that engage and excite. If you’d like to talk about being a beta test (it isn’t free but nearly free) email us and put Experience120 in the subject line.

What about you, what was the best event you ever attended? What events are you holding this year? What are your goals for your events? Love to hear your thoughts.

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Oh, and it’s Monday, which means it’s time for a Good Job Monday. Today we’re shouting out, Josh Henderson at Skillet Street Food the home of Bacon Jam. Josh harnesses the power of great food (plus bacon) and social media to connect with people. The food is amazing and the way Josh and his team work the social media connections is inspiring. Great job, Josh.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: littledan77)

First, I should say that are several firms out there who used the phrase before me. I don’t want to intrude on anyone’s turf. Google around, you’ll find ‘em. As much as I like the ring of “bonding not branding” I like the concept and implications far more.

So what does it mean? I can’t give you my one-liner yet, but here’s a little riff that has been banging around in my head for the last few days.

Bonding not branding means that your nonprofit is a living breathing entity. Don’t think about one of those silly “If your company was a movie star who would you be” kind of branding exercises. Think: “are we human?” How do your donors know?

Bonding not branding means that your motive is to engage with your donors, not fool or manipulate them…and never, ever lie (ever).

Bonding not branding means when you ask for money it is heartfelt, honest, hard-hitting and necessary. (Yeah, that “hard-hitting” got you didn’t it?) If you think hard-hitting is wrong, think of the last time one of your kids lobbied hard for something they really, really had to have to survive (I’m not talking minor issues like life or death, we’re talking something really serious here, i.e. social status). Recently we heard a pitch from our 13-year-old daughter for the shoes she couldn’t live without. Heartfelt? Yes. Honest? Yes, raw, in fact. Hard-hitting? Oh man. We could save a social pariah simply by purchasing shoes. How could we let her languish? How could we not give generously so she could not have embarrassing shoes? Necessary? She sure thought so, and I did too before she ever made it to the Ask.

It worked because of bonding not branding. In case you’re wondering about the shoes in question: Plaid Converse, unbelievably overpriced, yet a fully funded project by Hoots and Thomas.

Bonding not branding means that you’ll persuade with genuine emotion, not guilt or coercion.

Bonding not branding means that you care about your donor’s dignity more than you care about their AVG or ROI or LTV.

Bonding not branding means that moves management is more about honoring your intentions than about meeting your goal.

Bonding not branding means Social Media is about giving your friends a platform more than selling your product.

I believe in a brand’s voice, look, promise, mantra, tagline, etc. etc. etc. But I believe in relationship more than I’ll ever believe in branding. The funny thing is that many of your donors are bonded to you and you haven’t thought about it. They connected with your mission. They bought in and are sold out on who you are and what you do.

Now, think about how you build that bond. Don’t worry about how you’re going to capitalize on it. Worry about how you deepen your relationship with them. Insert some heart and soul into your fundraising. Tell your friends how they made a difference, STOP talking about The Budget. Get rid of all those phony, baloney people on your website. Don’t tell people what you did; tell what your friends are doing through you. Quit twittering about drivel. Stop strategizing and start relating.

OK, I really can’t believe I wrote that last sentence and Hoots let me leave it in this post. I’m one of the most strategy-focused people I know. But strategy devoid of relationship is propaganda or manipulation or worse. Whatever it is, strategy without relationship is heartless. Heartless will not thrive in this new world of ours. That you can take to the bank.

Careful thinking about building relationships with your donors and connecting with them at a heart level…now that’s what we’re all about.

How about you? What do you think about branding and bonding? And if you don’t want to have the conversation on the blog, email me. Love hearing what you’re thinking.

st

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: Hoots iPhone)

Think bonding not branding.

Think engagement not fundraising.

Think experiences not events.

Think reporters pursuing not public relations.

Think connections not contacts.

Think major relationships not major donors.

Think action not reaction.

Think strategic doing.

Those are a few thoughts on my list. What about you? What are you going to starting thinking about in 2010? Any additions to my list? Any changes? Love to know what you think.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

(photo credit: koalazymonkey)

It was a sparky discussion.

The centerpiece of the discussion was inspired by the “100% of your gift goes to Haiti” as seen in recent fundraising efforts. You’ve seen it, too. The tactic isn’t restricted to Haiti. Many NPOs used marketing language like that following the Tsunami and other natural disasters. You can even find situations where the “100% of your donations goes to the field” hook is used to attract donors for non-disaster fundraising.

Here are a few of the big points from our discussion.

First the good stuff: what a nifty idea to put 100% of your donors’ donations exactly where it should go. 100%! No sleazy fundraising consultants taking fees. No ferret-eyed accounting people getting a salary. No printers wanting to get paid for printing the UrgentGram that brought in all the donations. None of that…every penny of every dollar going to help hurting desperate men, women and children. Nothing but good with that.

Here’s the problem: if it’s true then it may not be good for all donors.

Let’s imagine that 100% goes to the field.

Suppose $100,000 comes in for Haiti relief and 100% of those dollars actually arrive (literally or figuratively) in Haiti. That means other donors who didn’t give to Haiti actually had the fundraising expenses and admin costs DOUBLED on their donations. Why? Because someone has to pay for fundraising. Someone has to pay for administrative costs. And believe me, admin costs in a disaster are not insignificant. Funny what a hassle it is to doing banking when all the infrastructure in a country is gone. But let’s ignore admin costs for this discussion because maybe that could be viewed as part of the actual work on the ground and only deal with fundraising.

Here’s what happened when the Haiti earthquake happened. NPOs called their agencies/consultants and began implementing disaster plans. Prepositioned direct mail launched. Websites were repurposed and focused on Haiti. Email blasts began going out. Social media was deployed. Mobile giving lit up. Money began pouring in and fundraising costs were incurred. Period. No way around it.

Let’s examine the easy one: direct mail. Say the charity did something amazing and convinced their printer and ad agency to donate their time, expertise and paper. All that the charity paid for was stamps. So, who paid for the stamps??? If 100% of the donations went to Haiti, then OTHER donors of the charity paid. No way around it. And I have to tell you, I really doubt everyone but the US Post Office donated their time. So there were big, big bills that were associated with getting relief to Haiti.

Who paid if 100% of the donations went to Haiti?

Other donors.

Those expenses had to come from their giving. And with a few exceptions I’ll list below, other donors paid. (And even in the exceptions, other donors are paying…)

That means that if a nonprofit has a fundraising expense of 12% typically…with 100% of the donations going to Haiti…then some donors ended up footing the bill for this “free” fundraising. Before Haiti, for every dollar they were giving to the organization, 88 cents went to what they expected it to. With the “100% to Haiti” strategy in play, the non-Haitian donors “dollars to the field” may have became 76 cents or less… So no matter how you look at it, some donors pay for other donors to have all of their donations go to the field.

All I’m saying is that what seems like a wonderful thing in a simplistic view isn’t the same when you think about the realities of nonprofit management. 100% to the field might not be a terrific as it sounds. (Even though it is a terrific fundraising hook!).

There are some exceptions to this situation.

1. Sometimes a foundation or a major donor will agree to underwrite the fundraising costs in a situation like this. They know they’re footing the bill for the fundraising.
2. Other times, ministries associated with churches will have the church underwrite the fundraising. Again, that’s another situation where the people paying the fundraising bill for Haiti are aware of what is happening.
3. Sometimes the NPO’s board will allocate special funding from a discretionary fund to pay for the Haiti fundraising (this isn’t quite as clean as the other exceptions, since those dollars probably came from donors at some point but that’s splitting hairs).

I know why the 100% goes to the field-thing happens. It is seductive. Seductive for the donor. Seductive for the nonprofit trying to help in a terrible disaster. Seductive for the strategist trying to help raise dollars to save lives in Haiti. But like many things seductive, the temptation should be resisted. What donors think is happening, isn’t what is happening. And that doesn’t build relationships. Which isn’t the way to go.

Your organization must tell donors the truth, not just tell them what they want to hear. And not just the “truth” but also tell them the implications. I know, I know, it’s hard. But authenticity builds relationships and relationships will result in more donations than fundraising techniques alone.

OK, that’s the way our discussion went. Now it’s your turn. What do you think about “100% goes to the field” strategy? How does your organization deal with these kind of issues? Can you think of any ways around this problem? What’d I miss? As always, I want to hear what you think.

Also, this is Monday and so it’s time for a Good Job Monday shout out. We’ll give a Good Job Monday shout out to Bruce Karr who runs The Farm in Snohomish, WA. See this article for details of the amazing work Bruce is doing in his community. The photos in the article are worth a thousand words! Good Job Bruce!

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: bp6316 is alive)

For us, we think it is wise to consider if all the dollars North Americans are sending to Haiti will negatively impact your fundraising. A couple of points to consider:

• Many organizations did experience drops/dips in income following the Tsunami and Katrina disasters. Not everyone did and not every drop in income really was due to those tragedies.
• It is reasonable to assume that many donors think they have a finite number of dollars they can give to worthy causes each month and if they send those dollars to help in Haiti, then they may not be able to give to your organization.
• There is no substitute for a tragedy broadcast 24/7 on all the major networks for helping motivate donors. People are giving because they are moved to give by what they are seeing and hearing.

So what do you do?

Don’t chase the dollars. If you’re not working in Haiti or don’t have a history of working in disasters like this, resist the temptation to create something so you can get your donors to give to you.

Don’t ignore that your donors are thinking about Haiti. If you’re connecting with your donors with bland, budget-oriented communications, you may not lose donations in the short-term. “We need to meet our budget goal” or “We need to pay for our new building” or “We need you to give because we’re counting on you” may not stand up well against the opportunity to provide food, water, shelter and medical care for an orphan who’s sleeping on the streets of Port au Prince.

Don’t push the guilt button. Resist the temptation to caution your donors not to give too much to the relief efforts or to try to compare what you do with what is happening down there.

Don’t assume all donors are disaster relief donors. They aren’t. And many who are giving currently to relief efforts will never be your donors.

Don’t panic. It is way to early to be certain that your income has been impacted. Don’t listen to the Chicken Littles who are certain you need to slash budgets before it gets too bad.

What should you do?

First. Pray for the people of Haiti, the relief workers and the organizations who are at work there. It is a terrible mess. I was in Central America following the El Salvador earthquakes and Hurricane Mitch. If you haven’t seen and smelled what natural disasters are like up close, you can’t imagine.

Second. Work your plan. Don’t start tacking yet. Don’t let the Board or your boss distract you. Continue to do the good work you’ve got set in front of you.

Third. Do some research. Was there a clearly identifable drop in income following Katrina or the Tsunami? Are you sure? How long did it last? If you’re sure you see a historic downtrend, what were your fundraising efforts at that time? Did the drop happen because you were doing a bad job of connecting with your donors’ hearts or really because they switched their giving? You may find you have nothing to worry about. And if you find some scary possibilities, begin thinking about what you will do IF you begin to see the effect again. (Note: it is too early to be seeing an effect right now).

Finally. Reexamine your messaging in your current appeals and website. What are you saying to your donors? Are you connecting with their hearts with a well-crafted message of how they can change a life or the world? Are you helping your donors understand how important they are to people you impact? (Again, not important to your budget, important to people)

Now is not the time to get worried. This is the time for steady hands on the wheel and confidence that God is at work. This is a good time to reassure your Board, boss and the staff around you. They’re probably wondering, so get out there with a message of confidence, certainty and credibility.

More to come on Haiti and fundraising. For now, don’t forget it’s going to be OK. You know who’s in control.

What about you? What are your plans? What do you think is going to happen with your income this year?

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

(photo credit: simminch)

There were 90 trillion emails sent in 2009.
247 billion per day! (Makes me feel better about my inbox).

81% of those emails were spam — see you’re not the only one getting those pharmacutical offers.

There are 243 million websites online as of December 2009.
47 million were new in 2009.

There were 27 million tweets per day in 2009.

There were 350 million people on Facebook in 2009.

YouTube serves 1 billion videos per day.

82% of Internet users view video online.

Fun numbers, huh?
What’s it mean?

Draw your own conclusions, but for me I think you should consider:

1. It’s crowded out there. Obvious, I know, but most of the time it can be hard to think this way. Just posting a website is not enough. The competition is too stiff and the clutter is too crazy. You have to think integration and give people reasons to come to your site. Everything you do should connect online somehow. And you have to give people a reason to show up at your site — a google ranking is not going to do it.
2. You can’t ignore Social Media. Maybe you’re not that into Twitter or Facebook, I get that. The problem is most of the world is into Social Media. And the target demographics that you need to pay attention to are growing. You don’t have to spend your life playing Mafia Wars or Tweeting what you’re having for breakfast. But you do have to live in this reality.
3. Mass email is tricky. To you that carefully crafted email “blast” to your donors that has all the pretty pictures and cool icons, may look like just another offer from an overly zealous e-marketer. If you want your email to get read, you need to remember you’re one of 247 billion going out that day. Hmmmm….I think you should really think through those subject lines and if you really know that person. You better make that mass email look very personal.
4. Video is a winner. I know, I know, we struggle with video, too. We recommend it, but there’s always some reason why we can’t manage it or it is going to take too long. I have to tell you though it is worth it. And we’re going to do more; you should, too.

You can read more of the Pingdom stats here.

So what did you think? Were you surprised at some of these statistics? What do they mean to you? Let me hear what you’re thinking.

Oops, nearly missed that this is Good Job Monday. Here’s a shout out to our buddy Tim Soerens who’s the Pastor of an unusual, interesting and a wonderfully, new-fangled church. The name (Dust) and their website aren’t what you’re expecting from a church. Good job, Tim. We love to watch your work.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: altemark)

How’d you do as a leader? How’d you perform in the 4th Quarter as a professional? What value did you bring to the organization you serve? While it is too early to know the granular results on your organization’s performance, you can assess your performance.

Certainly there are tons of ways to do this. I know people who make their livings helping professionals improve their performance. So, if you’re already doing something like this, terrific, good for you. If not, join me in asking yourself a few questions:

• Did I grow personally last year? It’s easy to coast. You’re busy and the world of nonprofits doesn’t allow much in the way of free time. Sadly, if you don’t grow, you die (however slowly). What did you learn and how are you different? Are you deeper spiritually than you were? What did you learn about yourself this year that you didn’t know last year?
• Was my personal and professional life more balanced this year? Let’s be candid. For many of us it is easy to be consumed with our work — after all it is important. But having made this mistake (many times), let me assure you, you have to have a personal life. If all you do is work, you won’t work as well. You were designed to need to recharge and if you aren’t recharging, you’re not operating as effectively and creatively as you could.
• Am I more connected to my family and friends this year than last year? See above. If all you have is a professional life and you don’t take care of your family and freinds… well you can end up without family and friends.
• Am I growing professionally? What did you do differently in 2009? What were the big breakthroughs for you professionally?
• Did I take risks and take on challenges this year? This is a tough one. Most of us are pretty risk averse and so risk taking can be a bit counter intuitive. But you know that boldness is the route to breakthroughs!
• How did your work change the world? Tough one, huh? If you can’t figure out how you changed the world last year, I hope you won’t settle for less than that this year.

So, what’s it like for you to reflect on last year? Were you pleased with your answers? What question was the toughest? The easiest?

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for a Good Job Monday shout-out. Today’s shout out goes to Seth Godin. Seth’s written a new book titled: Linchpin. We managed to get an early release copy. I’m only about halfway through, but in addition to the traditional linear read through, I’ve been sampling the book all the way to the end. The book’s a winner. In my opinion, this is a deeper book than his previous books and far more personal. The subtitle of the book says a lot: “Are You Indispensable?” Beginning on page 101, he launches into a section about fear and about what holds many people back from doing what they want to do. You won’t find self-help mumbo-jumbo (at least I haven’t seen it yet) but I did find good science and some insight into my personal quirks. More when I finish, but for now: “Good Job Seth Godin!”

As always, I’d love to hear what you think.
st

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

(photo credit: Anosmia)

Sean used this chart to illustrate the three kinds of media (we might say “channels”).

Sean says:

Owned media is a channel you control. There is fully-owned media (like your website) and partially-owned media (like Facebook fan page or Twitter account). Owned media creates brand portability. Now you can extend your brand’s presence beyond your web site so that it exists in many places across the web — specifically through social media sites and unique communities.

Earned media “is an old PR term that essentially meant getting your brand into free media rather than having to pay for it through advertising. However the term has evolved into the transparent and permanent word-of-mouth that is being created through social media.”

“Paid media” is clear enough, that’s what you buy. For many nonprofits, Paid media would include direct mail, outbound telemarketing, radio or television spots, etc.

When we talk about “integrated income solutions” we’re saying that successful organizations will learn how to unify these 3 types of media so that they complement each other and work together. A classic mistake many NPOs make is that their direct mail and online presence aren’t congruent — huge error. The Nonprofit Times reported way back in 2008 that 44% of the people who received direct mail did online research about the organization. I don’t have the a more current stat, but you know that number has increased dramatically. If your online presence and your mail don’t work together, you’re wasting your money.

Here’s a few conclusions for you to consider:

So what do you think? Does this way of looking at integration make sense to you? What about your organization, are you using all three types of media? Which is most challenging?

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

Here’s what happened. December 31st, Hoots and I sat down to give end-of-the year donations online. Probably like you, we give throughout the year to our favorite ministries and charities but on the last day of 2009, we wanted give to some nonprofits that had caught our eye. They’re doing good work and we wanted to help.  We were new donors landing on the website with a credit card and the intent to give.

Bottomline. It was a frustrating experience 75% of the time. 25% of the transactions were seamless and easy. The rest…not so much.

Here’s my list of “suggestions” from our 2009 online giving experience:

1. Ask for as little information as possible. One website forced us to create a login and password BEFORE we could complete our donation. Hmmmm, we don’t have a relationship yet, I’m not thinking I want to make a password. And does that mean you’re going to be storing my credit card number? That whole password thing nearly lost us as new donors. If we hadn’t really wanted to give a gift, we’d have moved on. Other websites had weird field issues, like limiting the number of characters in our city name. Sorry, we live in a town with lots of letters in the name. Why would you limit that? And I know, I know, your online giving software forces these kind of crazy situations. But still, why would you use software like this? And just as importantly, why would a knowledgeable software provider require these forms of craziness? Just saying, it’s dumb and shouldn’t happen. Online giving should be easy.
2. Make it clear what’s going to happen when I click “give.” We clicked donate and then the screen changed but nothing said: “Great, you gave us some money”. We looked at each and thought, “hmmm…. did that go through?” And then that raises the question, did I do that wrong? But a donor isn’t going to go through all of that again because who wants to accidentally give a gift twice? Tell us something when we click that button. Sometimes we were not on the org’s site any longer because their online provider took us off their website to a secure site. That’s OK, but tell us that’s going to happen. You want to create good feelings not doubt when someone gives online.
3. Give me a “GIVE” or “DONATE” button I can find on any page. This year was better than last year’s experience, but we were on a couple of websites where we had to hunt to donate. We did see some wonderful examples of easy to spot donate buttons and even some who follow my line of thinking, which is multiple links for giving in different looks on every page. Why not make it easy to figure out where to click to give?
4. Use Paypal if you have to but give me another option if you can. I don’t like Paypal. Hoots doesn’t mind it as much, but when I see Paypal as my only option for giving my urge is to move on and give to another organization who’s more technosavy. That’s probably snobbery on my part, but I suspect I’m not the only gift processing snob out there. Paypal makes me nervous. If Paypal is your only option (and for many smaller charities, it makes sense) go the extra mile to explain to me how it’s going to work. If I’ve never given via Paypal, help me know what’s going to happen.
5. Thank me with an email instantly. We gave gifts and almost every charity emailed a thank you in a few minutes. A few were in our Inbox as soon as we checked. Most came within a few minutes but one didn’t arrive until the next morning. And one still hasn’t arrived. We wonder if we have done something wrong and more wonder if they really need our donation. You sure don’t want a donor wondering if something went wrong when they are choosing to give to you.

Online giving can be a huge income generator for your organization, but you can’t take that for granted. Clunky interfaces will hurt your fundraising. You can’t afford to make it difficult for donors to give. If you haven’t brought in your Aunt Ruby to assess your online giving interface, you should. If you haven’t given a gift online and experienced the process from your donor’s perspective, you need to.

So what about you? What’s your online giving experience? Did you give a gift(s) at the end of the year via websites? What’s your charities biggest struggle with online giving? As always, we want to know what you’re thinking.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

(photo credit: Shayne Kayer)

What about fundraising? What would you do differently? More aggressive? Less aggressive? Better reporting? Would you have actually acted on the reporting you saw?

And for your work: what significant changes would you make to the way you worked within your organization? Would you procrastinate less? Would you fear less? Would you finally have confronted the issues that were making you crazy? Would you have prayed more about your plans? Would you have exercised better discipline?

If you’ve read the Oneicity blog much, you know we’re not philosophers, we’re practitioners. So why all these philosophical questions about 2009 when 2009 is gone and you can’t change anything?

Here’s the deal. You can’t predict what 2010 will be like. Everyone is making predictions but no one knows. In fact, if you go back to early 2009 blogs you’ll see that mostly the only accurate predictions were general in nature, not specific or actionable. But here’s what you can be sure of: if you were to do in 2010 the things you WISH you had done 2009, then 2010 will be a better year. The details will change. The specifics will vary, but generally, if you behave and choose the same way you did last year then this year will be very similar to last year. That’s fine if you want to relive the same kind of year. But if you want to grow and exert more influence, you’ll have to make changes. And rather than just randomly picking things you “wish” you’d done differently, choose carefully based on your past performance and choices.

If you can spot the mistakes you made in 2009 and decide to not make those in 2010 — 2010 will be a better year.

So what about you? What would you do differently in 2009 if you could go back in time (besides all of your “genius” stock picks and real estate deals)? What are you doing today to ensure that 2010 will be better in measurable ways? Or are you so happy with 2009 that you’re trying to repeat the year? As always, I’d love to know what you think.

Oh, and as for me… what would I do differently in 2009? I’d be more bold and courageous. I would put fear aside and move confidently. Many of my 2009 mistakes were based in timidity (shocking, I know). So in 2010, I’m planning and acting boldly. It’s going to be an even better year than before. I’m on tiptoe watching to see all the fun stuff ahead. I’ll keep you posted.

And because it’s Monday, it’s time for a Good Job Monday Shout Out. One of our favorite bloggers and writers is Roy H. Williams who runs the fabulous Wizard Academy, which is a business school unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Most of his writing is oriented for the business, for profit world but you won’t have trouble translating what he has to say into your work. Roy writes a weekly blog that I never miss — he encourages, provokes, inspires and is never, ever boring. We love his work and think you’ll learn something from his Monday Morning Memo. Good Job Roy Williams, we’re huge fans.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity


(photo credit: Frogman!)

I’m working on my list for Oneicity. Mine is titled “2009 Failures” (you may not want to title your list quite so boldly, but I like the startle-factor that comes with that title).

Take a few minutes and think back about 2009. Start listing all the things that you wish had been different in 2009. Maybe you’ll list things like:

• I wish the economy had been better.
• I wish our donors had given more.
• I wish the board (my boss) had listened to me more.
• I wish I’d done more social media.
• I wish our direct mail had raised more net income.
• I wish I’d been more prayerful or intentional or thoughtful about my planning.
• I wish I’d gotten more done this year.

You get the idea.

Now take that list and deal with what you have control over. Unless you’re a bigger player in the world economy than most of us, you can’t fix the economy. So begin looking at your list but frame each item in terms of what you can control. Your list might begin to look like this:

• I wish our income had been better (you really don’t care that much about the economy, but really you do care about how the economy effected your income).
• I wish I’d communicated the great need we are meeting.
• I wish I’d offered more solutions to my superiors better so I had more influence with them.
• I wish I’d invested 20 minutes a day to do more social medial.
• I wish our direct mail had raised more net income.
• I wish I’d been more prayerful or intentional or thoughtful about my planning.
• I wish I’d done more of the most important “nexts”.

Great. Now take that list (you know the one you actually have control over) and determine where you could have a positive effect. As an example of one item I’ll drill down on:

“I wish our direct mail had raised more net income.”

Was gross income AND net income giving down from last year?
If so, was income down from all donors? Majors, monthly, general donors?
If not all groups were down, which were down and which were up? Can you spot a reason for the “ups” or the “downs”?
Was there a single expense that effected net income?
What did you do differently this year than last year?

You get the idea. Start with your wish list and then move to what you can control. Then break down the most important items into components that you control. Then begin figuring out how you’re going to make 2010 better! And it is going to be!

I’d love to hear what your “wish list” is and what your steps are to making 2010 a better year. Are you making lists for 2010 yet? Have you figured out what you need to do to make 2010 a better year than 2009? As always, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

(photo credit: koalazymonkey)

How does “Lie to Me” connect with fundraising and nonprofit management?

Just like Dr. Lightman, your donors can spot truth. And your organization can’t help but tell people what’s most important to you. You might claim that you’re focused on feeding and caring for orphans in Africa (to use a broad example).  Your mission statement might make the claim that orphans are most important. Everyone in your organization might understand that is what you’re mission is. But is that the “truth” you’re telling your donors?

Look back through your recent fundraising communications. What are you talking about: your organization or orphans? Is it budget or orphans? Do you talk about orphans’ needs or about your organization’s needs? How are you trying to motivate your donors to give? Do you push budgets, buildings and goals? Or do you talk about what it is like to struggle to live without family?

Sometimes when we want to make this point to a client we’ll use a cool little tool called: wordle.

It’s a free tool that let’s you load all sorts of text into the interface and out pops a representation of the frequency of various words in the document. Do you want to know what you’re telling your donors is most important to you? Pull all the words out of your last 5 or 6 fundraising letters and pop them in Wordle. You’ll see vividly what you’re writing most about. So that we don’t make anyone uncomfortable, here’s a Wordle for the lyrics of Amazing Grace. You can see pretty easily what the song focuses on. It’s a fun and enlightening experience.

So what about your communications with your donors…are telling the “truth” about what is important? What about giving the Wordle test a try? Share what you find with us we’d love to hear what you think.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

Sesame Street did many things right but we think their secret to longevity is great research, focus on their audience and the ability to adapt to the times. Not every nonprofit or ministry that’s 40 years old has managed to age so gracefully.

So today’s Good Job Monday shout out goes to Sesame Street. Good job to Oscar, Big Bird, Kermit, Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, and the whole gang! It has been a joy to watch you grow up and we truly look forward to the next 40 years!

While there are thousands of clips to choose from, this clip from 1987 of Kermit doing the Alphabet Song is among our very favorites. We hope you enjoy it as we still do.

So what about you, what’s your favorite Sesame Street memory, character or song? Why do you think they’ve been so successful for all of these years. Tell us what you think.

Hoots and Thomas

The webinar title is:

“How to Use Social Media to Revolutionize
Nonprofits and Causes”

(how’s that for a snazzy title?).

We’re covering:

• Why small is the new big (and why that’s a good thing).
• Why social media changes all the rules.
• How to capitalize on the #1 reason why people give.
• How to avoid the deadliest mistake nonprofts make.

The webinar is next week, Wednesday, November 11 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

Here’s what’s cool: if you work for a nonprofit it’s FREE. These webinars are usually for ISMA members only, but because ISMA believes in “giving back” they’ve agreed to let you in FREE — no membership or fee required. If you work for a nonprofit, are involved with a nonprofit, are volunteering at a nonprofit, they are waiving the fees. What a good deal. Just tell ‘em Hoots and Thomas sent you and you’re in! OK, actually, you’ll need to enter the Promo code: NONPROFIT but you get the idea.

We haven’t made a big deal about it yet, but Kris is a founding member of ISMA and an ISMA Certified Social Media Strategist. She’s spent a ton of time learning from the best in the industry and developing methods to apply those strategies to the nonprofit and ministry world.

We’ll be sharing learnings and strategies on fundraising, social media, integration and all sorts of helpful stuff. We’re even crazy enough to do a Q&A session. We promise 60 minutes jam-packed with information, real-world applications and fun. You can’t go wrong.

For more information or to register for this ISMA webinar click here (and don’t forget to enter NONPROFIT as the Promo Code to get the freebie).

***UPDATE 11/7/09***

The ISMA registration process isn’t intuitive if you want the FREE option. Here’s how to register for free:

1. Follow the link and click: “Register for this event”

2. On the next page, assuming you’re not an ISMA member, click “Continue without signing in”

3. This page is the one that can make you think you’re having to pay, but have no fear. You’ll have to enter contact information with email so you can receive the webinar info.

4. Go all the way to check out but be watching for the PROMO CODE box… that is where you’ll enter NONPROFIT and you’ll see the cost change to ZERO. And you’re in.

Hope this helps any confusion. If you have problems, email us and we’ll help. We want you there.

And while you’re there, check out ISMA, it’s a pretty cool association!

It won’t be the same without you. And if you know anyone at all that might benefit from this webinar please let them know.

Hoots and Thomas




(photo credit: kennymatic)

This week’s Good Job Monday goes to Jason Fried, the President and co-founder of the software company 37 Signals.

Jason Fried

Jason runs a cool software company that makes one of the software programs we use (Basecamp–but that’s not what’s important). What is important is that On Tuesday and Thursday, between 3 and 5 p.m. Central time you can call 312-416-9980 and either talk to Jason or receive a recording that suggests you call back in a few minutes because he’s on the phone. No voicemail. No call screener. How cool is that? Got a complaint, give the boss a call. Want to ask a question, give Jason a call. Want to tell him, “Good Job,” give him a call. How amazing is it that a savvy software company would use something as old-school as a telephone?

For a little more information and background click here to read an online Chicago Tribune story about Jason’s plan. So, good job Jason of 37 Signals! You’re a terrific example of bold leadership for all of us.

Here’s the nonprofit and ministry application:
While social media and other technology channels are hugely important for engaging your donors in conversations, there is no substitute for a real-live voice-to-voice conversation. I don’t know how many people call Jason on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I suspect it’s a small percentage of the people who know about his “office hours.” I don’t know how many donors would call your CEO or Executive Director if you spread the word that every Wednesday between 3 and 5 he or she would be answering at their extension.

What I am sure of is this: everyone who hears that your organization is all about this radical level of availability would remember. Your donors would take note. What a smart idea to put on your website that your Executive Director keeps “office hours” and can be reached directly at 555-555-5555 on Tuesday mornings between 10-11AM? And during that time period, don’t let anyone answer that line but the boss. You know what would happen? Word would spread via all the social media channels and a few people would actually call.

And what an amazing experience for your Executive Director to actually talk to the public. Wonder how long it has been since she’s actually talked to a $10 a month donor? Or heard from someone who loves your ministry so much they are giving sacrificially to support your work? Or when was the last time he had the opportunity to explain to a new donor some of the new directions the organization is headed?

Some chief executives would love this. Others will hate it. Some will think it is dumb. Some will find it horribly frightening. And almost everyone will think they are far too busy to do this. Far too busy. And the reality is, maybe they are too busy to hear from the public, but they shouldn’t be. (OK, I’m not saying that a busy executive has to be available 24/7, but I am saying the boss should be available and easy to reach SOME of the time).

Oh, and here’s one more thing that I’ll guarantee will happen if you’ll do this: it will be a wonderful experience for your Chief Executive. Promise.

Why don’t you ask them? Hey blame it on me, send ‘em this link and ask their opinion (that’ll be fun). And then give Jason a call and tell him “Good Job” and that I sent you.

What do you think about this level of availability: crazy or brilliant? Are you available by phone? I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Steve Thomas
Partner, Oneicity

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