develop a 6 month countdown to christmas nonprofit fundraising content strategy
DESCRIPTION
Seminar presented at ESCHouston.org Title: Now's the Time to Get Ready for Your Holiday Fundraising - Come Make a 6 month Content Marketing Plan! 35% to 42% of online giving happens in November and December each year. The average gifts donated at the end of the year are also significantly higher than donations received any other time of the year. Nonprofit organizations that are most successful at converting holiday spirit into donations recognize these campaigns don’t just happen by accident. The success of your fundraising campaigns is dependent on more than just the message and content - the time spent on research and planning ensures that you identify and promote the campaign to ensure it gains necessary traction starting now. In this seminar, we’re going to go through the steps of planning out a 6 month content marketing strategy that will build momentum leading up to your end of year fundraising programs. Key Takeaways: You’ll learn how to: * Research your donors and prospective donors to uncover engaging content themes that motivate donors to give more and more often. * Connect your end of year fundraising goals with your fundraising and marketing programs over the next 6 months and incorporate them into a strategic marketing plan, * Translate real life case studies and best practices onto your organization’s fundraising goals to apply what you’ve learned for immediate results, * tips, tricks and more… Find out how to leverage the holiday spirit of giving throughout your campaigns to increase donations across all quarters, not just the end of year with a strategic content marketing plan!TRANSCRIPT
Let’s Make a 6 Month Fundraising Plan!
@sarahmworthy | [email protected] | +SarahWorthy
15+ years helping people get things done on the Internet
Create Your 6-Month Editorial Calendar
Getting Context Right for Each Donor Segment
Write Down Your Fundraising Goals
4
Q&A and Bonus Round (time permitting)
@sarahmworthy | [email protected]
Here’s What We're Going to Do Today
We’re going to do some hard work this morning…
Strategy = Plan
Content = Stories
GOALSWrite down SMART goals for what you want to accomplish with your fundraising campaign.
How Can Content Grow Your Constituency?
TASKSWrite down the different types of activities that you believe need to be done in order to reach your Goals.
RESOURCESWrite down the resources you need to implement your Tasks (money, hours of a person’s time, materials, education/training to fill skills gaps)
EVALUATIONWrite down specific milestones or dates for when you will stop and evaluate your progress. What metrics do you need to be collecting?
Let’s Begin.
Step 1: Write Down Your Fundraising Goals
Group Exercise - Write Down Your Top Goals
Goal #1______________________________Goal #2______________________________Goal #3______________________________
Tacticwhat tactics will you use ?
Tacticwhat tactics will you use ?
Tacticwhat tactics will you use ?
Event Marketing Strategy
[High Level] Strategic Planning
Content Marketing Strategy
Member Retention Marketing Strategy
Top 1 or 2 Goals for your .Org’s website.
http://www.slideshare.net/sarahmworthy/presentations
[High Level] Strategic Planning
You CAN please everybody all the time…
But only if you Segment your Audience.
Step 2: Getting Context Right
Two Parts to Your Content:
#1) What you’re willing to give
#2) What you’re asking for in return
Two Parts to Your Content:
#1) What you’re willing to give
#2) What you’re asking for in return
Basically, this is just your promise.
Two Parts to Your Content:
#1) What you’re willing to give
#2) What you’re asking for in return
This is your Ask or Call to
Action
Two Parts to Your Content:
#1) What you’re willing to give
#2) What you’re asking for in return
Use core emotional drivers to
personalize your promise.
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
6 Behavioral Segments
Social Motivations
Material Motivations
Ideological Motivations
Giving is Emotional
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
3 Emotional Motivators
Material
Social Social
Idealogical
Material
Idealogical
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
Segmentation and Content Development
Repayers(material)
Personal Ties(social)
See the Difference(idealogical)
• demonstrate impact of your .Org’s mission
• provide ways to elevate their sense of importance/value
• Provide professional benefits/solutions
• Share personal stories from your .Org
• Provide ways to invite/include friends and family
• Share leadership tools/tips
• show how 1 gift makes a big difference
• Share interesting research and articles about their beliefs and values
• validate their idealogical beliefs
Interests, Problems, Needs by Segment
Two Parts to Your Content:
#1) What you’re willing to give
#2) What you’re asking for in return
Use Relationships to personalize your Ask or
Call to Action
Your .OrgMembers
Donors
Major Donors
Corporate
Grants
Sponsors
Partners
Volunteers
Service Providers
Board
Staff
Infinite Relational Segments
Segment’s Help Prioritize
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
Segment Role Channel(s) Emotional Driver(s) Rank (1-6)
Repayers major donor gala,phone,email material 1
Casual Givers individual donor website,events material 6
High Impact volunteer email,facebook idealogical 4
Faith Based staff email,facebook social 5
See the Difference, Staff Board website,events idealogical 2
Personal Ties, Volunteers staff email,facebook social 3
1 = most important, 6 = least important
Prioritize and Pick Most Important Segments
Top 3
Behavior Segment
RelationshipSegment Channel(s) Core
Motivator(s)
#1
#2
#3
Write Down Your Top 3 Donor Segments
Name Segment(s) Channel Profile(s) Amount Donated
Recency/
Frequency
Pick 3 Example Members/Donors
Researching Your Audience Interests, Problems, and Needs
Bonus: Persona Research Demonstration
Look for common themes among popular conversations and common
people/Brands.
Influencer Source List
Source Name URL Segment Appeal Theme/TopicNetsquared http://twitter.com/netsquared social nonprofit tech
ESCHouston http://eschouston.org material npo leadership
Example Non-Profit Annual
Budget
10% - Marketing
20% - Admins/Operations Expenses
70% - Programs
RESOURCES AND BUDGET REQUIREMENTS
Proposed Budget for Content Marketing
Content Type/Medium
Activity Costs Hours Addl notes
Blog Post research, write $25 4 expenses like
Email Newsletter curate and design $15 3 meals, graphics
software, etc.
Step 3: Creating Your Editorial Calendar
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
From the research report “Money for Good” by Hope Consulting
Goal: Get 5 new volunteers for this year’s big conference
Hero/story: Mary, this month’s volunteer who referred two new volunteers and 5 new donors last month
Segment: social volunteers | personal ties
Resources: photos of Mary, time to interview Mary and friends and write a blog post (est 8-10 hours), volunteer intake form/process
Milestones: Interview/Research Mary’s story, Write Mary’s story, distribute Mary’s story to current volunteers with call to volunteer, measure volunteer forms and track volunteer signups.
Core Driver: social, do community work with friends and family
Results: success or failure? if you didn’t reach the goal, why not? did you not have the resources you needed? did you not get the level of engagement you expected?
Consistency is Key
Weekly
Monthl
y
Daily
Site Traffic Facebook Likes
Blogger Referrals
Same Story, Different Ways to Read It.
Goal:
Hero/story:
Segment:
Resources:
Milestones:
Core Driver:
Results:
Your Need
Who? (Segment) Core Driver
Content Delivery
MethodHow do they complete
the goal?ContentGap
?
Increase donations
Repayer Impact of mission
email newsletter donate on website donation
page
fill volunteer positions
Personal Ties have fun with friends
email, social media register for an event event
page
increase donations
See the Difference
impact story of 1 individual blog donate on website blog post
attract new donors
Personal Tiesfundraise from friends&family
social media, email
peer fundraising contest/site
peer site design
Frequency:Social Media Posts Per Day
Event Per Month
Email Newsletter Per Week
Blog Posts Per Month 1 32 1
Your Need
Who? (Segment) Core Driver
Content Delivery
MethodHow do they
complete the goal?Content
Gap?
Frequency:
Social Media and PR/Public Speaking
Corporate Sponsorship Fundraising
Monthly Friday Morning Breakfasts
Thought Leadership and Educational Blogs
Weekly Nurturing & DB Emails
JUL
GOALS
Volunteers and Volunteer Prospects
Major Donors & Corporate Sponsors
Repayers who’ve given at least one cash gift
[High-Level] Planning for 6 Months
JUN AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
EVENTS
AUDIENCE & SEGMENTS
ONGOING
AVERAGE / MONTH•2 emails•2 blog posts•1 live event•90 social shares
Event
Volunteer Drive Christmas Event
6-Month Countdown to Christmas - Fundraising Goal is $250,000! Fill Volunteer Positions Story Series - monthly volunteer showcase
Corporate Major Gifts- year end tax savings
Create Peer Site Staff Training
Announce Drive
Announce DriveTHEMES
Fireworks and Cause
Summer’s Ending
Apple a Day HealthFair
OktoberfestPumpkins
ThanksgivingFootball
Last Chance to Give!
Event
Measure Monthly Event Staff HolidayVolunteer Event
Final Push
Another thing
JUL
Goals:
[High-Level] Planning for 6 Months
JUN AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
EVENTS
AUDIENCE & SEGMENTS
ONGOING
THEMES
Step 4: Experiment
Examples, Tips, Tricks, Questions (Answers)
Visualize Their Impact
Reasons to Volunteer
Depelchin.org
<- Goal =
Increase New
Memberships
Goal ->
Increase membership
renewalsThinkLA.org
Goal ->
Automate content
distribution.
cmhouston.org
CMHouston.org
<- Goal =
increase email
sign-ups
Goal ->
Decrease the number
of phone calls about
our museum hours
Integrate Events/Face time with online messages for max impact• launch volunteer drive party - thank last year’s
volunteers with a pool party/cinco de mayo is good for those who time warp, ask your volunteers how they’d like to be thanked
• ask them at the party to volunteer again - give them insight into this upcoming drive to fundraise, get them ramped up - let’s try something fun (get a silly physical game for them)
• ask them to tell their friends and family to volunteer, give them discounts for their F&F as a thanks, don’t ask them to give you money if they’re giving you time (right now - that can come later on, kk?)
Local Houston Resources
www.eschouston.org
www.netsquared.orgwww.meetup.com/NET2Houston+FABdigitalmarketing
http://amahouston.net/
Additional Resources
www.nten.org
www.idealware.org
www.aspirationtech.org
www.bethkanter.org
Questions?
Download The Slide Deck: http://www.slideshare.net/sarahmworthy
