If we had a single soap box over here on the No Bull Fundraising blog, it would likely be storytelling. I can’t say it enough: stories are the heart of your fundraising. And by heart, I mean they are the core, yes, but they are also what bring feeling and emotion to your cause. Without good stories, your donors see only the dry facts. And, let’s face it folks, the dry facts are usually pretty grim. But a good story on the other hand is full of hope, triumph, and humanity.

I’m not alone on my soap box. Other experts are saying the same thing. And when we all sing in harmony, you probably want to listen.

Kivi Leroux Miller, of the Nonprofit Communications Blog fame, says you can “use storytelling to give donors examples of the good work you are doing.” Stories illustrate the results you achieve with your donors’ gifts.

That’s all fine and dandy, you say, but how, pray tell, do I tell a good story? Excellent question. Katya, queen of Network for Good, has an excellent example of good story telling.

Katya, also provides a terrific checklist of how to tell if your stories are winners or losers.

To learn more about what makes a good story, view our presentation, Once Upon a Time.

At Turnbull Marketing Group, we provide a broad array of services to our clients, but all of them center around telling moving, winning stories that move donors to action. They are the heart of our business. So contact us today and see how we can help you tell good stories, get happy donors, and make more money.

One of the questions my clients ask me most frequently is how they can increase the number of visitors totheir web site. The answer is usually pretty simple: build a web site worth visiting. Sadly, the execution is a little more complicated.

Here are some tips to building a visit-worthy web site:

1. Include content that’s interesting to your target audience. You wouldn’t invite guests over to your house and then talk for hours about your great-aunt’s linen closet. If you do, then don’t expect them to rush over again any time soon. So don’t take your web visitors through agonizingly boring content and then expect them to return or bring their friends.
2. Update your content frequently. Keeping fresh content on your site improves your rankings in search engines, but it also builds goodwill and trust with your visitors.
3. Include content that builds up your visitors. As nonprofits, your mission is double: to serve your target population and to serve your supporters. Giving to you is uplifting to your donors (or it should be), and you need to foster that. Encourage your supporters and visitors with uplifting, positive content that helps them to grow.
4. Build a good blog. Many clients ask me if they should have a blog or not. While the true answer is, “It depends,” the most frequent answer is, “Yes.” Every nonprofit that I can think of could benefit both itself and its supporters by building a good blog. Many fewer nonprofits have the staff, time, or know-how to do that. But it’s worth working up to. If you already have a blog, SEO expert, Rand, has some excellent tips on how to increase web traffic.
5. Make your visitors comfortable. I don’t know about you, but few things deter me from spending time in a home more than a dirty, messy, ugly environment. It makes me uncomfortable, and it makes me feel unwelcome. You didn’t care enough about my visit to wipe the cat hair off your kitchen counter. How does that make me feel welcome? The same holds true for your web site. Give it a fresh, clean, well-ordered design. Organize the content and pay special attention to navigation and presentation. Your visitors will reward you by spending more time on your site, returning more frequently, and bringing along some friends.

At Turnbull Marketing Group, we understand the challenges facing nonprofits online. Web design and development can be cost-prohibitive and the maintenance is a time luxury too many organizations feel they don’t have. But the truth is that your web presence is an investment you can’t afford not to make.

If you’re web budget is nonexistent, see if a volunteer can’t help you (but make sure they’re competent first or you’ll have a lot of bad feelings all around). Contact us to see what we can do to help you. We build easy-maintenance web sites starting at under $1,000. And nothing makes us happier than helping you help others.

That’s the message in the new Communications Evaluation Guide, published by The Communication Network.

In a recent post on the guide, Katya Andresen of Robin Hood Marketing fame, highlights the steps the guide will take you through in your evaluation:

Step 1: Determine What You Will Evaluate
Step 2: Define Your Goal
Step 3: State Your Objective
Step 4: Identify Your Audience
Step 5: Establish Your Baseline
Step 6: Pose Your Evaluation Questions
Step 7: Draft Your Measurements
Step 8: Select Your Evaluation Techniques
Step 9: Estimate Your Budget

The process is similar to what we do for nonprofit clients with the Fundraising Checkup. An evaluation of your current strategies can be long and a little daunting, but some help goes a long way.

Download the Communications Evaluation Guide. If you want a little help, contact us. We love helping you help others.

Your donors are busy. They’re tired. At the end of a long day, the last thing they want is to sit down and listen to you jabber on and on about yourself.

Think about it. Have you ever been to a party where some guy tries too hard to be interesting, and so he goes on and on and on (and on) about himself? In all likelihood you aren’t stuck there, drink in hand, thinking, gee, I really want to learn more about this wonderful, self-centered bloak.

In contrast, think about the life of the party in the other corner, where you look longingly to the group gathered around the hilarious woman in red. She’s telling a fabulous story about an adventure she was on and the people she met along the way. Everyone is yuckin’ it up and having a great time.

You want to be the woman in red. Not the self-centered bloak. Here are a few ideas on how to do it:

1. Find an inspiring story from the past week and post it on your homepage. This doesn’t have to be earth-shattering. Just a nice story that reminded you that you’re so lucky to get to change the world through your nonprofit.
2. Send a postcard. Include a beautiful photograph on the front and some brief copy on the back. It can say “I want to tell you all about Samantha, an amazing woman who came to us for help. Visit us online to learn how you helped change her life: www.yourorganization.org/samantha.”
3. Tell stories through video. And then share them online through your web site, YouTube, Tangle, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
4. Send a letter. Instead of begging for money for 2 pages, tell a great story that will inspire your supporters. Remind them that their gifts are the answers to stories like this.
5. Tell a story in your monthly thank you letter. Instead of the dry, “Thank you for your gift of $20. Love, Us,” include a story that shows why the gift matters. 

You can tell stories of need or stories of fulfillment (there’s a time and place for both). But by all means, tell stories. Remember: woman in red, not self-centered bloak.

At Turnbull Marketing Group, we love a good story. Share yours with us: info@tbullgroup.com. At a loss for words? We can help.

If someone were to ask me what’s the secret ingredient for a successful fundraising or marketing campaign, I’d have to say…

It’s a secret, silly. If I told you, I’d be out of a job, which is probably why I shouldn’t let you in on the presentation I did for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s Nonprofit Roundtable. 

The talk was all about storytelling. And storytelling, my friends, is the most potent secret ingredient for any campaign. Want to learn more? You can download a .pdf of the presentation.

Or view it here:

Need help telling your story? That’s what we do best at Turnbull Marketing Group. Contact us for help today.

Your public image is (almost) as important as the work you do. The repercussions of your online image go to all levels of your nonprofit and its ability to execute your worthy mission. 

Leandra Ganko of LeGa Design Group and I presented at the Triangle Net Tuesday meeting a case study that illustrates this very point. If you weren’t able to attend, you missed out on some good company and great pizza. But there’s a consolation prize. You can download our presentation, Using The Web To Increase Your Audience. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time. We take you through the transformation process and shamelessly drop some politico names.

If you have questions about it, contact us. We love to chat.

So, unless you’re an animal shelter or rescue organization, ugly dogs probably don’t have a lot to do with your fundraising, right? Think again.

In one of those obscure studies that surface every few years and then disappear never to be found again despite your diligent searching so you can link to it on your blog, city pounds reported that during perceived economic downturns, they had more ugly dogs adopted than during times when people felt they were prospering. In fact, the “ugly dog” adoption rate has been found to be a fairly accurate measurement of the general population’s perception of the economy’s health.

No one knows the exact causation for the ugly dog phenomenon, but one hypothesis is empathy. People feel bad for the ugly dog and see a concrete opportunity to do something that will make a difference. They can’t fix the economy, but they can save the ugly dog. People think “everyone wants the cute dog, so let me do something to help this pitiful creature.”

So how does this apply to you? It’s fairly simple, really.

• To maintain strong fundraising during this tough economic period, you need to transform your mission into an ugly dog.

No, I don’t mean pull out your ugliest marketing materials or scramble your web site. This is not a good idea.

Instead, break down your mission into small pieces. Talk about needs that are easy to fulfill and will make a difference. Now is not the time to raise money for your general fund using the old “it’s that time again” line. The tough economy means that you must present your needs in a tangible way.

• Tell a story that will gain your donors’ empathy. Be as specific as you can with your fundraising.

People’s bank accounts are hurting now, that’s true. But chances are that many of their hearts are hurting, too. They know what it means to have a need, and they want to help as much as they want to be helped. Truth is, giving people an opportunity to give back is more important now than ever. (More on this later.)

• Be the ugly dog, and let your donors walk away saying, “It’s not much, but at least I’m making a difference.”

Want help turning your mission into the ugly dog? Turnbull Marketing Group would LOVE to help. Contact us today. If there’s one thing we like around here, it’s a beauty-challenged pooch.

In an effort to keep my bookworm status up, I’ve been reading The Boss of You, by Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears. In their own words, it’s “Everything a woman needs to know to start, run, and maintain her business.”

Yes, well, that’s very nice, you say, but this is supposed to be a blog about nonprofit marketing and fundraising, not about women who rock the world. 

Ok. I hear you. But stay with me here. I’m going somewhere with this.

In the first section of the book, Lauren and Emira lead women through a series of soul-searching, yet very practical, questions about their soon-to-be-booming businesses. Big Question #2: Who are your customers?

And that got me thinking… Too often nonprofits don’t ask themselves this question. No, they don’t have customers. But they DO have donors.

To help paint an accurate picture of their potential customers, Emira and Lauren ask their readers to identify their ideal customer. And now, per their inspiration, I’m asking you to do the same.

1. Who is your ideal donor? Draw a picture of him/her. Make a list of characteristics. Have fun. Just get as specific as you can. Here are some guiding questions from Emira and Lauren:
2. Who are your donors?
3. Where are they located?
4. How will they use your product or service? In nonprofit speak, that’s: How will they support you? Will they give frequently, or just once in a while? Will they give time instead of money? How will you interact with them?
5. How must do they understand about your product or service? (And by product or service, I mean mission and programs.)
6. What are they looking to get out of “buying” what your “selling”? In other words, what do your donors want in return for supporting your mission?

Now, post your donor profile someplace where you’ll see it. Go through your fundraising and communication materials with this profile in mind. Do they “speak” to your donor? If not, think of ways you can revamp your message so it will resonate with your donor.

Want some help? Turnbull Marketing Group can help you meet your donor and strike up a nice conversation. Contact us today to learn how.

In one of our recent posts, we talked about the benefits of photo books for building stronger relationships with your donors. Here at Turnbull Marketing Group, we recently created a photo book for one of our clients, and, we’re happy to report, it turned out beautifully.

In the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to spread the joy and share a few tips for creating a successful book.

• Keep it consistent. If you’re going to work from a template, choose one that fits your organization’s style and personality (branding). Choose one or two fonts that you use on your other publications and feature them throughout the book. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? You need help with finding your personality. You need us.)
• Mix it up. You want a consistent theme, but don’t make every page identical. Some pages can take two photos, some should feature one large image. If every page looks like the one next to it, you’ll have a boring book (and bored donors).
• Less really is more. Fewer, stronger photos will yield a better result than pages filled with tiny snap shots.
• Tell a story. Copy is great for this. Pick a poem, scripture passage, or other written work that illustrates your mission. Spread the message throughout the book, using the photos to help tell the story. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can even write your own copy, but remember to keep it light — this is a coffee table book, not a dissertation.
• Talk (only a little) about you. Write an introduction page to tell your audience about you. Yes, if this is for your donors, they (should) already know about you. Even so, it never hurts to remind them. Plus, you want people to put this book on their coffee tables and share it with all their visitors. Make it easy for them.
• Proofread, proofread, proofread. You want to give a positive image about your mission. Bad grammar and typos say, “Hey, we’re sloppy over here,” not “We deserve your confidence and support.” 
• Be generous. Give the book to as many people as you can; don’t be tightfisted with it. Remember, the more people who have your book, the more people who feel appreciated, put it out on their coffee tables, and share your mission with others.

Come back and tell us how your photo book turns out. If you send us a copy, we’ll put it out on our coffee table. Need help publishing a photo book worthy of wow? We can help. Contact us today for a quote.

May your table be overcrowded with love and feasting. Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving.