I’m a sucker for stark contrast. It’s one of the best learning tools ever, and today I’m drawing on examples from Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP).
The Challenge
MMP supports and strengthens mentoring programs in Massachusetts and faces this marketing challenge common to every organization that doesn’t provide direct services:
Guest blogger, Chapin Cole is a proud Millennial who works in nonprofit development in the California Bay Area. She blogs on getting successful (yet stress-free) as a nonprofit staffer.
Lately, there’s been attention on the idea that nonprofit organizations should take more risks. There’s a stigma against risk in the sector because of a myriad of reasons, including discouragement from funders, the stereotype that nonprofits don’t have sophisticated operations, and the important services that are at stake. READ MORE
I was truly moved last week when I stumbled on this wonderful hug-in-a-video created by ONE to thank volunteers during Volunteer Appreciation Week. This fun but heartfelt four minutes quickly conveys how much the ONE folks value their volunteers. It’s an absolute winner.
“We got very positive feedback from our top vols (so much that we sent it to our high-action takers, offline action takers as well). It’s a [powerful] tactic that we’ve seen other orgs do really well,” says Garth Moore, ONE’s US Digital Director.
We’re long-time members of the local JCC (Jewish Community Center, sort of a Jewish Y). Our daughter was there for daily pre-K care but now we’re there mostly for the pool and gym rather than the Jewishly-oriented cultural and learning programs.
Big Change: New members with diverse cultural perspectives There’s been a big change at the JCC over recent years, as the membership has grown to include many who are not Jewish. When the JCC needed to funded a major facilities redo a few years ago, the leadership decided to invite the larger (i.e. beyond Jewish) community to join—focusing on use of the athletic facilities—and made changes, such as opening on Shabbat, to support their wants.
Challenge: How to connect with new members without losing the base Brilliant idea and it’s worked well, but I watched eagerly for the JCC to revise their core messages (shaped to a shared Jewish context) too. READ MORE
Stories are at the top of the format heap right now, because they work. Although they’ve been around forever (the Lascaux cave paintings in SW France are 17,000 years old), most of us still thrill to good stories on pages and screens.
Why We Respond to Stories Stories help us make sense of a world that can be hard to understand. Lisa Cron, author of the wonderful Wired for Story, clarifies that stories drive emotions and emotions drive decisions. We count on our emotions to help us break through the clutter of the 3,000 messages we’re bombarded with each day. READ MORE
It’ll take you about two minutes to read this. Do you think you’ll make it?
It’s not likely.
People usually read just 20% of any content that’s 100 words long or more. Since this post is longer than that, you’re most likely to scan it for keywords that are relevant to you, plus highlighted elements I showcase with bolding or italics.
Most of us wish, when we write, that people read every single word. But the reality is that people read far less than you think, or want.
Here are six ways to up the odds that your nonprofit’s content is read, digested and acted on: