Well, CreateAthon 2011 has officially begun. Everyone is busy working on their computers or in meetings, creating incredible things in the short 24-hour deadline. Moe’s has been consumed and everyone has seemed to have had their recharge after about six hours in.
Unfortunately, I was unable to be here bright and early at 8 a.m., because I happen to be a student and had class. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Morgan Tucker and I am a sophomore at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Public Relations. This is my first time ever experiencing CreateAthon, and I am thrilled to be here!
Today, I am an outsider looking in. Not only is this my first time at CreateAthon, but also my first time in a work environment like this. I know this may seem hard to believe with my polished writing skills and high school diploma, but it’s true. Growing up, you always think that a job would be so much work and no fun at all. You thrive on the younger years, wanting more time to play and never grow up to become a boring adult. Today is very exciting to me, yet nerve-racking, because I am able to get a preview of what life post-college will look like. It’s never comfortable to take your next step in life. Your next step is always much tougher than the previous. College has been so much more difficult than high school, and it hasn’t been the least bit comfortable! I know what you’re thinking…poor college student. Trust me, I hear it from my parents all the time.
When I first arrived, everyone was hard at work. My job is to keep up with the social media for the day so I was busy doing that, when the most amazing thing happened…Peyton pulled out her Razor scooter! I quickly jumped up, grabbed my camera, and had to capture this moment.
This was such a refreshing sight to see! You can still have fun and work at the same time! Needless to say, this has given me some relief to my anxiety I have built up over the years.
CreateAthon has been a great experience so far, and I am excited to see what the rest of the day entails!
One of the few things in life I know for sure is this:
An idea is only worth something if it’s executed.
We’re in the idea business, where brainstorming and what-ifs reign supreme. It’s what makes this business fun, and it’s why I still love what I do. But there are two dynamics more powerful than the idea itself:
Making the idea happen.
Making it happen in a big way.
Consider CreateAthon. When Cathy Monetti and I came up with the idea in 1998 to pull an all-nighter for charity, we went straight to the obstacle closet and drug out every possible reason we could never make it happen. When we had beaten all the excuses we could muster into a bloody pulp, we looked at each other and said, “Let’s do it anyway.” So we decided to muscle our way through it, to invest some extra hours after work to see what might happen. To our surprise and delight, CreateAthon was born, thanks to a lot of willing souls who rallied around our crazy little idea.
the very first CreateAthon
While CreateAthon toddled happily along for several years as our firm’s branded community service project, we began to ask ourselves if we were limiting its potential. Should we share the idea with other agencies? With students? With corporate marketers? What would happen if we (gasp) gave up some control of our idea?
But we did, and in 2002 we threw open the doors and started inviting others to join us in hosting CreateAthon events. Almost 10 years later, we’ve seen CreateAthon land in more than 75 different agencies, universities, professional clubs, and corporate marketing departments across North America.
What if we had never invested those extra hours? What if we had kept the idea to ourselves? What if we fail to dream big dreams for CreateAthon in the future, and to act on those dreams?
The next time you have an idea, don’t sit on it. Build that idea. Then build it bigger.
From a very young age, we are all taught to tell. Tell me what you learned at school, tell me about the book your reading, and so on. The aspect of telling is so instilled into our brains that when it comes to your nonprofit, naturally you like to tell everyone how amazing it is. My nonprofit raised $20,000 to fight cancer. My nonprofit saved 1,000 trees. Great. That’s wonderful that your nonprofit accomplished that, but so have a thousand others. You need to set yourself apart or risk being lost in the vast sea of nonprofits. Anyone can say how great a nonprofit is; it’s up to you to show — or demonstrate — what you have achieved.
I came across one nonprofit’s web site that did a remarkable job at showing their results. The Blood Connection, located in Greenville, South Carolina, has incorporated a “Who You Help” section on the front page of their web site. When you click on it you are shown stories from seven different people whose lives were changed by The Blood Connection.
This is an easy way to ignite donor interests. This form of showing is such a simple concept that it is often overlooked. You can also spark just as much attention by adding videos or pictures to illustrate the good that your nonprofit has accomplished. When you show, instead of tell, what your nonprofit has achieved, your statistics become human, not just a number.
Literacy 2030 is an initiative lead by the Central Carolina Community Foundation that unites literacy organizations across the Midlands of South Carolina. With the admittedly aspirational goal of achieving 100 percent literacy in South Carolina by 2030, the organization supports literacy service providers by facilitating member communication, encouraging collaboration and providing access to funding sources.
We loved developing this identity system and branding platform, and we’re hard at work on a website to be launched in mid-September.
Great brands are singular. They stand for one often profoundly simple thing or idea. David Doyle’s campaign for Volkswagen in the 1960’s, arguably the greatest ad campaign of the 20th century, made VW stand for one thing: small.
Modern branding still reflects this premise. Recent work for Subaru ends with the one word concept: love. BMW owns a different space with the idea of joy. Nonprofits would be smart to follow suit, yet so few do.
Most nonprofits deal with complex causes about which they are passionate. As a result, the products and services they offer tend to grow via offshoot and initiative. With most, a once core service has grown to a bundle of services. The same applies to fundraising initiatives. This renders multi-layered ambiguous communication.
In an economy that presents greater need than ever, and a shrinking donor base, consider the power of singularity. Being known for doing one thing done amazingly well is far better than generating general awareness of five less remarkable feats, and far more memorable.
I’m not suggesting that you overhaul operational programs or fundraising basics. I do urge nonprofits to look to their organization’s roots when considering external communications. Then deliver a singular brand message. Given continued economic chaos, people simply can’t absorb much more.
We all know why nonprofits have to start thinking more like entrepreneurs. But how do we make our nonprofit more business-like?
Consider the social enterprise. By definition, a social enterprise is an organization that applies capitalistic strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. In some cases, an organization may have been founded as a social enterprise, as was Goodwill in 1902. Edgar J. Helms had the idea to collect used household goods and train people who were disadvantaged to repair and resell them. Today, Goodwill is a $3.2 billion nonprofit organization that uses funds generated from its thrift stores to provide employment, training and rehabilitation programs for people with barriers to employment.
But what if your nonprofit wasn’t formed as a social enterprise from the beginning? Never fear. Nonprofits are rising to the challenge every day, putting creative and viable business strategies to work.
Take a look at TROSA (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers) in Durham, NC. This nonprofit has not one, but seven businesses that support the nonprofit, most of which serve to train and rehabilitate substance abusers. Residents learn job skills while working for one of the businesses, which then generate revenue to support the program.
Here are some questions you might explore in considering a social enterprise strategy for your nonprofit:
Who does your nonprofit serve? Are there positive ways to engage this audience in a commercial activity? How would it benefit them?
What do your donors need? Is there an opportunity for a commercial product or service to meet this need? Can your organization deliver it to them?
Do your clients have an unmet social need? Could a new product or service address it in a new and relevant way? Is there a commercial market for it?
Granted, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to developing social enterprise strategies or any new form of revenue generation. Looking to successful brand marketers and their commercial endeavors can be the first step to getting outside of your fundraising box.
Donating to a nonprofit and its cause can be a humbling and uplifting experience at best. At worst, it can be a nightmare should you discover your nonprofit of choice to be less than reputable.
Last Wednesday we learned the Coalition Against Breast Cancer, a charity that has raised more than $9 million dollars, is in fact a scam. In the past five years the CABC used less than 4% of their funding to fight the diseases that affects 1 out of 8 women. A scam at this level would have been almost impossible to detect without governmental assistance, but you can make sure your money goes to the right place by heeding a few tips:
Don’t give cash: Cash can easily be lost or stolen and never make it to your charity. When you donate with a credit card the money can at least be traced. If you do give online, make sure the URL starts with “https:” this means it’s a secured site.
Ask questions: They want your hard-earned money, so don’t be afraid to ask what it’s going toward and how it will be used. If they can’t give you the answers you need, think about finding another charity.
Check the spelling: Scammers will sometimes use a name similar to widely known nonprofits. They hope that you don’t realize that you are donating to a fake site.
Trust your gut: Scammers are sneaky; it’s their job to lie, cheat and steal. Chances are something is going to feel “off” about their pitch. Trust this feeling.
It’s sickening to think that some people would take advantage of the less fortunate in this way. Don’t let them deter you from supporting your cause. With a little research you can feel safe knowing your money is going to a good place. To find more tips on how to avoid charity scams, visit ftc.gov.
Are things getting better? It’s hard to tell. Advertising is selling again. TV and radio stations have little to no inventory. Meanwhile, the jobs picture remains bleak and the stock market is sideways at best.
If “The Great Recession” has waned, I suggest that “The Great Insecurity” has begun.
Americans are, quite literally, in the process of settling a steep debt. Household budgets remain tight. Even the unscathed among us now live with a steady trepidation that things could get bad in a hurry. There is that little mess in Greece that keeps lingering. And while household debt is being slowly retired, rising government debt is the source of debate threatening to stall the world’s economy.
Given this backdrop, it’s understandable that charitable giving has taken a beating. Charitable giving requires some “disposable income,” and our current climate has made every household dollar essential. People need to feel secure to give.
As a result, nonprofits need to closely examine messaging. Many are tempted to amp up the cause, the direness of need. This is a mistake. Consumers have cause fatigue, and they tune out what seems beyond their control.
Success lies in a highly distilled message that states in the simplest possible terms why your nonprofit exists. Done well, it should also be positive.
The American Cancer Society’s “Birthdays” campaign hits the perfect note. Sure, star power helps, but the message is the organization’s mission, communicated in the most positive manner possible. It speaks to consumers without the desperation to which so many causes resort.
How many times have you seen it? The nonprofit Facebook page chocked full of tips, factoids, data, etc. All great information about a great cause that someone spent a lot of time researching and posting.
And it just sits there. No likes, no comments, no nothing.
Because no one (other than professionals who get paid to spend their days immersed in your cause) has time to read all of that info.
What would happen if — instead of spending all that time digging into data and trying to convert us to their cause with all that information — nonprofits just showed us what their work is all about? What if we could see how they’re working, who they’re serving, and how they’re making an impact? Can’t that compel us to act?
If you doubt that it can, consider this video from charity: water, one of my favorite organizations. They are doing so many things right, from developing cause-related marketing strategies featuring celebrities who donate their birthdays to harnessing the power of free agents to pull off the first-ever Twestival.
I could go on and on in homage to their brilliance, but I digress. The point of this video is that it shows what the cause is doing in a way that is simple, human and profound. For example, I was especially moved by Kristen Bell’s emotional response to the outpouring of donations made in her name. That’s real stuff there, and its power transcends any amount of intellectual case making you can develop and distribute. And by no means does it have to be hard to produce. It just has to be well considered.
The next time you’re tempted to distribute data as compelling evidence for your cause, think about what really moves you. I’m betting it won’t be a spreadsheet or bullet points.
Let’s say you’re having an event for your nonprofit. Invitations are mailed, received and RSVPs are staring to trickle in. Then one day, you get 12 phone calls from people who did not get the invitation, but would like to come anyway. What on Earth happened?
Perhaps your nonprofit was the recipient of a social leg up: a Facebook status tagging your organization or event. Not only does someone like or plan to attend your event, she’s excited about it. So excited, she’s shared it with a thousand social connections.
According to The Networked Nonprofit by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine, this new socially minded benefactor is what’s called a free agent. If you’re familiar with the concept of free agents in sports, you’re close. These fine folks, however, are people who work from outside organizations or groups to organize, mobilize, raise funds or communicate to others about their chosen causes, passions and organizations. They have zero contractual obligation to support your nonprofit and may not even have a tangible link to your organization at all. But they may and will likely prove to be among your most valuable constituents.
In days gone by, these people had little clout or even the means to connect. But those days are past. The social mediasphere puts instant connections in the palm of your hand 24/7.
Networked nonprofits understand that free agents are not competition; they are allies. Free agent engagement can attract numbers of new people to your event, organization and cause. Work with free agents to spread the word and help them share the good work you’re doing. It’s one of the most effective, cost-efficient marketing opportunities we have as nonprofits today.
How does your organization engage with your free agents?
There is a rising consciousness that we are all connected, one to another - human beings, nonprofits, small businesses, corporate America. This blog is devoted to the study of the intersection between people and the thoughtful brands with which they identify.
