Boomer Ronin

One of the biggest challenges of small nonprofits is getting attention and becoming known beyond our immediate niche or community. With a little help from your donor database and a $7 pack of post-its you can change that in one day. Think of it as “take your post-it to work day.” Get donors involved in a fun and easy marketing activity that engages current donors, gets you new ones and definitely gives your website traffic a boost.

Start by choosing a segment of your donor base that is easy to reach via snail mail and email. Since this is a new and interactive friend raising campaign and the ability to easily reach donors is key to its success, I recommend limiting the mailing list to 500 individuals.

Here is the golden nugget: send each of your donors a post-it note along with a letter requesting that she serve as the official ambassador for your organization for one day by wearing the post-it note. The sticky note should be simple, easy to read and it should only include the following information:

My name is _____________________
I HEART XYZ Organization (for the more traditional folks: I proudly support XYZ Organization)
Website

2. Choose a meaningful date & prevent your sticky note from ending up in the recycle bin by doing these 2 things:
1) Limit the time between the arrival of the sticky note and the wearing of the sticky note. My suggestion is to allot for 1 week for mail delivery and 1 week for “safety.” For instance if you send out your sticky note on the 1st of February, schedule wearing the sticky note for the 15th of February.
2) Choose a date that matters. Depending on the culture of your organization it can be the date the organization was founded, a related holiday, even the birthday of the organization’s founder or current Executive Director.

3. Make sure the request to wear the post-it letter includes the date and its meaning, how many people will be wearing the sticky note (i.e. how many supporters you are sending it to), 3 concisely written recent program accomplishments, and a photo of a program participant wearing the post it.

THEN (and this is just as important as the sticky note)

4. Send 3 simple and brief E-blast reminders to your supporters. The first E-blast should arrive in your donors’ inbox 5 days before the post-it wearing day and it should be about making sure that the post-it arrived. The second should arrive the day before and it should be about reminding supporters about the big day. The third E-blast should arrive early morning on the actual post-it wearing day. All E-blasts should include the exact language used in the original post-it along with encouragement to recreate the sticky note in the case that the one you sent is missing.

Next post: Follow up: how to raise the most money out of your “take your post-it to work” day.

Yaromil Fong-Olivares is a nonprofit communications and development consultant with Hans Hageman & Associates. Find out more by clicking on her tab or our “Services” tab.

4 life lessons I learned from Tony Award winner Sarah Jones

When you are doing something you love it shows. That’s what you’ll notice when you see Sarah Jones’ newest stage “laboratory” (Sarah’s terminology) New Year, Nuyorican. It took me some time, but about an hour into the show I started to realize what she meant when she referred to the experience of putting together this particular show as “scary.” I was surprised to hear of her fear since last time I saw her she stood on a huge Broadway stage performing her hit one-woman masterpiece, Bridge & Tunnel and she was fearlessly brilliant.

In addition to lots of laughter, political brilliance and a trenta-sized dose of kick ass black feminism, here are 4 life lessons I learned from Sarah’s New Year, Nuyorican performance:

1. Always push your talents. Sarah had notes within reach but did not refer to them during her performance. She chose to improvise the lineup of characters and randomly chose appropriate jackets from her stage wardrobe as the show progressed. From the Chinese woman sharing the experience of having a lesbian daughter and even challenging the notion that “Chinese mothers are superior” to the Indian humanitarian/doctor all her impersonations are flawless.

2. Push your values. Sarah turns existential arguments in favor of culturally based stereotypes on their heads just by her brilliant ability to perform each of her characters. She enters each character as if entering a different realm of her subconscious. It’s like watching past life regression live on stage. Yet, Sarah’s characters never offend the audience. Her performance is a nuanced and compassionate critique of forced segregation passed down through generations of miscommunication, collective trauma and arbitrary geopolitical lines. In her show she achieves utopia because she brings all of us together, literally.

3. Go back home. Sarah Jones started her career at the now famous Nuyorican Poet’s Café. She is back and she loves it; so do her fans. Last night, she made sure to give credit for “shipping” her show to her special guest and fan, marketing rock star Seth Godin. Even though she was nervous, excited, scared…she was home. The value of home is that it feels like home despite all the other scary feelings we may be experiencing. As her homeless usher persona Ms. Lady says at the beginning of the show, many people have houses but few have homes.

4. Go back to basics. I believe this is a scary process for Sarah because it is a lesson in humility and a test of her courage and commitment to her craft. She was on Broadway, she won a Tony and she is back to a small venue in the Lower East Side. I suspect there’s definitely a little bit of ego bruising that can go into psychologically processing “comebacks” as an award-winning artist. However, anyone who appreciates watching creativity, innovation and love radiating and converging into a performance will undoubtedly find Sarah’s show valuable, inspiring and thought provoking. Sarah can rest assured that her work is crucial and that the insights of her imaginary friends follow us after the show. Gratefully we follow Sarah anywhere and everywhere she goes.

To learn more about Sarah Jones and her show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe click here.

Talk to the Hand

How to Request and Receive Constructive Feedback

Who? Me?
A couple of weeks ago I received some unsolicited and unexpected feedback from one of my younger sisters.  The feedback, “I really don’t see you as a mother”, made me feel uncomfortable for reasons I couldn’t immediately understand.

The Hard Thing
I wanted to understand the intangibility of my motherhood vibes and in the process discovered the value of receiving this kind of “image management” feedback. Asking people around you what they see when they see you is uncomfortable which means it can also be incredibly instructive. Unique combinations of personality and life experience allow others to see different parts of you; parts that perhaps you are unable to see. I am a fan of free, practical and doable now; hence, I suggest that you start to look for knowledge near you. Ask teenagers how they see you and you might realize you are cooler than you think, ask your mother and you might be surprised to hear how proud she is of what you perceive as shortcomings or failures. Asking trustworthy colleagues may help you finally accept yourself as a leader.

As with my motherhood deficiency, this process is not all fun and to gain the most from this exercise you must be willing to listen. When you ask a  teenager for feedback be ready to hear things like “you are boring”  or “you are uptight”. Asking your mother might result in subtle pressure to fulfill her dreams and not yours. Asking a colleague for feedback might unravel feelings of  insecurity and jealousy.

Moving Through To The Other Side
But there is a way to gain the most from the knowledge near you.  The key here is to listen with an open mind and an open heart.  Sit with it.  Let it simmer within you.  Then flip the script on your evaluator.  Think of what values, life experiences, personality traits and developmental baggage are influencing your evaluation.  Once you do this you might discover it is appropriate for a teenage punk rocker to think of you as a little uptight or for your mother to believe you would make a great lawyer if you worked harder.

On Second Thought
Before asking for feedback try to predict the response. The fun will be in realizing how far off  your prediction is from each response and then figuring out where the disconnect is. Personally, I realized that motherhood lives in my private world and thus rarely do I mention my thoughts on it to anyone in my family. In Latino culture a woman my age is either already a mother or is working on it. Keeping motherhood private is how I protect myself from potential family pressures.  My image as a childless spinster aunt/sister/daughter is ok with me…for now.

6 Reasons to Wear YOUR Tutu to Work (and anywhere else that matters):

Recently I saw an adorable little girl wearing her tutu during what was obviously her commute home from school. This post is an ode to that young girl for reminding me of the boldness required to wear a tutu to school. It is also an open call to always wear YOUR tutu when it matters. These are some reasons why:

Creativity
Creativity is more difficult to define than it is to identify. When you see something that exhibits originality you know it; it’s visceral. It takes years and even lifetimes to feel creative and to allow your creativity to flow freely. That is because creativity requires risk and courage. It requires being comfortable with failure and rejection. The dark side of being creative is painful. But more powerful is the reward of simply creating something originating from your heart and soul. When you give the world a piece of yourself, the vulnerability of this process replenishes you in return. Creativity is therefore always wearable and, like a tutu, there’s great benefit in never leaving home without it.

Freedom
To be open to creativity and innovation you must possess the freedom to accept the sparks that come to you and only you. Ideas may sound similar to something you saw on television or be a modern variation of a story you heard as a child. Ideas choose you and freedom allows you to welcome them regardless of how ridiculous, bizarre or silly they may seem. If you don’t believe me, I strongly recommend looking up Fatheadz. Fatheadz is a line of glasses designed specifically for people with bigger than average heads.

Attention-Grabbing
It’s okay to seek and receive attention. It’s why advertising exists and why celebrity spokespersons earn millions of dollars in exchange for product endorsements. Most people are uncomfortable with attention not because they don’t crave it, but rather because they feel unworthy of it. It’s time for you to get comfortable in your spotlight. Think of it this way: once you receive those great ideas you need an audience to share them with. An idea is not fully alive until you release it into the world. Your tutu helps you grab the audience but you still have to make the sale and complete the deal.

Fun
Ever walked into a party and noticed someone simply because she seem to be having the time of her life? That’s what the fun of a tutu does for your life. When you are having fun others automatically gravitate towards you. They want to know what you are doing and they genuinely want to join the fun.

Style
Don’t underestimate the power of choosing your tutu with intention. Your style is what most people in the world interact with when they interact with you. Your style tells your story without words. Think of it as a silent film about your life; then answer honestly, is it a blockbuster or is it going straight to collecting dust as a DVD?

Personality
Wearing your tutu gives others a glimpse of your personality. You are bold, a risk-taker, fun, you have a personal sense of style and you are creative and free. Perhaps none of these apply to you or maybe only a few. That’s fine as long as the tutu you are wearing reflects who you are and whom you want the world to see. Maybe it’s not a tutu, but a pair of high-water trousers or purple suspenders. Whatever your tutu is, make sure it’s yours and you are wearing it like you mean it…because when you step into the world, it does matter.

For more information about Fatheadz, visit www.fatheadz.com.

P.s. if you are still not sure on the power of a tutu, watch this fun video.

6 Reasons to Wear Your Tutu to Work from Yaromil Olivares on Vimeo.