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.

Young, Broke and Giving
As a former development director for a nonprofit, a self-identified lefty, and a true believer in what giving does for YOU, I could not resist the temptation to write a quick note on the subject. The threat of malemployment* for recent college graduates is real.  Giving is a helpful tool to resist the temptation to let go of your dream life or, worse, give in to a “good enough” life. Below is my quick and dirty guide to giving selfishly.

Give from your Core: Choose a cause you really connect with. If it means your alma mater or your local homeless shelter, great. But if it means giving to an organization in Costa Rica because you recently had a transformative experience there, then stick with that. It may sound taboo but giving is as much about YOU the giver as it is about the organization or cause.

Give Continuously – The donation amount is important but what makes the difference in your giving impact is your commitment to the organization. You demonstrate that commitment by giving continuously.

Give over Cocktails: The true testament of whether or not you care about a cause is if you are talking about it everywhere, anywhere and to everyone. Are you talking about your volunteer work at all the parties you attend? Did I mention this is absolutely free? Did I mention this helps you demonstrate how well rounded, generous, cool and knowledgeable you are?

Give Yourself: It’s no longer expected that you volunteer to mentor when what you really want to do is revamp an organization’s archaic website with your awesome design skills. Nonprofits now incorporate business practices traditionally associated with for-profit corporations (think Return On Investment). This means you have more choices over how you can contribute to your favorite charity. Use that choice! It’s a win-win; you help the nonprofit and you add another website to your design reel.

Give NOW: Abundance is a lifestyle not a goal. Don’t wait until December 31st (when most people give in order to ensure the tax-write off), your next paycheck, and definitely not until you pay off your debt. Giving is an investment in your karma…and can you really put a price tag on that?

*A term used to describe college graduates employed in jobs they could have held without going to college. For more information about malemployment click here.