For Nonprofit Communicators - How To Craft a Message That Gets Results

For Nonprofit Communicators - How To Craft a Message That Gets Results - 3 Key Steps
By Steve Cebalt

All nonprofit communication begins with writing. Writing a marketing plan. Writing an annual report, a PSA TV script, a PowerPoint speech, a Web page.

It’s a challenge to write messages that will stick with people and motivate them. People are bombarded with so many messages, how can you try to make sure you penetrate through all the clutter? Too often we see nonprofit literature that is internally focused, or not focused at all, leaving readers grasping for the purpose of the piece.

The key to nonprofit communications can be simplified if you focus on three key questions:

1. Define your audience:

Create a mental picture of one individual. Write personalized language directed at your mental model.

2. Define your purpose.

What do you want your audience to DO?

How do you want them to RESPOND?

• Call for a free brochure?

• Stop in for an initial consultation?

• Visit your website?

• Mail back a reply card?

• Read to their children 20 minutes a day?

Have a clear action step in mind!

3. Make an offer.

• This step is often neglected.

• This step shapes everything else.

• Offers may include: Availability of matching funds to double your donation;
Acknowledgement in your newsletter; A premium item (mug, tote bag, CD, etc.); Dozens of other standard offers.

If you are unsure what you are offering, STOP until you come up with a clear offer.

If you focus on these three things, the ideas will flow and your nonprofit communications materials will be easier to produce and more effective, every time.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

www.nonprofitPRforum.blogspot.com

Copyright Steve Cebalt 2007 May be used with author acknowledgment

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“The Christmas House” Book Review

I love learning about Christmas traditions and how they started.

It was not until recently, that I learned what truly inspired the tradition of decorating the outside of our homes—and why.

I received an autographed gift copy of “The Christmas House” in the mail (thank you, Jim and Georja ). I opened the package to find an exquisitely bound book with a cutout in the center that revealed a picture of the Christmas House. My first impression was that someone was about to share something personal and very special with me.

The “Christmas House” was written by Georja Skinner. I love this book! I don’t know how to say it any plainer than that. It’s definitely a book for Christmas lovers, but more than that, it’s a book for everyone who has encountered an obstacle in life and didn’t know if they could cope.

I started reading it as soon as I received it. It captivated me completely and I didn’t put it down until bedtime and started reading again the next morning with my morning cup of Kona coffee. After finishing the book, I browsed through it again, cherishing someone else’s memories and photos and marveling at a young man’s courage and determination to fulfill a dream.

It’s a compelling and endearing story about George Skinner, (the author’s father) an athletic young man, who at the age of twenty-two was stricken with polio and confined to an iron lung and left with a devastating prognosis. If he survived, he would probably never walk again. As a result, he lost the girl he loved, but his courage and strength and desire to walk again took him in a direction he could not have predicted.

As he lay in his iron lung, his memories of his mother and Christmas as a young child helped him keep up his courage. These happy memories kept his fighting spirit alive.

Determined to walk again, he searched for help from every avenue, including the White House and Eleanor Roosevelt. With the help of the First Lady, his long and painful road to recovery began.

The mystery of his mother and two brothers he and his dad had left behind in Canada when they moved to California became a haunting reality that his father refused to reveal. When he finally learned the truth, he also had to learn how to forgive.

His love of Christmas through the memories of his mother when he was a little child and the support he received from his father and friends during his recovery, inspired him to do something wonderful and spectacular for the community. Thus enters the Christmas House and all the doors it opened for him and the joy it brought to others during the height of the depression.

No one had ever seen a house lit up and decorated on the outside before. It received much publicity from the newspapers and radio. Thousands of people flocked to see the beautiful and exciting spectacle. Little children and adults alike found joy and escape during a tough time when supplies were scarce and many children would have very little at Christmas.

This true story is interesting and fascinating enough to become a movie. It has its ups and downs and ins and outs and that’s what makes it a compelling read. You’ll be transported to another time, another place and into the life of an incredible man.

And when you drive through town during the Christmas season and you’re enjoying all the beautifully decorated homes and lights, take a moment to remember George Skinner, the determined and dedicated young man who changed Christmas for us all.

Please check out Georja Skinner’s website at ChristmasHouseOnline.com. Find out what other people are saying and meet the author. The website is far more informative and eloquent than I could ever be. Make a visit now. You’ll be glad you did.

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/the-christmas-house-book-review.html

How I Use Email Automatic Responders

How I Use Email Automatic Responders By: Jeff Schuman
An email automatic responder or auto responder is the second most important marketing tool I have to make money online. The first would be my hosting company. Without these 2 tools my internet marketing business is dead in the water.

In the world of internet marketing, millions of sites are fiercely competing with each other to gain new clients. For any e commerce site to succeed, it must capture the interest and the trust of its visitors. It is not enough that your site is perfectly designed or has the latest in animation of content.

You should focus your efforts not only in attracting visitors but also in leading them to make a purchase. There are dozens of marketing strategies you can use to attract more buyers and pump up your sales. One of them is by establishing an excellent and professional reputation for prompt and efficient response.

As more potential customers visit your site, you should expect a flood of inquiries and requests for information. This is an excellent opportunity for you to capture more clients and lead them to buying from your site. Thus, it is important that you carry out an efficient and prompt response to every email you receive. The fastest and most effective way to do this is by utilizing an email automatic responder.

Autoresponder services use a computer program that automatically return a prewritten message to anyone who sends an email to your site. It is widely used for responding to consumer inquiries and visitor comments and suggestions.

Follow up automatic responders are also used by e-zines in responding to people who subscribe or unsubscribe to their online magazines. Companies, who send out their e-newsletter regularly, also use utoresponders.

How can effective autoresponder services help boost your business? The answer lies in its ability to return a prompt response to any e-mail the site receives. By responding rapidly and efficiently, you create a very good impression on your potential customer. Good email autorespondrs help you get important information back to these customers immediately. An effective autoresponder service helps you communicate your message promptly, creating a sense of professionalism and efficiency that your clients will definitely appreciate.

Another very important advantage of email automatic responders is that it saves time with multiple marketing tasks. Certainly, you do not have enough time to personally make and send all correspondence. Autoresponder services allows you to send thank you letters, newsletters, product information, brochures, orders etc. to hundreds of clients almost immediately and simultaneously. Autoresponder services are also indispensable in any email marketing campaign.

Choosing the right autoresponder is very important. What makes the best automatic responder? First, you should pick an autoresponder that is reliable and can give you 24/7 service. You cannot afford to lose a customer because your autoresponder failed to answer his query or request for information. The ability to respond promptly is the first thing you must look for in any automatic responder.

Another key factor you should consider when choosing Autoresponder servcies is flexibility. Good autoresponders allow you to customize unique responses that will have maximum effect on the customer. You should avoid creating an impression that the customer is communicating with a machine instead of a real human being.

An excellent email automatic responder lets you provide the information that is specifically targeted for what the potential customers are looking for. Because any email from potential customers essentially represent the customer’s intent on getting more information about your product, which can ultimately lead to direct sales, all emails are important. Thus, a top Auto responder service must fulfill all these duties to help you boost your business.

For all of our auto responder needs we prefer Aweber. They are very reasonably priced and have proved to be reliable and easy to use.

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