When it comes to social media, there seems to be two distinct camps: those who embrace it, and those who dismiss it entirely.  For those of you who fall into the category that think it’s a time waster,  and for college kids and teens, here are some facts that might get your attention.

• Facebook is the 4th most trafficked website in the world
• It is the largest photo sharing platform in the world
• Facebook has 125 million users now and is predicted to reach 500 million by 2011
• The average age of Facebook users is 35 yrs old, and the demographic is mature, university educated people with higher income.

Another little known fact: you can collect email addresses from Facebook friends, as you would on your own organization’s web page. Simply install the application called Profile HTML and then paste the optin code from your website into your Facebook page.

You could use this for a promotion, for an alumni or employee club or association, or to offer information about your organization to potential customers or staff.

If this man was running for office, I would vote for him. I haven’t yet read his newest release, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, but Seth Godin’s recent blog entries give a sneak peek of his sage advice on marketing and getting your message out in today’s environment.

His post Leadership is the new marketing says it all - focus your efforts on leading a small group of people and take them where they want to go.

Nonprofits and small businesses or organizations alike often fall into the trap of seeking the holy grail of awareness by the general public. This is a waste of time, and a battle you can’t win. You will be more successful with a narrow, dedicated and passionate focus. So many organizations talk about lack of name recognition in their community as an obstacle - but it usually isn’t the real obstacle. The biggest hurdle is getting specific with the audiences that matter.

Bad news sells. Most of us have become desensitized. But what happens when the story hits too close to home, for example, controversy or issues hitting the media are about the organization you work or volunteer with?

I hope for your sake that this doesn’t happen to you, but in too many cases, staff and others close to the organization find out when their phones ring and their mothers or neighbours alert them to the front page. This is wrong, and mostly avoidable.

If you are in a position of influence, ensure that you have a plan in place to manage issues and crises before and after they become public. If you’re not sure how, sign up to receive an article on this very topic, in a few weeks’ time.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently concluded something close to my heart - that nonprofit organizations need to do a better job of recruiting and training volunteers, and keeping them engaged. We have all been there, personally and professionally, no doubt… asked to join a nebulous committee, perform volunteer feats that no mere mortal could be expected to achieve, pester and bully our family and friends into donating their time and money, and stuff envelopes too.

This is not a recipe for long term success. Instead:

• Recruit and orient your volunteers, and staff, carefully and with consideration for the skills and attributes you need. A live body or bum in the chair is not a recruitment goal! A volunteer or staff mismatch only leads to dissatisfaction.
• Once you have the right people on the bus, give them what they need to work and feel great — tools, information and leadership!
• Keep them informed and engaged, making sure they know how they fit and how their efforts are appreciated.
• And last but not least, listen to them…communication is intended to be two-way!

In marketing terms, a value proposition is a clear statement of what a company or organization offers its clients. Like most things in life, simplicity is the key to clarity. The more focused the value proposition, the more effective the resulting communication.

The most powerful statement in the world will lead nowhere, however, if your value proposition is in direct contrast to your organization’s core and culture. Nothing breeds disillusionment among your staff and volunteers (and your donors!) than the rank whiff of disconnect. An organization’s culture, sometimes defined as how people behave when they think no one is looking, needs to be authentic and in tune to resonate. Inconsistency is the greatest demoralizer. Organizations that live their values are:

• authentic - act and do as they say they do
• receptive - actively interested in their donors’ and staff needs and interests
• giving - focused on the needs of their clients first
• prosperous - attract supporters and partners

The more you do something, the better you become at it. This is as true for communications and marketing, as it is for anything else. A marketing expert I read once said, "writing is like flexing your marketing muscle" and I have certainly found this to be true.

The more you write to, talk to, listen to and absorb all you can about your donors, staff and volunteers, the more natural and authentic your communications will become. You will be speaking their language, rather than the clunky, formal org-speak of your mandate, vision etc. This leads to better matches, greater understanding, and more funds raised for the work of your organization. So feel that burn (the good and healthy kind)!

We all know the decision to make a financial contribution is more rooted in emotion than in hard, cold facts. Yet the message many nonprofits send to their prospective donors are exactly that. Bridging the gap between the business and process of fundraising, and dealing with the emotional appeal of your donors is so important! And research shows, if your listener does not trust you, your message has a snowball’s chance to get through. Here’s an excerpt from my most recent enewsletter titled Fundraising is a risky business.

This is a complex business, not solved with one magic pill or tactic. But there are some simple ways to bring emotion into your interactions, and encourage your prospects and donors to care and above all, act.

Guess what? They involve taking a few risks:

Give up – Let go of the misguided belief you can change the world by changing minds. Your mission is to provide opportunities to make a difference to those who believe in your cause enough to give to you. And while their belief may be partly based on rationale, their motivation is almost always emotional. The key is to focus your efforts on the people who are aligned with your organization’s values and work, and not to spend time trying to persuade people who just aren’t interested. Read the rest here.

Speaking of trust - it appears I wasn’t the only one recently pondering this essential ingredient. See what Katya says about the triangle of trust.

Attend a few gatherings of fundraisers or nonprofit executives and you’ll soon tap into what’s on the minds of people working in this sector. One of the most common topics of discussion is how to create a giving environment, a.k.a. culture of philanthropy (another example of bad language in fundraising). I spend a lot of time helping others communicate better within organizations, and I have always been a strong advocate of what I call inside-out communications.

At yesterday’s presentation to the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Winnipeg by Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux on Keeping Your Donors (based on their recent book Keep Your Donors –buy it!),the unavoidable and ever present link to the level of support and understanding within the organization for fundraising came up more a few times. Lucky for me as I will be speaking on this topic to the same group in a few weeks.

So here’s my spin on this: If you are lamenting that no one understands you, that fundraising doesn’t get the support it deserves, etc., convincing others how important fundraising is to your organization is not going to work. The same way you can’t argue a prospective donor who is not interested in your cause into making a donation, assaulting other staff with facts and figures is not likely to help you much.

A culture of philanthropy is not something you grow in a petri dish or in a series of statistic heavy, carefully crafted debates — it’s gained through shared experiences, rowing in the same direction and those little "emotional aha" moments when someone has realized on a personal level, how they have contributed to something that makes a difference. And they want to do more of it!

Of course, there is more that you can do, and it doesn’t happen overnight. However, it bears remembering that in fact, accountants are only human and not the mutants they are called in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium — although they might like numbers more than the average person, they have feelings too! (p.s. I am married to one).

On this day of record consumerism, guilt and excess, take a moment to ponder the above statement: Love is not enough. You can love your donors, honour your staff, respect and cherish your board and volunteers, but like a good marriage, ongoing TLC is required to keep everyone happy, giving and content. So, here are my tips that are guaranteed to work for all of your relationships:

• Don’t take the ones you love for granted. Look for ways to connect and build it into your day-to-day life. Schedule it.
• Don’t pay attention only when you want something - avoid the fundraising one-night stand. As a side note, this has been my most popular post. If you haven’t checked it out, enjoy!
• Listen more than you speak.
• Never assume - you know the saying, it makes an … out of you and me.
• Be a part of the solution, not the problem - look for ways to pre-empt problems by being the partner you want your partner to be.
• Don’t contribute to suspicion and confusion - keep the information and dialogue going.
• Be respectful and courteous. Familiarity need not breed contempt.
• Never go to bed mad - translated in organizational terms, don’t leave conflict to fester.
• And most importantly, love is not a selfish act! It’s about them, not you.

Wishing you lots of love on Valentine’s Day.

In last month’s newsletter I ran an article on how to come up with more effective communications messages in six easy steps. To walk through the steps, read the full article here. When deciding how to communicate something with your audiences, you have to start with knowing who they are, and match your message accordingly. Here are some reminders of the basics you probably already know, but are well worth revisiting:

Know your audience – You are wasting your time and theirs if you are not positioning your message in a way that will appeal to them. In a world of information overload, this investment of thought and effort will go a long way in keeping your audience interested and connected to your organization.

Know what you want to achieve – Your message has to support your overall goal, but also has to be intended to achieve a specific purpose. Without this direction, you can’t begin to match the message to the audience. With it, your message will be effective and clear.

More emotion, less logic – Don’t bog down your message in facts, data and history. To penetrate your audience’s attention and to achieve your desired result, you need to consider their driving emotion and design your message in keeping with it.