How to Have A Good Brainstorming Session

If there's one thing I love to do, it's brainstorm. I think sharing ideas and thoughts always cull more great ideas. But brainstorming sessions can get way out of hand. So how do you make sure you get everything you need?

1. Set a Goal

If your goal is to develop new content for a website, don't let the brainstorming veer off into what colours the site should be. Keep everyone on track.

2. Be Strategic

Don't brainstorm with just anybody. Select people who have diverging opinions from you but can stay on task. Look for a mix of big picture people versus detail-oriented ones.

3. Create an Agenda

Brainstorming doesn't necessarily mean a free for all. Creating an outline will keep you on task and help you focus on specific sections.

4. Develop Questions

A bad brainstorming session starts like this: We are developing new content for the website. Got any ideas? Instead, creat leading questions that tackle each section. One of my favourites is asking people to describe the current content in three words or less. Then that gives you an idea of where you want to head.

5. Encourage Chatter from Everyone

It's likely that you will encounter people who are not so apt to speak up as others. Draw them into the conversation, ask them to share their opinions and ensure that everyone has an equal shot at getting their voice heard.

6. Determine Data Collection

Are you writing everything down on a flip chart? Are people taking their own notes? However you decide, ensure that there is an easy way for the information to be gathered.

7. Set a Time Limit

Brainstorming sessions can go on for hours but eventually the well will run dry and the same idea will keep recycling themselves. I would suggest no more than one to two hours.

A brainstorming session can revitilize a project, inspire new ideas and get you excited about what you are working on.

Good luck and Happy Brainstorming!

How Susan Boyle Can Inspire Great Content

For small nonprofits, it can be worrisome when there isn't the budget to create fancy ads like the bigger nonprofits do. It may be a plain envelope for a direct mail campaign instead of a stylized one or a note on your website rather than a television ad.

It can be a struggle to stand out in the sea of glossiness. But sometimes it is forgotten that the content is as important, if not more than the packaging. Yes, good packaging is important but your message is more so.

Many of you have probably seen the video of Susan Boyle, a contestant on Britain's Got Talent who blew the judges and audience away with her performance. What was so special about her? She wasn't glossy at all. In fact she was an average, older woman who was subject to those laughing at her for her appearance before she opened her mouth.

But when she opened her mouth, they definitely stopped laughing.

Be inspired by this when it comes to your own content. Yes, packaging is important because it gets your donors' and prospects' feet in the door. But make sure your content is as passionate, inspiring and engaging as Susan Boyle was.

Click Here to Watch Susan Boyle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Putting Your Communications In Your Donor's Hands

Sometimes we have a tendency in nonprofit organizations to hold our donors at arm's length. We pat them on the head, thank them for the money and sometimes forget about them. Rarely do we ask their opinion, even more rarely do we let them help.

Yet, donors are a big part of what makes any organization work. So how can we get them more involved?

Give them a voice. Give your donors opportunities to share why they love the organization. What ways can you do this?

• Feature them in an article or better yet, get them to write one for you.
• Interview a donor and use their quotes on the donation page on the website.
• Start up a dialogue with them using social media. Ask them why they donated.
• Give them opportunities to share their experiences with their friends.

There are many advantages to connecting with your donors in this way. Firstly, they will feel more involved with the organization and may be encouraged to donate more. Secondly, you will recieve a bevy of information that promotes your organization.

I'm not recommending you do this with every donor, but pick a few and see if it works.

How do you treat your donors in your organization? Sound off below.

The Great ROI Debate

A comment on the blog yesterday spurred an interesting thought. What is ROI and how is it measured? ROI is a business word, meaning return on investment.

One definition from thefreedictionary.com states: return on investment - (corporate finance) the amount, expressed as a percentage, that is earned on a company's total capital calculated by dividing the total capital into earnings before interest, taxes, or dividends are paid

For me, I see return on investment as something much more than that. It's not entirely the money, but rather the return on investment from a particular program as dependent on that program's goals.

So if one of the program's goals were to meet ten donors, I would consider the return on investment the number of donors actually met.

What do you think? Is ROI specifically a word that is used to describe monetary capital earned or can it be more than that? If it is, is there another word to replace it?

Sound off in the comments below!

5 Things I Learned From Podcamp

I attended a free conference this weekend called Podcamp. I had heard about it through Twitter and thought I would give it a shot. While I thought it was going to be an interesting conference, (or unconference as it's called), I didn't realize how inspiring and motivating it would be. I came away re-energized and focused about social media, nonprofits and my own business.

5 Things I Learned:

1. Nonprofits and Social Media are made for each other

As I talked through the day on Saturday about what I do for a living and how I believe nonprofits and social media are a good fit, I became more and more assured of the fact. I truly believe that nonprofits, especially small nonprofits, can leverage social media to increase donations, connect with prospects and most importantly, build a community.

2. Everything you do on the 'net can be tracked

I attended a great session by Sean Power (@seanpower) entitled Stalking Your Audience for Fun & Profit. It was incredible the amount of things you can discover about people by tracking them through the internet. Ireceived tons of great links and ideas.

3. It's important to think about the ethics of social media

When I walked into the Ethics and Social Media session by Dave Fleet (@davefleet), I was never expecting to have a hearty discussion about the consquences of ghost blogging. As a writer, I've done ghost blogging for several companies. It was interesting to hear the points from the other side. I think it's a topic that you can debate forever, but it opened up my mind to other ethical issues with social media and how they should be handled.

4. Ideas come from everywhere

One of the best things about a conference like this, is that even if you are hearing information you've heard before, it may spur something new. I spent several sessions jotting down ideas for my business and this blog. I recommend attending as many conferences as you can. It can help you jump start your brain and make you think of things you've never thought of before.

5.It's all about the people

Networking has such an ominous tone to me. It sounds too serious and a little intimidating. What I did instead was meet a ton of people from a variety of backgrounds and businesses. Some potential clients, others colleagues and mentors. Everyone I met was friendly and open to discussion.

Podcamp was a breather from the work, a chance to connect and a way to lasso those mythical beasts; creativity and inspiration.

Connecting With Your Donors

A non-profit organization is a busy place. There's always so many things to do and never enough time to deal with them. My nonprofit experience has been primarily with small organizations.

At the organization where I worked, I was the fundraiser and the administrator. That meant donations processing, tax receipts and various other administrative duties. It was during my work there that I forgot the primary reason for my being there: the donors.

It was so easy to get caught up in the work of the organization and forget who allowed you to be there.

Donors, like the staff and board, make up an organization. They are an integral part of it and yet many donors don't hear from their charitable organizations enough.

Think of your donors like you would close family or friends. Would you only contact them once a year? Would you just spout the news or would you really share what was going on?

Now, I'm not saying to share everything with the donors, but rather share the important things.

Here's some tips:

1. Connect Your Donors with Your Clients

I believe that every piece of communications that a nonprofit produces should have the aim of connecting their donors with their clients in some way or another. Whether it's a direct mail campaign, newsletter or blog, donors want to know who they are donating to.

2. Share News, Even When It's Not Perfect

This one's tricky. Clearly you don't want to report to your donors that you are failing at your mission, however I believe that it's also important to share with your donors that you aren't perfect. This is an organization, not a robot, and things are bound to go wrong. Sharing that you haven't reached your fundraising goal may spur on donations. It's all about the way you spin the information.

3. Connect the Donors With You

You are a part of this organization and as the development officer/fundraiser/executive director you play an important part. Try to connect with your donors online or in person so they can put a face to the hard work that you've been doing.

4. Ask Your Donors What They Want

This seems simple enough, yet it can be very tricky and time consuming. Let's say you have 500 donors. Are you really going to ask every single one of them how many times they would like to recieve communications a year or whether they would be interested in online giving? That's alot of work and alot of data to collect. You can segment your list and poll major donors or do a random selection. Try approaching donors at a fundraising event or sending an online survey. They will be appreciative that you asked them for their opinion.

So what ways do you connect with your donors? Share below.

Saying Thank You

Thanking your donors and clients is the most important thing you should do. But what's the best way to go about it?

It depends on the size of your organization as well as the time you have. However, even the smallest of charities should have a stewardship plan in place that allows them to thank everyone.

A thank you has power that will garner you many returns. And a thank you is a great way to reinforce your brand as well.

Here are the steps to thanking success:

1. Segment

You need to look at your client/donor list and determine who should receive what thank you. For example, if you have 500 donors and 450 of them give under $1000, but 5o give over that, you might want to consider singling out those 50 donors to receive something extra.

2. Determine what your thank you looks like

Is it a letter? A note card?

Letters are the most popular because they save time, however a form letter time and time again can seem impersonal to the donor. If you do use letters, remember to change up the thank you letter every once in a while to keep it fresh.

3. Budget for Time and Money

It's important to remember when you are budgeting for the year to include thank you letters for all of the responses you think you are going to receive. Also, the amount of time you have available will definitely influence how personalized your letters are going to be.

4. Determine the signer

Who signs the card/letter can have a lot of weight. For your major donors, maybe you want a board member or the executive director to sign it, for everyone else perhaps the fundraising officer.

5. Personalize

This is the most important. Nobody likes a letter that says Dear Sir/Madam. Make sure you have their correct name and address. This goes a long way.

6. Use your brand

Whether it's a letter or a note card, your logo should be prominently displayed along with your tagline or mission statement if it fits. This allows the reader to visually connect your brand with the warm feeling they received from being thanked.

Thanking your donors and clients is an extremely important part of the process, so don't forget to do it.

If you have time, consider sending out special thank you cards at certain times of the year, like Christmas, to your most special donors. They will definitely appreciate the effort.