Rallying Support for a Common Cause: Drive Action and Inspire Change. A look at how strategic donor communications and nonprofit marketing can inspire audiences to take meaningful action and generate ROI.

1. Rallying Support for a Common Cause
Drive Action and Inspire Change
Co-Communications
Jessica Lyon, Senior Vice President
Danielle M. Cyr, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing

2. 5 Things to Remember
5. Actions are measurable
4. Awareness is not an action
3. You need a foundation of awareness before
you can inspire action
2. Nonprofits often get stuck at the bottom of
the funnel
1. It’s all about relationships
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3. Laying the Groundwork

4. Let’s Talk Strategy
• Why do I need a strategy?
• How often should I update my strategy?
• Who should be involved in creating the
strategy?
• What should be included in creating the
strategy?
• How will I know if the strategy is working?
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5. 5 Reasons You Need a
Strategy
1. To ensure everyone – internally and
externally – is working towards the same
goal(s)
2. To maintain synergy between marketing and
development initiatives
3. To ensure all marketing and development
activities support the organization‟s overall
strategic plan
4. To provide a framework for defining and
evaluating success
5. To minimize (unpleasant) surprises
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6. Creating a Data-Driven Strategy
• Ask the right questions – what information
do you need from stakeholders to create a
strategy and campaign that drive
meaningful action?
– Surveys
– Stakeholder Interviews
– Focus Groups
– Campaign Analysis
– Custom Research
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7. Being Strategic in a
Real-Time Media World
• Be a student of the world around you
• Seize timely opportunities
• Plan for the year ahead…and how to
dovetail on existing initiatives
• Be realistic about how many extra
initiatives you can tackle
• Be mindful of maintaining a balanced
strategy
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8. Creating a Strategic Framework
• Identify who has a stake in the outcomes
• Ask yourself, “Whose support/involvement
do I need to achieve the objectives?”
• Ask yourself, “What are the anticipated
barriers to success? How can I work
with/around them?”
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9. Core Strategic Components
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Situational Assessment
Measurable Objectives
Clearly Defined Target Audiences
Compelling Key Message Points
A Blend of Digital and Traditional Tactics
Cleary Defined Roles and Responsibilities
A (Realistic) Timeline
Success Metrics
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10. Is My Strategy Working?
• Clearly defined success metrics
• Short- and long-term goals
• Measurable outcomes
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11. Driving Audience Action

12. Reel ‘em In
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Optimized website
Remarkable/sharable information
Downloadable incentives
Compelling calls-to-action
Robust blog
Sizzling social media channels
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13. Be Part of Something Big(ger)

14. Be Part of Something Big(ger)

15. What’s In It for Them?
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16. Strengthening Connections
http://www.charitywater.org/september/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bH7SPNdSt
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17. Lessons from charity : water
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First-person account of the challenge
Makes the problem personal
Shows donations at work
Eliminates geographic barriers
Multichannel
Shareable
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18. Rewarding Loyalty &
Engagement
• It’s all about the experience
– Being first to tour a new facility
– Small group meet and greet with a special guest
– Individual recognition
– Entry into a special drawing
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19. Defining the Ask
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20. Making Engagement Easy
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21. Making Engagement Easy
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22. Making Engagement Easy
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Thunderclap.it
Share buttons
„Forward this email‟
Voter VOICE
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23. Making Engagement Exciting
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24. Making Engagement Exciting
The Challenge:
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Create a social campaign to
educate Dutchess County
teenagers about healthy
relationships
The Solution:
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Ask teens, How Messed Up is
YOUR Relationship?
The Results at 30 Days:
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Reached 30,318 teens through
Facebook advertising
Generated 1,788 website visits
1,000+ quizzes completed
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25. Defining Success
• When to measure:
– Before
– During
– After
• What action is meaningful to your nonprofit‟s
bottom line?
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Signing a pledge
Sending a letter to congress
Volunteering
Donating
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26. Integrating Online & Offline
for a Cohesive Campaign

27. Overcoming Obstacles
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Multiple audiences
Widely varied communication preferences
Limited budgets
Restrictive grants
Limited manpower
Knowledge gaps
Competition
– time & money
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28. Case Study: Winning a Vote &
Securing a Lease
GOAL:
To gain substantial community support for Westchester Children‟s
Museum to be housed at the Rye Playland North Bathhouse by raising
awareness of the Museum‟s mission through
social media platforms…in 60 days.
CHALLENGES:
Need 12 votes from County Legislature for lease approval with no
Republican support. Low following on Facebook and Twitter.
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29. Case Study: Winning a Vote &
Securing a Lease
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30. Case Study: Winning a Vote &
Securing a Lease
Tweeted regularly and encouraged followers to RT “Tag! You‟re it!” to
gain more followers and Museum support
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31. Case Study: Winning a Vote &
Securing a Lease
CONSTANT CONTACT
“10 Days, 10 Ways” Countdown
1 blast per day 10 days prior to lease
vote
• Strategized and implemented various Constant
Contact email blast campaigns, most notably “10
Days, 10 Ways” Countdown to lease vote
• Utilized “10 Ways, 10 Days” Countdown on both
Facebook and Twitter as daily posts
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32. Case Study: Winning a Vote &
Securing a Lease
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Campaign
Lease unanimously approved by County Legislature 17-0
Successes
More than 1,000 letters of support received by Legislature
More than 800 new Museum supporters via Voters Voice
More than 500 new Facebook “Likes”
129 Facebook Cause members
More than 200 new Twitter followers
Multiple Twitter ReTweets including local celebrity support
More than 40 local press hits including substantial print features
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33. Integrated Success Metrics
• Success metrics should be tied to short- and
long-term campaign goals and strategic
organizational goals
– Success metrics are not one-size-fits-all
– You should evaluate both progress meeting an end
goal as well as the success of individual
tactics/initiatives in helping to meet that goal
– The definition of success is not universal…which is
why benchmarks need to be part of a strategy that
an entire team has bought in to and agreed upon
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34. Top 5 Takeaways
1. Audiences need to feel connected to the cause
before they will take action
2. There are meaningful ways for audiences to take
action beyond making a donation
3. Effective, action-driving campaigns are built
around a nimble strategy and upon a foundation
of awareness
4. Success Metrics are not universal
5. The more actively engaged your online and
offline communities, the greater your ROI…and
your ROE
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35. Jessica Lyon
@jesslyon |
jessica@cocommunications.com
Danielle Cyr
@daniellecyr |
danielle@cocommunications.com
New York | Connecticut
www.cocommunications.com