I’m happy that I don’t get too many complaints about my webinars, but one that I do hear from time to time is this: “We don’t have puppies, or kids, or people in desperate situations. Tell us how to make (fill in the blank — storytelling, social media, etc.) work when you don’t have any heartstrings to yank on.”
It’s a very good question and it’s certainly made me more actively seek out examples of nonprofits who are doing great marketing and fundraising without direct connections to the people who are ultimately served. These are often research or policy organizations, or those positioned as technical assistance or resource providers who are a few steps removed from the action on the ground.
When Susan Gordon of Causes and I talked about the free webinar we are putting on next week (register now to join us) where we’ll discuss fundraising on Facebook and other social sites, I asked her to identify some groups that has less-than-ideal situations for social media fundraising, meaning the work was not as tangible as we might like to see.
Here are a few examples Susan identified of nonprofits who have raised at least $1,000 with projects that were pretty general:
Sophia’s Cure – Pledge of Compassion
The Migraine Research Foundation Facebook Challenge
Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
Fast for Freedom (Not for Sale Foundation)
Help Us Find Tomorrow’s Leaders (Public Allies)
Join Susan and me on Tuesday for a FREE webinar: Raising Money Via Social Media: Using Causes and Your Facebook Page.
Today’s Book Giveaway
What ideas do you have for marketing research or policy organizations that don’t have great people stories or immediate or concrete results at the ready?
Leave a comment below, and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. We’ll draw the winner next week, so you have plenty of time to add your ideas.
I’m giving away a book each day this week, in celebration of the one year anniversary of my own book’s release, The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause (on sale for $23.29 at Amazon).
