Don Akchin

Texas writer Jubi Headley offers a strong case for getting the hell out of the way and letting your clients tell their stories to donors. The impact outweighs the risks.   Speaking of storytelling, Marco Kathuria of MKCREATIVE and I will give a workshop on September 9 on Storytelling and Video for Life Span Network, Maryland’s association of senior care provider organizations. (If you’re interested in seeing it or talking about it, get in touch.)

I am pleased to announce the launch of Nonprofit Marketing360, a virtual marketing agency that acts as a one-stop shop for all your organization’s marketing needs.

To all my procrastinating friends and readers: You can stop kicking yourself about missing my wonderful workshop last week on “Making Your Messages Matter to Multiple Audiences.”  In response to icy conditions, the workshop is opening two weeks late. So yes! you have a second chance! The rescheduled workshop is now happening (weather permitting) Tuesday, February 15, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Baltimore office of Maryland Nonprofits, 190 West Ostend Street, Suite 201. Registration fee is $50 for Maryland Nonprofit members, $100 for non-members.  Do sign up on the Maryland Nonprofits website, or call them at 410-727-6367.

Image via Wikipedia Yes, it’s tempting, when the budget is tight (as it always is), to try to send out one communications piece to all your audiences. Something for everyone, eh? Just like a newspaper – and you see how well that idea is working! The problem is, when you send out a newsletter with some content for donors, some for volunteers, some for people you serve, each reader gets a newsletter in which two-thirds of the content is irrelevant. These days, fortunately, talk is cheap – especially online. There’s no excuse not to send each of your audiences a targeted message that is 100% relevant to them. What’s more, you can do it without speaking with forked tongue. I’ll be leading a workshop on “Making Your Messages Matter To Your Different Audiences” for Maryland Nonprofits on Tuesday, February 1, 9 a.m. to noon. Do sign up.

‘Tis the season that rewards most nonprofits with an outpouring of support, thanks to the happy convergence of compassion and tax deadlines. May the season bring you all the blessings you hope for. Come January, if receipts prove to be disappointing, let’s talk about how you can do things differently next year and get a different result. For example: By January, you’ll know if you are struggling with the heartbreak of Attention-Deficient Donors (ADD). I can help you sharpen your communications to recapture and retain the attention of donors and prospects. Consider my Annual-Fund-in-a-Box service as a cost-effective way to handle gifts below the Major Donor Level. I provide tactical implementation for direct mail and online giving campaigns from soup to nuts, including database management, case development and donor acknowledgment. I also offer Grantwriting, particularly for federal grants in all their lovable complexity. I bring to the table many years

Taking cues from my clients, I am pleased to offer three new services for nonprofits whose fundraising efforts need a boost. 1. Annual-Fund-in-a-Box: for the busy development officer who hasn’t got enough time to generate and process small donations, and hasn’t the budget to hire a full-time staffer. I provide tactical implementation for direct mail and online giving, including database analysis, case development, and donor acknowledgement. 2. Donor Communications Tune-Up: Sharpen up your messages and refine your targets before the giving season gets more intense. I audit all current donor communications, evaluate online communications and giving, and recommend persuasive messages and effective tools for delivering them. 3. Grantwriting: I write grant proposals to foundations as well as governments, bringing to the table many years of professional research and writing and strong knowledge of the funding process. I recently completed the Grantsmanship Center’s intensive five-day “Competing for Federal Grants” course. Please

Show your loyal donors they are more to you than just ATM machines. Help them feel part of the enterprise. Consultant and blogger Nancy Schwartz shares three good examples of nonprofits who take their fans behind the scenes.There are many other creative ways to engage supporters – and in these tough times, having passionate donors and advocates is more important than ever. Contact me to discuss how we can build more engagement among your community of supporters. Photo by Gary Brockman, Moon & Star Photography

Best wishes to all for a successful and prosperous year. May the new year be everything that 2008 was not. But meanwhile, we’re already seven days into 2009, so what have you done this year to improve your marketing and communications? Let’s get cracking already! (And do call as you take on your biggest communications challenges. We’d love to discuss them.)