TLC Pulse / 08.29.11

• Way to keep us on our toes, Mother Nature! Last week was pretty crazy for everyone on the east coast with the surprising earthquake and Hurricane Irene. Here the Chronicle of Philanthropy shares how a new survey from the American Red Cross says that 80% of Americans expect the Red Cross to monitor their social media feeds during natural disasters to respond to emergency requests for help.
• Mashable wrote a fun article on how art museums are engaging audiences via social media.
• The Agitator shares a post from Email Insider this week on reengaging inactive email subscribers. Among their tips are to first launch a welcome and onboarding program to get new subscribers quickly engaged (and hopefully decrease their chances of going inactive) and, once members do move to your inactive list, use data such as acquisition source to segment your members so that your communication can be tailored to each group.
• On the topic of email communication, NTEN shares an insightful post on open rates. Not all open rates are created equal. The tradition open rate (total messages opened / total message delivered) should be calculated in order to gauge the overall health of your email program, but an unweighted open rate (an average of multiple targeted email messages sent) is useful when trying to determine characteristics of an effective email campaign. 

TLC Pulse / 08.22.11

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports initial findings that capital campaigns are proceeding as planned, despite economic uncertainty. Fundraising consultant Elliott Oshry predicts that campaigns for capital projects such as new buildings will likely fare much better than endowment campaigns as donors will hesitate to give to endowment during a volatile market.
• If you need another reason to test QR codes in your next mailing, look no further. Direct Marketing News reports that 14.5 million consumers scanned a QR code during the month of June!
• Katya Andresen blogged this week about the importance of an integrated multi-channel communications strategy (break for TLC applause!) and she offers a checklist of signs your organization is effectively communicating across channels.
• Convio’s Connection Café shares how your organization can use Google Analytics’s site search data to improve website efficiency by tracking what searches visitors run on your website. By examining what information constituents search for, you may gain insight as to what information needs to be more prominently featured on your website.
• And finally, a warm congratulations to the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. on the opening of the memorial today! We’re looking forward to Sunday’s dedication ceremony.

TLC Pulse / 08.15.11

Happy Monday, everyone! Time for another TLC Pulse update…

• Of course last week brought more economy woes with the US’s downgraded credit rating and market turmoil across the globe. Chronicle of Philanthropy spoke with Patrick Rooney, Director of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy who predicts, “If we had a double-dip recession, it would be disastrous for philanthropy and charities.”
• Kivi Leroux Miller of Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog shared “Blending Marketing and Fundraising into Community Engagement Teams” with Convio’s Connection Café this week. She makes a compelling case for combining efforts (a move that TLC always encourages our clients to consider!), but cautions against approaching the collaboration as an entirely new entity. Each team must maintain their separate goals while recognizing the synergy that can be mutually beneficial to each.
• Summer is nearing its end, which means fall exhibition celebrations and gala fundraisers will soon follow. Revisit your event fundraising techniques with these seven tips from Blackbaud’s NetWits Think Tank. The underlying theme is this: start early and draw your event out online about 40 days post-event to maximize late gifts.
• Do you know your Facebook page “churn” rate? Yeah, that question stumped us too. NTEN explains that “churn” is the rate at which subscribers leave your organization, by un-liking you on Facebook, for example. To calculate your Facebook churn rate: divide the number of “unlikes” and “unsubcribers” in a 12-month period by the total number of users your fan page had during that time period. What’s considered average? About 14%.

TLC Pulse / 08.08.11

Welcome to another issue of “TLC Pulse”, your quick source for the latest nonprofit headlines!

• Of course the big news last week was the debt deal, which called for more than $2-trillion federal cuts over the next ten years…but didn’t specify where those cuts will be made. Naturally, nonprofits will want to pay close attention as this continues to unfold.
• Another growing concern for nonprofits is the proposed post office legislation, which the DMA points out will dramatically increase the rate of nonprofit mail.
• Perhaps that bit of doom and gloom has inspired you to explore new online strategies. How about embracing your donors’ playful side AND deepening their devotion to your mission by adding an interactive game to your website? NTEN shares some tips picked up at South by Southwest Interactive keynote address by Seth Priebatsch of SCVNGR. According to Seth, trivia, quizzes, competitions and games can educate your donors, promote advocacy and build awareness.
• It seems like we see a QR code everywhere we turn these days! You say your organization hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon, yet? Convio divulges some ideas on incorporating QR codes into your program. Our favorite is adding one to your membership cards so that members can easily access their benefits and other important info!
• On the topic of QR codes, is this just passing trend? Not likely, Direct Marketing IQ shares. According to Keegan St. Onge-May of Indros Group and Easypurl.com, QR codes have proved to be a lasting technology in Asia over the last 15 years. As smartphones continue to grow in popularity in the US, nonprofits can count on QR codes to grab the interest of their tech-savvy members.

TLC Pulse / 08.01.11