Driving Participation Podcast: What Is Working in Marketing & Fundraising | Nonprofits | Schools | Associations

Email marketing is a great way to contact your constituents, but when it isn't done properly, you're wasting time and money. Heather Solos, director at email marketing company FeedBlitz, joins to talk about common mistakes fundraisers make when using email marketing. Sending emails through the wrong channels can make your messages end up in spam filters or not reach anyone at all. She discusses how to build a trusting bond with people on your email list, and how to use analytics and testing to target your messages efficiently.

Today we're talking about the prep work you need to do when you're beginning to think about redesigning your website. Getting the website you want is more than just how it looks. You need to factor in your audience, what they want, how you will maintain it, what it connects to and how much you can spend. Beth invited Iris's developer, Liz Dobrinska to go talk about the things that can really make or break a website project. This episode helps you get prepared before you even think about contacting a web developer to redesign your site.

Crowdfunding is growing as a way to finance projects, products, movies and ideas. The Canadian Society of Association Executives decided to try it as a funding experiment. Using Indegogo they raised over $10,000 in under a month. Michael Anderson, CEO of CSAE joins Beth to explain how the crowdfunding process works from planning, marketing, and operational angles. He makes the point that crowdfunding isn't collecting donations, it is getting an investment from people who want to see the benefit of your project.

Want to match the effectiveness of direct mail with the trackability of the web? Steven Screen suggests you add a home-page takeover to your next campaign. Steven is the Co-Founder and Creative Director for the Better Fund Raising Company. Beth invited him to share the success clients have had with this tactic. End-of-year always comes up fast, so it's time to start planning now to create the biggest impact.

Today we are accessing social media marketing more and more on mobile devices. Ritu Sharma CEO and Co-Founder of Social Media for Nonprofits joins Beth to share how mobile use is impacting more than just your website. If your social content is not mobile optimized, you're losing a lot of participation and interaction. It's time to get mobile thinking into all your digital communications.

New for this season—we are talking tools. Designer Kelly Meissner swings by the Iris office to share options for photo editing. There are a million posts on "the 50 best" tools for everything, but in reality, every tool has strengths and limitations. In creating tutorials for Nonprofit Toolkit, Kelly tested some free and low cost tools for customizing your images and found which ones are best at the simple cropping, scaling and customizing you need to do daily. Listen in to learn what to use to get your images in shape.

Watch the tutorials Kelly created for Photoshop, Canva and Paint.net at www.nonprofittoolkit.net/tutorials/

At universities everywhere, thousands of dollars ride on the effort of student callers. Having a pool of workers to call prospects can be a dream or a headache. It all comes down to leadership. James Hanks knows what it takes to keep a group of undergraduates showing up and giving it their all. As the Lead Manager of Mississippi State University Bulldog Calling Center, James shares what he’s learned during his rise from student caller to team leader.

Imagine your favorite segment of a TV show. Whether it's particularly entertaining or informative, it keeps you coming back. Adrienne Frank, Managing Editor of American Magazine at American University, explains how anchor pages give the reader an expectation of what is to come. With 15 different types of anchor pages, they finding ways to enage alumni as readers - and as participants in the content.

When talking about branding, it's easy to focus on familiar things like the logo. Australian brand expert Charlotte Prouse joins Beth to talk about where that can steer an organization wrong in the long term. By backing up and finding out who your ideal audience is and what motivates them you'll learn things you may not know before moving forward to execution. Listen in to hear how one koala sniffing dog completley changed the story for an Australian nonprofit.

This week marks 52 episodes—a year of weekly shows! Beth looks back at the year and highlights the major trends that came out of more than 40 hours of conversations on participation. And she shares what she's learned from producing a weekly show. Listen in to see if the trends we are seeing are showing up in your organization.