Gift of Giving Event Helps Local Organizations November 26, 2011
Posted by Angela Connelly in Monthly Professional Development
For the KC/IABC November Gift of Giving program, KC/IABC members met with representatives from five area non-profits to brainstorm strategies to address their organizations’ marketing and communications challenges. Listed below are some of the ideas generated at the Nov. 10 session, which was held at Javaport in the Crossroads District. Below are the recommendations we shared with these groups.
Mission: The organization certifies volunteers as tutors and matches them with adult learners who wish to improve their literacy skills.
Communications/marketing challenges: Tutoring requires a significant time commitment in both ongoing training and then working with adult learners twice each week. Therefore, the organization wishes to strengthen the tutors’ bonds with the organization and each other, as well as use a strong support network for the tutors to recruit additional tutors.
Ideas from brainstorming session led by Cathy Swirbul:
- Provide a private Facebook page for tutors that will serve as a forum where fellow tutors can share teaching ideas and share resources, where staff can honor tutors, etc.
- Have fun contests for the tutors, such as bookstore gift card giveaways in which participants must leave a literacy-related comment on the organization’s Facebook page or blog to enter the giveaway. The question for their comments could be to list their favorite childhood book, to guess the definition to a word that is provided, etc.
- Encourage the tutors to follow the organization’s Twitter feed and re-tweet the tweets to spread awareness. Once the Twitter feed obtains a certain number of followers, the organization will host a bookstore gift card giveaway, etc.
- Tutors can participate in a “scavenger hunt” in which they hunt for clues on the organization’s web site (where information for the tutors is regularly posted) to encourage tutors to check the site often. The winner of the hunt will receive a literacy-related gift item.
- Provide giveaway items to tutors who refer other potential tutors to the organization. In addition, host other fun contests in which tutors are encouraged to recruit new tutors.
- Host regular Twitter chats in which tutors can ask questions of education/literacy experts.
- Encourage tutors to mention that they tutor with Literacy KC on their personal blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, etc. in order to recruit additional tutors.
- Enlist a developer to create a word game app through which tutors can keep with one another.
Kansas City Free Health Clinic
Mission: The clinic provides basic health care services to individuals who are uninsured and unable to pay for medical care.
Communications/marketing challenges: The clinic is interested in increasing fundraising and awareness of the organization.
Ideas from brainstorming session led by Matt Dunn:
- Use health clinic volunteers, who are the most passionate advocates, to spread the message.
- Invite clinic volunteers to attend a storytelling seminar in which they are equipped with strategies to effectively convey the story to various audiences.
- Share more patient and volunteer stories on the organization’s web site.
- Utilize more video and create a YouTube channel to regularly post videos.
- Train volunteers to be social media ambassadors for the clinic and provide them with a tool kit to leverage social media.
- Create Tweets and Facebook posts for volunteers to post on their personal sites.
- Incorporate “text to donate” option to raise more money during fundraising events.
- Create custom mailers by donation level.
- Highlight volunteer healthcare providers in a PR outreach. For example, write lifestyle articles for area publications about volunteer healthcare providers.
Mission: The center provides a holistic education environment that helps students improve their academic and life skills. Communications/marketing challenges: To better communicate what DeLaSalle is to the community and to potential donors.Ideas from brainstorming session led by Sara Folkerts:
- Use the phrase ‘the whole student” in all marketing and communications to better define the school’s mission.
- Create a video about the diversity of DeLaSalle students called “DeLaSalle Students Are …” and post on the YouTube channel.
- Ask donors how they want to hear from the organization. Direct Mail? Email? Etc.
- Buy a list of zip codes to increase the base of potential donors.
- Conduct a donor survey to learn why donors give and create future campaigns based on those findings.
- Create corporate sponsorships in order to raise additional funds.
Mission: A home for neglected and/or abused children in the urban core. Communications/marketing challenges: Raising awareness about the organization in general and specifically the charter school that will open in 2012, fund raising, and recruiting volunteers.Ideas from brainstorming session led by Amy Stewart:
- Invite community leaders to a free breakfast in which the Niles story is shared through a speaker and a video.
- Reach out to an organization of young professionals, such as the Centurions, to enlist them as Niles board members.
- Shoot a virtual tour of Niles and post it on YouTube, as well as the organization’s web site.
- Enlist the help of the Niles children in shooting a video for the web site and YouTube channel.
- Create a communications calendar with topics for each month.
- Integrate the organization’s Facebook, Twitter, Blog to maximize communication.
Mission: Sunflower House is a children’s advocacy center to protect children in Wyandotte and Johnson Counties from physical and sexual abuse through education, advocacy, forensics and medical services. Communications/marketing challenges: Raise awareness and increase fundraising.Ideas from brainstorming session led by Rachel Spear:
- Work with college communications and marketing classes to help implement a communications campaign for the organization pro bono.
- Conduct a communications audit to determine the effectiveness of current strategies and plan accordingly.
- Partner with school parent-teacher organizations to raise awareness of abuse and make Sunflower’s services available.
- Create a template for marketing materials to develop a strong brand.
- Work with local law enforcement to raise awareness of Sunflower’s services.
- Conduct media tours and interviews.
- Create a media center for the web site. Also, post links to marketing materials on the web site.
- Use a PSA from a national child abuse prevention organization.
- Post organization fundraising events on the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce web site.
- Create an editorial calendar for Facebook posts to plan content.
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