Author Archives: Guest Author

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You’ve got donors, supporters, and potential supporters out in your community and beyond. If they’re talking about your nonprofit, you probably want to know what they’re saying, right?

That’s great in theory, but how do you go about doing that? Do you have the time or resources to find out what people are saying?

If you’re like most nonprofit professionals, you’re too busy focusing on your day-to-day tasks to search the internet for mentions of your nonprofit. It doesn’t make sense to have one staff member scour the internet every day for new articles and events.

That’s where Google Alerts come into play. Keep reading to find out what they are, why you should use them, and how to create them.

What is a Google Alert?

A Google Alert is an update that shares information about a specific keyword. Once you set one up, Google will send you an email summary of recent articles and other Internet activity that mention that keyword.

You can choose the sources you want to prioritize and even set things like language, region, and number of results you receive.

The best part? This service is free.

Why should my nonprofit create a Google Alert?

As we mentioned above, it’s good to keep tabs on what people are saying about your nonprofit. Not only that, but you also have the ability to keep up with things like industry news (via a keyword like ‘nonprofit’) or events that might impact the work your nonprofit is doing (via a keyword like ‘hurricane’).

A Google Alert can also help you form meaningful relationships with others and make a greater impact. For example, let’s say you operate a nonprofit organization that builds quality housing for low-income families. A Google Alert could point you toward people within your community who have expressed a need for housing assistance or companies that are searching for a nonprofit to support.

Creating your Google Alerts

First, go to Google Alerts and enter your keyword.

To get the most useful information, click “show options” next to the Create Alert button. You can change the settings to reflect how often you want notifications sent to you, what language you prefer, which specific locations to monitor, and what types of content you want to search.

Next, you’ll have to decide who you want to receive the Google Alerts email summary. Choose someone who can check the alerts regularly and enter their email address.

Tip: We recommend reviewing and editing the alerts as your needs and goals change.

Search terms to use

When setting up your nonprofit Google Alerts, here are a few basic guidelines to follow so that you can select the right terms.

• The name of your nonprofit organization: Include alternate and incorrect spellings and acronyms, if applicable.
• Names of important people in your organization: This includes founders, board members, and other prominent figures.
• Keywords related to the cause you support: Think of things like pet care, health services, women’s leadership, etc.
• The area(s) you serve: Include neighborhoods, cities, states, or countries.
• Broad industry and fundraising keywords: This could include peer-to-peer campaigns, fundraising, charity, eco-friendly, social justice, and community aid.
• Additional descriptors of your mission: Choose words that describe your nonprofit’s mission (ex: animal shelter, transportation, financial education, etc.).

Final tips

Ready to get started but aren’t sure what other keywords to include? Use a keyword checker tool and type in a few words or phrases that closely relate to your organization and your mission.

If you find that a keyword isn’t generating many relevant notifications, you can always remove it from your list of Alerts and add a new one to replace it.

Bloomerang is another powerful but easy-to-use tool that can help your team fundraise more effectively. Reach out to our team to get a Demo.

The post Google Alerts for Your Nonprofit: Why You Need Them and How to Set Them Up appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

Millions of people around the world followed Taylor Swift’s promotional campaign for her Midnights album—a feat that proves she knows what she’s doing when it comes to marketing.

You may not have the same amount of time, money, or resources at your disposal, but you can still implement some of her marketing strategies when planning your fundraising campaign.

Are you…Ready For It? If so, keep reading.

Four marketing strategies that Taylor Swift used that your nonprofit can implement too

1) Give your fundraising campaign a creative and memorable theme.

To promote Midnights, Swift created a TikTok series called “Midnights Mayhem With Me.” The short videos—which she released at midnight—revealed the tracks on her album. This sparked conversations among fans, critics, and potential supporters.

This strategy also established the tone of the era. The album is dark and moody; it wouldn’t have made sense for her to promote it in a way that was bright and upbeat. Follow Swift’s lead and choose a theme that serves your brand and your campaign’s goal.

Caveat: We don’t recommend taking Swift’s lead when it comes to posting at midnight unless your audience is also awake and donating at that time. It’s better to share exciting news when your supporters will see it.

2) Give supporters something to talk about and increase your word-of-mouth reach.

When you get people to share your campaign with their communities, you’re increasing your word-of-mouth reach. Part of the reason why Swift’s strategy is so effective is that she shares content that’s designed to get her fans talking. They’re so invested that they’ve even been known to read into how she styles her hair leading up to her big announcements.

What do your supporters care about? What do they talk about? Create assets that you know they’ll want to share with their friends, family, and community. It’s also a good idea to create those assets before you start promoting your campaign. This will save you time and free you up to be more creative as the campaign is unfolding.

3) Invite companies or influencers to promote your campaign.

Swift worked with several artists on her album; in turn, they promoted the collaborations. This exposed her work to new audiences and served as a way to increase awareness in general. She also partnered with Spotify, allowing them to post new lyrics on billboards around the world.

Take a page out of Swift’s book and find partners for your campaign. Think of local business owners, community members, and other potential supporters who might resonate with your cause. Once you have a list of names and businesses, reach out and see if they’re interested in promoting your campaign. We also recommend asking your volunteers and board members to introduce you to people and organizations you might not be familiar with.

4) Use that momentum to share more exciting news.

As you know, the hard work doesn’t end when your fundraising campaign does. One way you can make the most of this time is to use the attention and momentum you have to promote your next initiative or project.

Ask yourself: What events or good news do you have coming up that you can share with your audience? If you could share one thing with them at this time, what would it be?

For Swift, she built momentum over the course of the promotional period by revealing her new album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, teasing the album and tracklist with videos and other social media content, and announcing her next tour after the album was released.

Prepare for your most successful fundraising era yet.

Sometimes major excitement drives major headaches. Take Swift’s tour, for example. There was so much interest in it that millions of people visited Ticketmaster’s site during the presale period. Unfortunately, Ticketmaster’s site couldn’t handle the influx of fans. Instead of feeling excited about her upcoming tour, fans were left disappointed and angry.

One way to prepare for success is by making sure you have donor management software in place that can manage an influx of donations and support you in your online giving campaigns. That way you can focus on establishing relationships with your supporters and promoting your future fundraising eras.

Schedule a Demo of Bloomerang and one of our team members will reach out to share how Bloomerang can help you reach and exceed your goals.

The post Your Best Fundraising Era Yet: What Your Nonprofit Can Learn From Taylor Swift’s Marketing Strategy appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.

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In this post, we speak with Mariah Monique, a sponsorship strategy coach and educator.

Looking for a sponsorship or new source of funding this year? Keep reading to find out what advice she has for you. You can also learn more about Mariah’s work here.

You describe yourself as a sponsorship strategy coach. As a coach, how do you support nonprofit professionals?

As a sponsorship strategy coach and educator, I help nonprofit professionals position and package their events so that they can reduce their out of pocket costs, increase their income, and gain new long-term partners. It is important that the people I work with are educated on the process of securing sponsorships so they can build upon the duplicatable skill necessary for heightening their chances of bringing in more sponsorship dollars.

When did you first realize that there was a need for the work you do?

I first realized there was a need for the work that I do in 2020, when I was tasked to identify nonprofit organizations that were BIPOC led or that addressed specific social determinants of health such as food security and housing.

There were two things I heard most when meeting with nonprofits: “I didn’t know about sponsorships” and “I want to increase my impact, but I do not have the funds to do so.”

These statements bothered me because I had a solution that I knew would support their needs. I started The Sponsorship Catalyst LLC to help close the knowledge gap for already underfunded nonprofits that often served marginalized communities.

You have experience as a funder and as a seeker. Can you describe your work in those positions?

As a funder, I have reviewed hundreds of sponsorship pitch decks, negotiated, made fund allocation decisions, executed brand activations, and more. As a sponsorship seeker, I prepare sponsorship materials (i.e. proposal letters and pitch decks) to articulate the vision of an event in a way that makes the sponsor’s decision easier to make. Additionally, I navigate the conversation with my sponsors in a way that I would want someone to speak to me: relationship first, business second.

I work to build a relationship with the sponsorship gatekeeper I am in contact with so that I win over someone who would likely advocate for me within an organization after painting the vision. Additionally, I enter every conversation with my mind focused on learning about their sponsorship program and goals so that I can position my event as a solution for helping them meet their goals.

As a coach and a consultant, I help my clients put both of these things together so they

1. Present materials that make sense and articulate what they’re asking of the sponsors
2. Navigate conversations with confidence knowing that they bring value to the table that sponsors want access to

What do you wish nonprofits knew about sponsors and sponsors knew about nonprofits?

I wish sponsors knew that nonprofits are willing to be creative in how they highlight a sponsor’s support and that the support has a major impact on the community the nonprofit is serving. I wish sponsors saw nonprofits as critical to the build of our nation (i.e. nonprofit hospitals birthing the next city mayor, first response organizations caring for those in need, performing arts organizations bringing joy, and so much more).

I wish nonprofits knew that sponsors do not give money just because a nonprofit has a good cause. There has to be something there that will help them meet their goals because sponsorships are a marketing tool, not just a donation. That means there are often strings attached that come in the form of brand benefits (i.e. logo placement, vendor booths, event signage, etc.).

Securing a corporate sponsor or finding enough sponsors to cover the cost of a nonprofit event might sound overwhelming or even impossible to some people. What would you say to people who think they don’t have the capacity or ability to secure those funds?

Securing sponsors is an art and a skillset that, when duplicated over and over, can bring in a tremendous amount of funding. So, it is critical to recognize where you are while also extending grace to yourself along the journey.

Whether overwhelmed or lacking capacity or ability, one can consider hiring a professional like myself who can take the load of securing sponsors off of you and your team so you all can finish other aspects of your event planning/program.

Furthermore, there is a difference between overwhelm and capacity or ability. For someone who is overwhelmed, I recommend leveraging their team and board members by splitting up the sponsor research and outreach efforts. They can also make warm introductions to people in their networks that can turn into potential sponsors for the organization.

In addition, it is important to ensure that events are being planned well in advance in order to reduce feelings of overwhelm. I have seen many organizations putting events together 60 days before their event date, and while that may have worked in the past, it is not a long-term best practice, especially when sponsors are involved.

For those who do not have the capacity, reconsider if your organization has the necessary infrastructure to seek sponsors at the stage that you all are at. Whether you have limited staff capacity to secure sponsors or you don’t have the capacity to execute the brand benefits given to a sponsor are important factors to consider before you start seeking sponsorships. Another factor to consider is if your organization has the capacity to steward the sponsorship funds properly. If you fumble a relationship with a sponsor, chances are they will not return.

For those who don’t know, can you explain what a sponsorship deck is and why nonprofits should have one?

A sponsorship deck is a tool that is used to articulate to a potential sponsor who your organization is, who your audience is, what your event is about, and how they can be a part of what you are doing.

The importance of a nonprofit having a sponsorship deck is so that they can get buy-in from a sponsor, which in turn can help:

1. Reduce the out of pocket costs for your event.
2. Increase your event’s or program’s impact on the community your nonprofit serves.
3. Bring awareness to your organization.
4. Bring more credibility to what you’re doing.

What’s one common mistake you see in sponsorship decks and how can nonprofit professionals fix it?

There are several mistakes I see in sponsorship decks, but one of the most important mistakes is the omittance of audience data, both quantitative and qualitative. A sponsorship professional can fix this by helping nonprofit professionals understand how to frame their data, rather seemingly small or major, so that it is impactful.

Oftentimes, when I am working with small to mid-sized organizations, I recognize there is a belief that this undervalues the work they do in the community; therefore, they don’t believe their data is enough for a sponsor to buy into what they’re doing. This mindset has to be re-shaped if they expect to secure sponsors to support their mission’s work.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with nonprofit professionals who want to find sponsors in 2023?

Everyone within your organization should be bringing new relationships to the table, whether those are future funders or strategic partnerships. Relationship building is key to helping you all move your mission forward.

Leverage your existing networks by evaluating your sphere of influence, including social connections. Once you identify a contact, do not be afraid to reach out. Further, do not make assumptions of what the other person will think about your ask.

I also encourage you to be unemotionally attached to the result because you cannot control that. All you can control is the effort you put into your sponsor research and outreach. Lastly, make it fun and have your team set goals for securing funders or making new contacts and reward them for doing so.

The post Seeking a Sponsor for Your Nonprofit Event or Program: A Q&A With Mariah Monique appeared first on Bloomerang.

This article originally appeared in Bloomerang. See the original article here.