Over on CauseVox, a crowdfunding platform for nonprofits and teams, I’ve been writing fundraising and marketing advice. Check out a few of the articles below, with more to come.
The Indispensable Guide to Nonprofit Donors (e-guide)
Two Killer Methods to Tell a Social Impact Story
How to Convert Donors Into Longtime Supporters
9 Nonprofit Experts to Follow on Twitter
5 Must-Know Tips In Selecting a Nonprofit CRM
You’ve seen this type of advertising so many times now that you’re desensitized to it. There’s a sad song playing in the background as you watch a slideshow of dehumanizing photos, while the narrator simplifies the issues and urges you to “make a difference.” You see it for charities supporting public health, orphanages, and even pets. You saw it in campaigns like KONY 2012. It’s known as “poverty porn.” There have been a number of clever video campaigns mimicking or combatting poverty porn.
But I haven’t come across anything as effective, funny, clever, or powerful as this 2012 ad from the Rainforest Alliance. It’s entertaining and relatable. What I love most though is that it has a strong and easy call to action at the end.
To learn more about storytelling for social impact that is not poverty porn, check out the work of the great team at Regarding Humanity.
Making an ask of someone, whether for work, fundraising, your job search, or a friend, is difficult to say the least. But I’ve found again and again that it’s always better to take a risk and ask. As Deborah Mills-Scofield writes in HBR:
“When we don’t use the “Power of the Ask” we are in essence saying “no” before the question has even been asked — saying no to opportunities that change our businesses, our organizations, ourselves…and actual lives. So even if it feels uncomfortable, look for even just a small way can you use the “Power of the Ask” in your network — for someone you work for, with or manage. Make this your year of the Law of Accelerating Returns.”
I’m always working to make my asks better. So instead of giving my own advice, I thought I’d share some of my favorite articles about making asks.
