Amber Wobschall

Thoughts from the Korean Taco Truck

On my last trip to Austin, I visited the Chi’Lantro food truck. It was delicious. But, more importantly for this post, it was nice to have the option to pay with a credit card.  A lot of businesses are jumping on board with mobile payment services to be able to take credit card payments while on the go. I see them most often in food trucks, craft fairs and other business models that move around and don’t stick to a traditional store front location.

There is a nice summary here of three different companies that offer this service. As far as I can tell, none of them offer special non-profit rates as of yet, but I hope they will soon because I’d like to see more folks in the non-profit community experimenting with this technology.

Here are some places I think it’d be great for the non-profit community to experiment with mobile payments.

1. Event Crowds: You have an audience of supporters for your cause lining the streets cheering on their friends and family as they run/walk/bike/climb/etc. While they wait, why not offer them the chance to give one more time (or for the first time). Offer them a pom-pom, small cow bell or other cheering enhancement as an incentive to give.

2. Tabling:  Are your staff or volunteers sitting behind a table at festivals, conferences and fairs all year long? Gathering petition signatures, handing out stickers and candy, and educating the public about your great work? Maybe they are taking cash and check donations or maybe they aren’t yet taking gifts at all. Having a mobile payment option would offer a way for supporters to quickly make a gift that they may feel is more secure than handing cash to volunteer. Added bonus, you should be able to set this up so the donor can instantly receive an e-mail receipt for tax purposes.

3. Canvassing: Do you have a street canvass team? Are they using this technology? Seems like another area where being on the go and accepting payments would work hand in hand.

Has your organization tried this or have you run into a non-profit making use of this technology? I want to know more! Tell me about it in the comments below.

Which channel is netflix on?

Netflix has been getting a lot of attention lately for some recent changes they are making.  Just take a look at twitter for a small example of what people are thinking and saying. The nonprofit industry has some lessons to learn from their mistakes, which is why I take a moment to highlight this today.

As a consumer, I was relying on Netflix to fulfill what I saw as their mission - to provide me with programming, regardless of the channel I consumed it on. Sometimes, I wanted a DVD to take on the flight, sometimes I wanted to stream a TV series and sometimes I had to rent by mail because streaming was not an option for the program I wanted.

As a constituent, I rely on the nonprofits I am involved with to work towards fulfilling their mission, which I support. I do this in various channels as well. Sometimes, I will make an online gift, sometimes I will attend an event and sometimes I will volunteer in person.

What I don’t want, from Netflix or from the organizations I support, is for my interactions to be treated so siloed and independently that the left hand doesn’t seem to talk to the right hand. When it works well, it’s just a great experience. (If you’ve ever arrived to volunteer somewhere and been thanked for your recent donation, you know what I mean.) And it keeps me coming back and supporting them for years to come.

So what are some lessons we as the nonprofit community can learn from Netflix’s current challenges?

1. Make it as easy as possible for your organization to understand the full picture of how your constituents are supporting you. This takes a lot of work, but a database where employees can see all different kinds of interactions with your organization is key. Put those pieces of the puzzle together, so you get the full picture of your supporters.

2. Your internal structure (departments, programs, etc.) should not dictate a disparate experience for your supporters. Your donors, activists, etc. see you as one organization, working towards one mission. Help them feel that, even if you are in the midst of a budget battle or some other internal challenges.

3. Allow constituents to opt in or out of certain communication channels. Reach them where they are and how they want to be reached, it will make them happy campers.

Does one size really fit all online?

This topic keeps surfacing around the office right now. It’s about how we’re all going to deal with the multitude of options people have for getting online. People are online on their smartphones, their tablets, their computers, their TVs, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some options. Basically, people are looking at content in XS, S, M, L and XL screens. And all these devices are better suited for some kinds of content than others.
 
So, the question in my head is, will we be able to create one-size-fits-all internet content? Or will we always need to be optimizing content for the various options that are there? And what kind of capacity do we as the non-profit community (often stretched thin for resources) have for that effort?

For  now, I think we are stuck in a hybrid land. And I’m not talking about cars. Most folks are understanding that they need some mobile device optimized content in addition to their standard website. And we are starting to see mobile sites emerge. Need convincing? Take a look at these stats, including the fact that one in four smartphone users makes use of the device as their primary method to go online.

Here are a few things to consider as you dive in:

1.    Look at your data. Of your current content, what can you already tell about the content you offer? What pages get the most mobile hits? Can you offer those pages in a format that better fits mobile devices? Which systems are driving the traffic you see? This should be a starting point for mobile optimization. See a good overview of general trends here.

2.    Think about what just makes sense. Perhaps your organization collects donations of food or clothing. You want to make sure people can find out what your organization needs and when and where they can drop it off while they are out running their errands. Or maybe you host some runs, make sure people can see the events and sign up easily or that friends that want to cheer them on can get to a route map on the day of the event.

3.    Get ready for mobile giving. A lot of non-profits already offer a "text to give" option and they also offer a donation form on their website. What they might not yet offer is a donation form that is has a layout that works for your phone. Check out this great example (best viewed from your mobile device of course!) from the Humane Society of the United States.

4.    While you are at it, prepare for mobile advocacy. You know it’s just around the corner too. People want to do things on their phone that they already do on their computers. In fact, while passing time waiting for the bus to come or sitting at the doctors office, they just might take an action they might otherwise have not made time for. Some good thoughts mobile advocacy are here and here.

Fun Friday Facts

My colleague Cheryl brought this little gem to my attention this week. I feel like an entire post could be written about each of the facts included. I have asked the author in the comments to see if we  can get the sources of these stats here.

But here’s my reaction to a few of them:

Kindergarteners are learning on iPads, not chalkboards.  OK, so these kids must be in very well funded  school districts that I have not heard of. Regardless, I remember playing Number Munchers and Oregon Trail (this  article on OT is fascinating if you have a moment)  on my Apple IIe in grade school.  Technology has come a long way, but it always has and always will play an important role in our education. Let’s make sure non-profits are part of the picture by  developing content of use to educators, students, and the general public that is fun, engaging and makes the most of the tools at our disposal.

Facebook tops google for weekly traffic in the US. The non-profits community needs to consider this deeply. Your social media presence should be strong and up to date, because people aren’t just going to your website to find out about you. They look for you in the online communities they are already a part of. If you are not there, they might not find you.

90% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements. Peer to peer is where it’s at.  When my friend tells me about a non-profit and asks me to give (whether they are running a race, on the board, or just an evangelist) I’m much more likely to do so than if I just see an advertisement. Non-profits need to take  advantage of peer to peer tools like teamraiser to capitalize on this reality.

Check it out here:

It’s a Win-Win(dow) Situation

It’s not often that non-profits get recognized for their online work, but there was a great opportunity presented to my client recently and they took full advantage. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation was nominated for the Webby awards for this video.

They activated all of their online channels to draw attention to their nomination, voting, and ultimate win.  And to me, this entire campaign was a win-win situation, showcasing their important work to new folks and their existing base.

Even if your organization is not nominated for an award, read on to see a great example of a multichannel apporoach to a campaign. Here’s what I love about what they did:

1. They embraced a multichannel approach. They were tweeting, e-mailing, posting to their website, updating facebook and more to encourage folks to vote.  But most fun of all, they took it to the streets, or windows rather, creating a makeshift billboard from their office windows!

 (Photo: EGPAF/Laura Fenwick)

2. They kept it fresh and took new angles to “the ask.” For example, they posted a video of their founder’s son explaining why you should vote. And here's a post on Twitter letting folks know.

3. They reported on their progress, letting folks know voting percentages as things progressed. Here's an example of that from Facebook.

4. When they won, they reported back too. They announced it everywhere they could and pulled together a great recap on their blog.

So the next time your non-profit gears up for a campaign, consider an approach like this that keeps it fresh across all the channels you use. Many of your supporters are listening to you in a variety of ways (getting your mail, talking to your canvassers, following you on twitter, subscribing to your e-mail list, reading the bulliten board in the volunteer area, etc). The more opportunities they have to hear a consistent message, the more likely they are to act, donate and support your effort.