Peter Genuardi

Lots of us do it.

Recruit supporters on the edge of an issue, then fold supporters in this "limited interest" segment into our main communication segment.  Ignoring the real reason someone is interested in your issues will backfire if you're not careful. 

For instance, if your issue is gay and lesbian rights, you might recruit a limited interest segment of people who care about "equality." Then, you might hit the segment with four Pride Week 2008 messages in a week.  You'll lose some folks who aren't particularly connected to gay or lesbian community.

Or, if you're an environmental group that recruits people interested in preserving wildlife areas and national parks, then send them the "stop hunters from clubbing seals" email, you can count on some hunters putting down their clubs only long enough to hit "unsubscribe from this list." 

In either case you've executed well on recruitment, but poorly on continuing the development of that relationship.

Well, this happened to me recently and I think it's a good anecdote that illustrates the point.

During the presidential primaries I responded to a "Support the Maverick" email campaign and gave John McCain $50.  It was that week (I'm sure you remeber) when he was in a dead heat with Huckabee.  And while I describe myself as either a Libertarian or Democratic Socialist (we can split hairs over this some other time) the following were true:

• I liked McCain's maverick style (everything he disagrees with the GOP, usually)
• I could not forgive myself if Huckabee were elected and I did nothing
• I was undecided for whom I would vote in the general election

Well, as a result of that $50 donation, I was lumped into the McCain campaign's general list.  No one thought to put me in the "Maverick Only" segment.  So, six months or so later, I have received two dozen pieces of direct mail, all of which have been targeted to regular, old, middle of the road Republicans.  Never did I receive a piece of mail directed to the Maverick-Lovers.

I'll tell you more about the weirdest pieces some other time, but the best ones I got include a John McCain branded GOP membership card (actually I got two of those).  John also sent me a dollar bill (completely legal tender) in the hopes that I would send it back to him with several hundred others from my account (sounds like a Nigerian 419 scam a little).

As you could imagine this made me nuts.  I don't particularly like the Republican party, nor am I going to vote for McCain now.  So much for a maverick...  

So, please learn from the McCain campaign's mistakes.

Be careful, segment well, and don't lose track of why people are interested in your issues.

Oh yeah, that dollar McCain sent me?  Sorry, John, I sent it to the Obama Biden campaign last week.

Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter who work at Big Duck.  Based in New York, Big Duck specializes in strategic planning, branding, and interactive design services for nonprofit organizations including American Jewish World Service and the newly relaunched Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

The Big Duck Team

I was struck when I met the Big Duck team by how many of them have both deep experience in communications as well as real experience working at (not just for) nonprofit organizations.  It’s my opinion that the best consultants are the ones who have been in the trenches, felt my pain, and done my job.

Big Duck Resources

Also, Big Duck produces a ton of resources that add lots of value to what you’re doing – regardless of whether or not you’re a client of theirs.  Take a few minutes to check out these two highlights:

1. Their Webinars
Big Duck’s team offers a monthly webinar series on the rarely covered topics like the “Board’s Role in Brand Refinement.”  Coming up this Wednesday, July 16 at 12:00pm EST, “The Art of Storytelling.” Here's the description:

“Want to dig deeper into the art of storytelling? Wondering how to blend social media with traditional outreach like direct mail? Participants attending this webinar will explore the elements of a good story, review examples, and discuss a process for developing stories and choosing outreach channels.”

The cost to attend is $25 and you can register here.

2. Their Podcast
Just like their webinars, but shorter, each installment of the The Nonprofit Jungle podcast provides insight into a theme (like user research and holistic communications).  Each also includes some nice, quick-hit things you can do to improve your web site or communications strategy.

Oh, and how did I find out about these resources in the first place?  A friend of mine was linked to them on Facebook!  Want to see a good Facebook marketing strategy in action?  Sign into Facebook and join the Big Duck group.

I like to keep my eyes peeled for awesome design resources that save me time.  I keep a trove of these not because I'm lazy (I am) but because I figure I'm not terribly smart, original or creative.  If I think of something useful, chances are someone's already beaten me to it (see also last five ideas for .com, .org, and .net startups).

Here's how I do it.  I use a news reader called PageFlakes, which I load the URLs for Del.icio.us most popular categories for "design" and "web2.0."  I look at it once or twice a day and it provides me with the latest things that other, good designers and interactive experts have flagged as having value.  I harvest the ones that look useful and toss the chafe aside.

So, as we gear down for a long Fourth of July weekend, I present to you some of the best design resources I've seen.  They're guaranteed to save you time, money and headache (guarantee not good in most states).

Generators
These will do many of the things desktop software would, back in the web 1.0 days.  Now that web 2.0 is here, why pay for and install something you can get on the web for free?

• CSS Builder: Generate Styles on the Fly
• Test Your Web Design in Different Browsers
• Vectormagic (turns rasterized photos to vector images)
• Create a Graph (it does what you think)

How To's
These will give you an overview of how to do something.  Read these before going into a meeting and people will think you know what you're talking about.
6 Keys to Understanding Modern CSS-based Layouts

• Web Style Design Guide (how to make web sites)
• 53 CSS Techniques You Couldn't Live Without
• Learn CSS Positioning in 10 Steps

Samples
These offer pre-written code or design decisions, so you don't have to.

• Color Combination Chooser
• Blueprint CSS from Google
• Yahoo User Interface Library (aka YUI)
• Holy Grail Layout Techniques

Fun
If life gets you down, check these out.

• Come up with a new logo for your organization using the Web 2.0 Logo Generator
• Make People Think You're Busy with the   Fake Web Cam Generator
• Turn your friend's photo to ASCII art with the IMG2TXT Generator
• Who's day can end poorly after watching The Ever Popular Dog on Skateboard?

This week Apple, Inc. announced that they are releasing a new version of the iPhone.  The release of this news included such delicious tidbits as new features (like GPS), greater speed (on 3G networks it'll run twice as fast as the old iPhone), and the best part, which is it'll cost half the price.  The only thing for me, better than all of this news, is that my contract with T-Mobile ends the VERY SAME DAY as the new iPhone comes out.  Sorry T-Mobile, but all those dropped calls and mixed up bills will be coming back to you in spades.

Really though, I think the fact that Apple will introduce a much more accessible and widely distributed iPhone (and spurn a number of other cell phone manufacturers to imitate the) means good things for those of us focused on online engagement.

Here's why. 

If you have any smart phone other than the iPhone, you know that the web browsing experience is horrible at best.  The vast majority of the web sites on the planet have not been retrofitted for small screens and phone browsers have limited support for things like CSS and JavaScript, nevermind secure pages.  For those of you who don't have smartphones, just think back to the wonderful world of web browsing, circa 1996...and then take away your mouse.  This sad state of affairs has limited phone based engagement to the things that handsets can do right, like mobile messaging.  As much as I like getting messages from Bono and advocacy alerts from Human Rights Campaign, I can't help but observe that it's not the most rich medium on earth.  Also, even the best sites developed for mobile phones (see Orbitz and the New York Times, for example) lack much depth of content and interactivity.

The iPhone has made one of the greatest leaps in technology in years (and I'm surprised this doesn't get more coverage) by letting web surfers use the full featured Safari browser.  Plus you can touch the screen to click and scroll, very much like the mouse or touch pad you use today.  Check out the Safari demo on this page.

Now, some of you will point out that only about that there are only a few million iPhones in use AND that most sites aren't optimized for the Safari browser.  But what I'm saying is that as these numbers go up, so too will the need, desire, and incentive for those of us who market our causes online to develop for them.

I love mobile messaging and will keep browsing with my old skool smartphone.  But, I'm telling you, keep an eye out for the iPhone, its imitators, and the opportunities that such a rich phone-based browsing experience present to us all.

Also, if you get excited about "rich phone-based browsing experiences" like I do, you need to get out more.

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all those moms out there!

With help from my colleagues I just did a quick roundup of some great Mother’s Day email and web campaigns that organizations used to encourage engagement around the holiday.

Here’s the quick summary with links to examples. Post your ideas and additional campaigns in the comments.

Create a Mother’s Day Campaign Site
The Ploughshares Fund created a great Mother’s Day Campaign Site with landing pages, content and rich imagery that asks visitors to honor their mothers by giving the gift of peace

Tie American Mother’s Day to Issues of Mothers Around the World
The International Rescue Committee ran an email campaign that encouraged people to consider making a donation to honor “mothers and their families who are caught in the crossfire of conflict.” CARE ran an email campaign with similar messaging that led to a strong donation form allowing people to send their mothers CARE-themed eCards after donating.

Encourage People to Act in Honor of Strong Women in THEIR Lives
Planned Parenthood ran an email campaign that leveraged the notion of intergenerational strength to encourage donations.

Appeal with Celebrities Talking About their Mothers
Susan J. Komen Foundation’s Policy Alliance sent an email campaign featuring actor Ricardo Chavira who lost his mother to breast and cervical cancer when he was 16 years old.  In the email donors are directed to take action on an advocacy campaign encouraging Congress to create a special cancer coin.

Market Gifts that Give Back to the Organization
Save the Children ran an email campaign to encourage people to buy Save the Children themed roses or bracelet to honor their mothers and support the organization.

National Public Radio created an online store geared to Mother’s Day gift ideas. They drove traffic to the store with an email campaign.