Tompkins Spann

I've been asked to lead a session at this year's NTC conference in San Francisco (April 26-28).  I'm honored to contribute because the NTC (NTEN's annual get together) is the conference to attend for anyone working in the technology field for nonprofits.  Having attending 6 or 7 now it's definitely an event I look forward to and highly recommend.

If your organization is pinching pennies these days but you'd like to go, check out the scholarship program to help send qualified 501c3 staff.

My session, titled Integrating Online and Offline Communications, will discuss the convergence of email and direct mail strategies with a focus on mechanics, a.k.a. "getting it done".  All too often we hear smart folks emphasize the importance of multi-channel marketing (buzzword bingo) but we rarely get the how.  So that's what I hope to deliver.

I'm looking for panelists who can demonstrate tools and results, ideas and best practices.  I also want to highlight some successful campaigns.

If you are interested in participating as a panelist or have a potential case study we can highlight, please either post a comment to this blog or email me directly.

If you work for a nonprofit and are involved in technology, then you must be an NTEN member right?  What?  You're not an NTEN member?  How is this possible!?!

NTEN is your Nonprofit Technology Network of peers and experts working to make the world a better place, one byte at a time.  You really should become a member (join today!).

Some good reasons: this month is member appreciation month where Holly, Annaliese and gang at NTEN have scored some serious schwag from vendors to donate to qualifying members.

And we at Convio could not resist the opportunity to do our part, which is why we'll be donating 2 FREE seats of our new CRM product, Common Ground to an organization of NTEN's choosing later this week. And along with our product donation, Causeway Interactive will donate 10 hours of consulting time to help the winning org take advantage of Common Ground and realize the organizational efficiencies and benefits of working with a "true" CRM solution.  Psst... there's more to CRM than software.

What is CRM you ask?  Join us this Wednesday for an NTEN member webinar to learn how Common Ground is a wise choice during these crazy financial times and can help your organization gain efficiency and improve supporter relationships.

Not an NTEN member yet? You can still join the webinar, but the CRM giveaway is for NTEN members only. 

I'm here in San Francisco at Salesforce.com's annual Dreamforce conference.  Wow...  What a spectacular event.  The keynote this morning lived up to expectations with the unveiling of Force.com sites plus cloud computing integrations between Force.com, Facebook, and Amazon's Web Services, topped off by Neil Young on stage promoting an electric car called Lincvolt.  Watch the full keynote yourself here, or read this blog's summary.

It's hard not to get caught up in the hoopla and vision from the massive firehose of Salesforce.com koolaid being offered.  As I sat through the keynote and several breakouts my mind quickly jumped to how nonprofits can take advantage of these innovations, but as I sit in my hotel room digesting the day I have to ask... do nonprofits really understand CRM?

What is CRM afterall?  I don't believe our industry has come to realize the "true" definition of this acronym.  For some it's a lofty claim on what is really just a donor database.  For others it's a methodology applied to how organizations build relationships.

I posit that CRM = Convergence.  It's the ultimate convergence of mission programs and organizational operations.  CRM allows a nonprofit to finally get all of their data together, tearing down the barriers that have plagued nonprofits ever since the first donor database siloed the development team from the rest of the organization and allowing the converged team to work more efficiently, more collaboratively and with a single mission-focused purpose.

Is my definition lofty?  Yes.  Is it possible?  Definitely.  The technology component to "true" CRM is only ~20% of the solution, and NO platform does it better (not even close by a million miles) than Force.com.  The hard part of realizing the CRM dream is with the challeng of reversing what many Executive Director's, Development Director's and Board Member's have come to believe is "how it's done".  Reshaping this understanding and restructuring how the organization leverages it's data is 80% of the challenge.

The response to Common Ground, built on the Force.com platform here at Dreamforce is inspiring and exciting.  I'm already scheming for Dreamforce '09 to have Marc Benioff focus 90 minutes on Common Ground (ok, I'd settle for 10 minutes =).

Tomorrow is election day (VOTE) and another keynote, more vision and more great ideas.

I leave you with a shaky, blurry image from my cell phone showing Convio on the big screen during today's keynote. 

First, a confession.  I prepared content for this blog series months ago based on the primary efforts and have been simply making tweaks as new strategies emerge.  However, for this entry I'm going to scrap the initial idea for this post and focus on a brilliant new idea the Obama campaign has implemented.

Mobile messaging is hot, there's no doubt about it.  However, many nonprofits are still grappling with the right strategies to use this channel, not to mention the technical hurdles (psst... check out Mobile Commons technology).

I must admit, I've been impressed so far with the marketing strategies of the Obama team but their recent plans to use mobile messaging to announce his VP choice is brilliant.

This strategy is something nonprofits should consider replicating.  Here are some ideas that could be announced via text messaging:

• Announce the results of a legislative vote
• Announce a fundraising milestone
• Announce a key-note speaker for your conference
• Announce an urgent advocacy request to key super-activists

The key ingredient here is announcing something people who are already invested in your organization would want to know.  Therefore it's important to take into consideration their involvement.  For instance, only offer to announce the results of the above legislative vote to constituents who took action on the advocacy campaign and similarly with supporters who made a donation to help you hit that milestone.

Why do this?

Several reasons.  The Obama campaign will likely add thousands of new supporters via this strategy, but that is not always the case.  More importantly it provides valuable information to your key supporters, which strengthens your relationship and increases their investment in your cause.  Additionally, by providing you with their cell digits you've just learned how invested they really are with your org.  I mean, we don't just give out our cell numbers to anyone! So if an individual has yet to donate but provides their digits, there's a good chance they would be willing to donate or take further action in the future, and this is highly valuable information for your organization.

Resources:

• MobileActive.org- excellent source for activism strategies and news
• Mobile Commons- Convio technology partner with a super-cool integration using our APIs. 

Nonprofit Examples:

• NARAL Pro-Choice America - Txt4Choice
• Sierra Club - Campaign Messaging

Many an online marketing expert has discussed the importance of the email subject line. I don’t need to belabor this point, but I will encourage you to take a page from Senator Obama's team and use brevity in your subjects. Here are just a few of his recent subject lines: "Something extraordinary", "A beginning", "You have to see this", "Results", "In his own words". Each of these catchy subjects is a teaser, encouraging me to open the email. Had the February 9^th message subject been “We won all three stats today”, I probably would not have opened it. But “Results” piqued my interest.

Not only do brief subject lines tease your reader, they help to avoid the pitfalls of spam filters and the growing challenge of various email application readers. Here are a few fictitious examples to consider, you be the judge which subject would illicit a higher open rate.

The right subject line for your message will depend on the timing, the issue and your desired outcomes, but the next time you’re struggling to pick the best phrase, consider an A/B test with one version no more than four words and analyze the results.