Rapid Response at Critical Times of Need – An Essential Guide with Real World Examples

Rapid response is a top-of-mind topic for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes right now. Earlier this year Molly posted 7 quick tips to taking action quickly in times of need and numerous other resources and learnings have been put out since with the issue at top of mind for nonprofits and charities around the world (see: 5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort by Geoff Livingston, Helping Haiti: Places to Donate, Creative Fundraising Ideas and Being a Smart Donor by Britt Bravo, How to Communicate in the Shadow of Disaster -- Guidelines for Respectful but Effective Outreach by Nancy Schwartz, The Social Media Response to Disaster in Haiti by Amy Sample Ward and Text-to-Give Fundraising Campaigns Take Off by Joanne Fritz amongst others) 

Being prepared for an unforeseen surge of donations is something every nonprofit should be positioned for, and the swell of attention doesn’t need to come only from a natural disaster. Unanticipated press coverage and subsequent attention on your cause can be the result of change of law or a court’s ruling. It may even be as simple yet unexpected as a pop culture figure bringing an issue to the forefront through controversy. The lesson far too many nonprofits learn the hard way is how to be prepared for unplanned events.

In a follow-up piece to Molly’s original 7 quick tips, a new guide entitled “Be Prepared When Your Mission Calls” is now available with an in-depth look at rapid response preparedness and case studies on nonprofits that have leveraged the best practices outlined here to maximize fundraising and outreach success in times of need. 

A few of the top takeaways from the guide include:

Respond Quickly - When communicating during times of crisis, simplicity and effectiveness are far more important than design or prose.  A straight-forward communication will help your supporters understand your organization’s position to the crisis and how they can support your efforts.

A quick response requires a quick setup – the more time you spend on approving messaging is less time you have to harness the energy and interest around your cause. Plan and prepare to the best of your ability so that you can respond rapidly.

Adjust Your Message - Sometimes messaging around an event requires sensitivity. But don’t let that inhibit your creativity to turn this concentration of awareness into something positive for your organization.

For example, The Polly Klaas Foundation,  a national nonprofit committed to promoting child safety, demonstrated a unique way to adjust its message to help with emergency response while remaining true to their mission.  In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, the Polly Klaas Foundation sent an email to their house file urging people to donate to specific international disaster relief agencies that “focus on protecting children who have been separated from their families, and helping those children reunite with family members.” This was an exceptional example of an organization finding a creative way to further their mission and adjust to a disaster despite the fact that donations would support other organizations.

Know the Plan - Working quickly sometimes is accompanied by haphazard decision making. The unintended fallout of such mistakes can be missed opportunities, offended donors or worse, PR problems. The number one mistake any organization can make is not having the right message on the right donation form at the right time. Planning for these events and knowing your anticipated response helps you to minimize the opportunity for error and maximize your capacity to seize the benefits a media spotlight can provide.

The Guide outlines the above best practices in detail, provides additional best practices and tactics to follow and offers examples from nonprofit peers highlighting successful ways they've followed the guide's tips.

Have any other lessons learned or tips to add to the list? Know of an organization who exemplifies how to respond rapidly in times of need? Share them here so the nonprofit community can be better prepared the next time the need arises.

As I look back at my communication’s and development career technology has changed the way I work - I remember the days when we had a major product launch and had teams of people in New York and Washington D.C. the morning of the announcement to "run" the press releases to the key media outlets/reporters. Technology has changed all that. I can hit the send button and send the press release to everyone who wants it at the same time. My mobile phone’s GPS has also changed getting me to the right place mostly on time. Because of technology reporters are no longer confined to the publisher’s building – my last press tour took me to the homes of reporters in three small towns for kitchen table product demos. (With virtual meeting tools and video conferencing, we’re even doing less of that.) As an event fundraiser, I remember fighting for walkie-talkies during fundraising events, just to stay in touch with my co-workers and volunteers. Do you remember how hard it was to get in touch with a key volunteer once they headed home for the evening... (Man I’m old – two miles up hill, both ways through the snow kind of old.)

Of all the communication technology the mobile phone is probably as disruptive as any... I noticed last night how it has changed dating for my teenage daughter.

As a father, I like the fact that when my daughter and her boyfriend are sitting together on the couch they continue to text friends, while they talk with each other and watch TV – I encourage the keeping of hands on mobile devices at all times. Had W. Bruce Cameron'sbook "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" been written today, we’d add a chapter about the benefits of boyfriends who continue to text friends while on dates with one’s daughter. That’s probably a better story for a post on fatherhood though. But I digress...

The most recent development with mobile technology is that of a giving platform. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake close to $50 million was given through this channel. Although gift amounts were limited to $5 to $10 dollars an estimated 6.5 million people used their cell phone to donate. This was unprecedented level of giving through this channel and might mark the tipping point for greater adoption.

We teamed with Edge Research andSea Change Strategies on a national survey of US charitable donors conducted one week after the earthquake in Haiti, and during intense fundraising efforts for emergency relief – this is part of a broader study that will be released in the coming days on the contrasting charitable habits of Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Matures to provide the nonprofit sector with insights on cultivating the next generation of American donors.(This is the same team that gave us the ground-breaking research on the "Wired Wealthy.")

Here are some of the key findings. 

• 77 percent of respondents were aware of the Haiti text-to-donate efforts
• 17 percent of Gen Y respondents and 14 percent of Gen X made a donation to Haiti relief efforts via text message, and 3 percent of both Boomer and Mature respondents made a donation to Haiti relief efforts via text message
• 28 percent of respondents with a mobile Facebook application texted a gift 
• Generally speaking, 15 percent of all respondents were willing to donate via text message after an emergency occurs and 11 percent were willing to donate via text message if a friend is raising money
• Just three percent of donors say that they received a text/SMS message from their top charities this year
• However, those who have received information from a top charity through text/SMS, feel that it is an important way to stay in touch with the charities they care about (71% say it is important).

 You can download the full study at: www.convio.com/mobile2010

When you look at this data, the results Convio’s clients are having online with fundraising, advocacy and other forms of engagement, the segmentation and donor relations pathways that are now available through open database systems like Convio Common Ground, all tied to modern technology it is an exciting time to be part of this sector. While the economy is having a negative impact, it is also driving innovation as people look for more efficient and effective ways to operate their organizations, to reach and cultivate donors and spread the word about their causes.

The only certainty we face is change and those that embrace change will be best positioned for the future. We must adapt to change, to data intensive applications and new technologies that push us in new directions and beyond our comfort zone.

Now, its' time to send an "REI" text to my daughter as she’s upstairs watching TV with her boyfriend. What does REI stand for? It’s dad for "response expected immediately." Much like mobile fundraising – donation expected immediately...oh how the world has changed.

Yesterday, Safe Kids Worldwide launched a brand new website. During the redesign process, Safe Kids worked with Convio to conduct significant user research to ensure the new site would meet the needs of their various audiences. The new site looks great and is much easier to use than the previous version - nice job Safe Kids!

On the heels of a previous post I wrote about "The 10 commandments of effective homepage design", I thought I'd compare the old Safe Kids homepage to the new one along the lines of those commandments. Here's a look back at the previous homepage...

I. Thou shalt clearly state who you are and what do you.

The old homepage did convey who Safe Kids is with a nice tagline and a photo of the child in a carseat. The new site, however, provides an even stronger message about who Safe Kids is with a more descriptive tagline and larger photographs of happy children.

II. Thou shalt be able to point to where your top 3-5 online goals are represented on the homepage.

Some of Safe Kids's online goals include capturing email addresses and increasing donations. Unlike the previous site, the email sign-up is now available on every page in the new site. The homepage also includes a "Donate Now" promotion below the left navigation.

III. Thou shalt offer clear, concise navigation.

Safe Kids previous navigation was confusing and not tuned towards Parents, who are their primary audience. The new navigation not only offers clear and concise options in the left nav, it also offers audience-specific options in the top tabs in case a user identifies specifically with one group.

IV. Thou shalt provide scannable, up-to-date content that entices visitors to click for more.

Safe Kids new homepage offers dynamically updated content under "What's New" and also under "Product Recalls", which are very popular among visitors of their website. The previous site offered up-to-date content, but it was not easily scannable and trailed down the length of the page.

V. Thou shalt dedicate space to each of your audience groups.

The previous website did not offer any cues or entry points for each audience group, but the new site provides tabs for each one, which allows Safe Kids to consolidate relevant information in an audience-specific way.

VI. Thou shalt convey a visual hierarchy so visitors know where to look and what to do first.

The old web site included several promotional items on the right side that tended to compete for attention. The new site has a clear visual hierarchy that points first to the rotating feature area and also the options below "How You Can Help" with the icons used in that section.

VII. Thou shalt include 3-4 ways for visitors to engage.

The "How You Can Help" section on the new homepage offers, at a glance, a listing of ways users can get involved today. The old website did offer ways to get involved, but they were scattered about and difficult to locate.

VIII. Thou shalt avoid the Flash intro or any other gratuitous animation.

The new web site does include a rotating feature graphic, but it is not intrusive and does provide the most important content on the page.

IX. Thou shalt make sure most relevant content is above the fold.

The old homepage scrolled for pages and pages. The new homepage does offer all navigation and the feature area above the fold, along with headlines for the rest of the content so that users know there is more to see.

X. Thou shalt balance meaningful content with relevant supporting graphics

The old homepage was text-heavy, with very few graphics. The new site offers more imagery, which is all supported by relevant content and/or calls to action.

All-in-all, the new website abides by the "10 Commandments" and is a great showcase of how user research can really pay off when redesigning your site. Way to go Safe Kids!

An obvious place to sign up for an email newsletter. A well placed donation button. A prominent photo that conveys your mission. I’ve seen how these tactics can boost the results of a nonprofit’s website, but there’s plenty more that organizations can do on this front. These top five lessons serve as a good starting point for evaluating the effectiveness of your organization’s website.

Top 5 Lessons Learned in 2009: Evaluating Your Website’s Effectiveness

1. Back to the basics. Does your homepage cover essential points that meet the basic needs of your website’s visitors? To see how good a job you’re doing at providing this critical information, ask yourself a few questions. Who are we? What are we trying to accomplish with our site? Do we proudly display our tagline, which clearly summarizes what our organization does? If your homepage answers these key questions, then you’re on the right track.

2. Tell a compelling story and tell it well. Whose lives are you affecting? How are you making a difference? Clearly communicate these details on your homepage if you want to convince a visitor to become engaged with your organization. If a visitor understands how their involvement could make a difference, then they are more likely to dig a little deeper and might even give you their email address, make a donation, take action, or volunteer.

3. It’s never too early to start building a relationship. Does your content try to address the masses, or does it target the major audiences you want to reach? Hopefully, it does the latter. Your website content needs to be structured in a way that meets the information needs of these different audiences. Think in terms of personas, each with its own detailed demographic information, description, online habits, and needs as they pertain to the programs and services your organization provides.

4. Keep it fresh. Are you presenting website visitors with content that is timely? Are you refreshing it frequently to encourage them to visit more than once? Dedicate at least one section of your homepage to the latest news, call-to-action, or other piece of current information that will appeal to your target audiences, and update it regularly.

5. Data is priceless. Do you track key information about your website (e.g., source of visitors, actions once a person arrives on your site, which pages visitors look at, how much time they spend on your site, etc.)? If not, then get cracking. But remember, just tracking information isn’t enough. You need to use it too! Make informed decisions about website content, design, architecture, advertising and more based on an analysis of the data you collect.

Admittedly, these lessons only scratch the surface of website effectiveness. Read more tips in the 2010 Nonprofit Resolutions Guide  and share some of your own here.

If you live in one of the many areas blanketed by snow the past few weeks, you might be looking for a cure for cabin fever. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend, February 12 - 15, 2010, and it's great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time. #GBBC happens once a year, when tens of thousands of bird watchers of all ages create a snapshot of where the birds are across the U.S. & Canada.

All you have to do to participate is spend at least 15 minutes on one or more of the four days counting birds anywhere you like, and then report your results on www.birdcount.org by March 1, 2010. You can count birds from your window, balcony or backyard, from a park, a lake, a river or the ocean, from a bus stop or an office or anywhere at all. (Hint: you don’t actually have to go outside if you don’t want to!)

The project web site allows you to generate a checklist of birds likely to be present in your region, which you can also print and use to record your observations. There is also a photo contest and plenty of educational content to help involve young folk in this important citizen science project. You can even download a certificate if you submit your results online – how’s that for show and tell?

The GBBC is sponsored in part by the National Audubon Society, which also coordinates the annual Christmas Bird Count. 

Well, I’m off to get some more bird seed.  Happy Counting!

Twitter: #gbbc

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