COMMUNICATING THE ADVANCEMENT MESSAGE

1. CAISap Regional PD Day Southridge School - February 11, 2014 I DON’T DO FACEBOOK……. COMMUNICATING THE ADVANCEMENT MESSAGE

2. “I didn’t know that….” “I didn’t get that appeal mailing…” “ I never got that email/brochure/letter…..” “I don’t do Facebook” “What’s Instagram?” “I don’t remember discussing that in our meeting.” “You didn’t tell me that….” “What’s annual giving?” “I never hear much from the School…” WHY do people say these things? (Content and delivery) HOW DO WE CONVEY INFORMATION SO THAT IT IS ACTUALLY RECEIVED? AND ACTED UPON?

3. Forbes Magazine • Your message must display six characteristics in order for the human memory to encode, store and retrieve it: • APPEAL • CLARITY • DIRECTNESS • STICKINESS • CREDIBILITY • TRANSPARENCY

4. How can Satellite TV help communicate the Advancement message? Consider your average parent – your message is competing for their attention – work; kids; news media; other family obligations; the cat and the dog; other charities….. Does your message even register with them? What are the messages your audience actually WANTS to hear (especially from you)?

6. Communication - communicare, to share And then there is the listening problem…. The giving and receiving of information An obligation on the part of the sender and receiver BUT what about the willingness of the recipient to allow the message in? And has the SENDER conveyed a compelling message?

7. Men Compartmentalize, Women think "big picture" How does this affect our method, frequency and type of message?

8. Multi-Channel Engagement Everyone is using an increasingly wide variety of communications tools/platforms/ideas We are all different: ages, backgrounds, outlooks, relationships (to the organization and each other) The effective Advancement professionals will need to know about, use and experiment with a variety of engagement and communication tools

9. One-to-many engagement tools….. • Branding • Print • Email • Web • Social Media • Direct Mail and Snail Mail • Telephone • Voice Mail • Mobile/Texts • E-Newsletters • Parking Lots and Hallways • Walls & Posters • Videos & Photographs • Face to face • Events & other social engagements • Other Voices….? HOW DO WE CHOOSE OUR WEAPONS?

10. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Stumble Upon Pinterest Reddit Blogger Tumblr Flickr

13. ASK current parents and alumni about communications: “How do you prefer to hear from us?” Is text message good for you or email? Encourage an interactive experience: Ask WHAT they want to hear about:

15. Interactive media/communications engages your audience in the conversation through their choice – the minute they click on a link, play a video, ‘like’ a FB message etc….they are participating in the dialogue

16. There are typically four types of communication • Verbal • Non-verbal • Written • Visual or Visual/written combo

17. The importance of white space….literally and figuratively • Don’t crowd…. • It’s a world of sound bites…texts, tweets, abrv8d language, no time, not much good at concentration either, how many emails do you get and have to deal with in any given day?….. INFORMATION OVERLOAD • SHOW…..DON’T TELL • In addition to communicating, we also need to MARKET • Human to Human interaction NEVER more important…how many times are you actually face-to-face with the person you truly want to communicate with? Booked meetings? Hallway or parking lot conversations? Events? (remember non-verbals – smiles, body language, appearance, tone of voice, touch….. All crucial) • Seek feedback… in the message (call to action) and about the message (did we hit the target?)

18. Why did more parents view our Thank You video than any other message we had sent previously? It wasn’t asking for them to do anything except watch It was short It might be starring their son!!

19. Know your audience when using & choosing your communication channels CHALLENGES: Time: who is going to own all of this and execute it? Resources: does your office/organization allow for effective use of a multi-channel approach? Do you have good writers, videographers? Do you have a supporting budget? Do you already know your audience(s)? Do you have a communications plan/strategy in place to reach your audience(s)? SM platforms each serve a different purpose, and the audiences may well be different depending on which tool you employ; Language may be an issue; Your messages should likely be different for your different demographic groups; What is YOUR community like?

20. ARE YOU IN ACQUISITION OR CULTIVATION MODE? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR MESSAGE? • Do you have a communications plan? • Does its strategy clearly link back to your Mission and is its purpose justified by supporting your School’s Strategic Plan? • What are your Advancement communication objectives? • Growing participation? Engaging new families? Connecting to more alumni? Raising more money from existing donors? All of the above? Courtesy “Advancing Philanthropy” “How many email addresses have you added to your list this week?” (driven by acquisition strategy) “How much more money did we raise online this month versus last?” (driven by a cultivation strategy)

21. Acquisition or Cultivation Cultivation: Segmentation – tailor to individuals not groups OR tailor to groups not individuals Tell the story: how has a donor’s previous support helped your school? How will their ongoing support make a difference? Building individual relationships using the right selection of all the communication tools we have discussed already Acquisition: Send a wide variety of messages Use e-newsletters, SM, video, different voice etc. Encourage wider dissemination of the messages (go viral) Encourage recipients to interact and WANT to hear more from you CONSTANTLY ASK YOURSELF IF THE COMMUNICATION METHOD YOU HAVE SELECTED IS THE RIGHT ONE FOR THES MESSAGE

22. WHAT DOES A COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING TEAM LOOK LIKE IN 2014? CURRENTS Jan 2014 Leaders who take risks (calculated, out of the box, backed up with data) Members with varying viewpoints (broad mosaic of talents and views will lead to richer ideas and solutions) Passion for their work A mix of general and specialized skills (strong communicators, of course, but also possessing some degree of ability with creative writing, messaging, videography, design, photography, web technology, project management) CENTRALIZE your marketing and communications wherever possible (break down silos between athletics, alumni, development, admissions, etc) “Ignore the artificial boundaries between print, web and social media….place content at the root of everything you do and the perceived barriers between the communication channels will disappear” Role of Head, Admissions, Advancement Director, other staff and faculty? If you were able to add one position to the Comm-Mktg team, what would yours be?

23. What are the desired outcomes of a really good communications strategy for Advancement? Building Community Engagement Building the pipeline (new donors & volunteers) Raising money

25. ONLINE GIVING STRATEGIES • Online Giving button on your website – every page? Easy to find? Linked to ??? • Online Giving link in your email signature? • Online Giving pages – are they clear, compelling and functioning? Do you check them and update them? How often? • Are you compliant with your online donation processing? • Can your website be viewed on a mobile device clearly? (recent survey in US – 84% charities failed at this) • Does your online giving form display and work on all devices? Other considerations: content of your “Supporting my School” pages – is it the best it can be? Photos? Testimonials? Video clips?

27. SIMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGES DON’T FORGET TO PACK YOUR TOOLBOX!

28. THANK YOU!