Who Cares If They’re Effective?!

February 29, 2008

Over at Tactical Philanthropy Sean Stannard-Stockton relates a conversation in which a major foundation grantmaker told him it was a primary value of the foundation to not harm grantees.

The context was Sean asking whether philanthropists should speak out about nonprofits they considered to be ineffective.

What a remarkable position for a grantmaker to take, effectively … "even if they suck, we love them!"

That grantmaker oughta be fired.

It’s bad enough that hard-working, ethical, well-performing nonprofits must be saddled with public cynicism generated by the scum "charities" … the paper ones that live to rip-off donors by throwing most of their income into salaries and controlled marketing vendors.

These practices and charities pull down the reputation of the entire sector … and provide plenty of fodder for tabloid-level coverage of the charity/nonprofit world. So we have plenty of pinhead coverage of "fundraising efficiencies" and breathless reporting of outright scams.

But then compound this trust-busting by evidencing to the public an attitude that performance doesn’t matter. After all, we’re all doing god’s work.

Performance does matter. The problems are too big to be addressed even remotely by the philanthropic monies on the table. There’s not a dollar to spare. Consequently, there’s certainly not a dollar to spare on nonprofits that are ineffective.

In fact, there’s not a dollar to spare on nonprofits that are just "OK" in comparison to others in their field who are superlative.

The nonprofit world has proven remarkably resistant to Darwinian natural selection …survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, that’s in part because of the muddle-headed attitude of too many old-school grantmakers and donors like the one cited by Sean.

We need much more attention to performance and, while one-size-fits-all metrics aren’t appropriate, we need far more rigor in assessment and transparency in sharing those assessments.

Letting a thousand flowers bloom has turned into an impossible to penetrate or manage infestation of weeds. 

Tom

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A Liberal Remembers William F. Buckley, Jr.

February 28, 2008

William F. Buckley, Jr., the intellectual father of modern American conservatism, died at age 82 at his desk yesterday.  His 50 books and seven tons of other writings now residing in the archives at his beloved Yale University don’t even begin to do him justice when it comes to understanding what this polysyllabic, prolific agitator did to and for America.

As a raging liberal I always felt it was my duty to villify or at least vehemently disagree with him.  This morning, no matter what I thought of his ideology and his cant while he was alive and in opposition to most things I stand for,  I need to say he was an admirable, passionate American and a patriot.

From the viewpoint of a fundraiser (and afterall that’s what The Agitator is all about) he contributed many ‘firsts.’  Through his Young Americans for Freedom which he founded in 1960, Bill Buckley was among the first to use direct mail to build financial support for a cause-oriented, advocacy organization.

My long-time ideological opponent and equally long-time friend Richard Viguerie, one of the fathers/founders of the New Right (may he never be forgiven!) got his start at Young Americans for Freedom and went on to use direct mail advertising and fundraising to advance the financial and political fortunes of the right wing movement.  To read Richard’s tribute to Buckley and what he meant to the New Right and Viguerie personally click here.

When he ran on the Conservative Party’s ticket for Mayor of New York City in 1965, Buckley was asked by a reporter, “What is the first thing you would do on becoming President?”, the conservative sage responded instantly, “I’d demand a recount.” [He got 13% of the vote.]

Quick witted, and always ready to use a five syllable word where a one or two syllable word would do, William F. Buckley, Jr.  inspired millions of activists and donors and dramatically affected the course of modern American history through his magazine National Review, which he defended in his book Cancel Your Own Goddamn Subscription.

 His most famous and first book, God and Man at Yale, established his early reputation as a feisty against-the-grain intellectual. His long-running television program “Firing Line” established his reputation as the “scourge of liberalism” as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. described him. 

My friend Ira Glasser, former head of the ACLU and a long-time debater on Buckley’s “Firing Line” tv program shared Buckley’s fervent belief in the legalization of marijuana and other drugs, and fondly remembered taking him to a baseball game and seeing the patrician Buckley experience his first encounter with a ballpark hotdog. Others were surprised by the range and quixotic nature of his books including Elvis in the Morning.

Whether you liked or despised what William F. Buckley, Jr. stood for, he was a great addition to the yeast of American democracy. 

Roger

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Beware of SOFFI

February 27, 2008

I have a message for the readers of The Agitator:

Don’t waste your time by going to the SOFII Website.  Stay away from it.  Don’t say any good things about it.

And please let me quickly tell you why I’m sharing this negative reaction about SOFII.

It’s because, a few days ago, I received a call from Roger Craver, my friend and colleague of many years, asking me to evaluate the SOFII Website.

I had never heard of it, but I did know the founder of the project, Ken Burnett, who I consider to be one of the pioneers in this business.

So I went to the Website and dutifully clicked through the pages.  And then I told Roger, in effect, that I thought it was just a collection of old campaigns and nothing more.

Well, Roger politely turned my jaundiced comments into a positive review.  And as far as I was concerned, that was the end of it.

Then, yesterday morning, I received a SOFII update, announcing that 16 new exhibits had been posted on their Website.  Hmmm.   New stuff?  I took a look.  Yes, it was new stuff and pretty good stuff.  I thought about a client who asked me to come up with an idea for XYZ project and suddenly, there it was - an idea totally worth swiping. 

Which proves the truth once again in Roger’s quote from George Bernard Shaw:   “The mediocre borrow. Geniuses steal.”   Not that I’m a genius.  Far from it.  I’m a thief.  Always have been.  Always will be.  I clone stuff.  I revitalize.  I twist a concept and make it my own.  I sell it to the client.  He pays his bills.  Ain’t life sweet?

But back to the SOFII Website.  I looked around the site a little more and I found another idea worth jotting down in my “To Do” file.  And then another.  And then another.

Face it, Huntsinger.  You were a bit hasty in your negative reaction to SOFII.  More than hasty.  You were stupid.

You see, I’m going through a phase that I call my “mature years.”  I don’t read the professional journals.  I don’t write any professional articles.  I don’t attend any conferences or conventions.  I don’t give any speeches or conduct any seminars.  Or yak, yak, yak on any panels.  I just look at mail when it comes to my house - that’s all.  That’s my research.

And that isn’t enough. 

But now I’ve found SOFII!  Good grief, as Peanuts said, “ Life is really nice  when someone else holds the football.”

But I don’t want my competitors or my clients or anyone else to see all this good stuff … so I’ve decided to launch a whisper campaign against SOFII.  And I’m sure that some of the folks who run conferences and conventions are going to share my concern and help me in this, because they are going to lose a lot of attendees when people find out that a one hour tour through the pages of SOFII will harvest more great ideas than three days of conventioneering.

Enough said.  Stay away from SOFII.

Jerry Huntsinger

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Evaluating Candidates’ Websites … And Your Own

February 26, 2008

RelevantView, a provider of web-based market research solutions, has conducted an interesting study of visitor reactions to the websites of current presidential candidates. Specifically, they were looking at how well the sites communicated the candidates’ positions on key issues like Iraq, health care, taxes, and immigration.

Only respondents self-identified as Republicans or Independents reviewed Republican candidates’ sites; only respondents self-identifed as Dems or Independents reviewed Democratic candidates’ sites.

Some highlights:

  • Obama, Huckabee and Paul websites were found to be clearer and more informative on these issues as compared to Clinton and McCain sites.
  • Reviewers aligned more with Huckabee and Paul after visiting their sites … in other words, they found the issue info they were looking for, and it made them feel more positive toward the candidate.
  • The Clinton and McCain sites were least effective at increasing these candidates’ favorability after reviewers had visited them.

But I’m more interested in the research methodology here than the findings on candidates. Because I think nonprofits could use the approach to evaluate their own websites … especially in comparison to the “competition.”

RelevantView first asked their sample some questions about the candidates’ positions on key issues. Then they “assigned” each respondent a single candidate’s website to visit, specifically to search out pertinent issue information. Then they asked the “reviewer” whether they found that info (as well as other questions about the site’s effectiveness) and whether it made them more favorable toward the candidate or not.

I could see a nonprofit asking its members/donors a series of benchmark questions about, for example, its strategies, programs and achievements. Then asking these folks to find pertinent info on the org’s website (as well as the same info on the sites of a competitor or two), and then querying them on the experience. At the end of the process, how did the websites rate comparatively? How did perceptions change toward the various organization? Etc.

Would your nonprofit’s website score well in such a comparative review?

Tom

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About Water Moccasins and Thinking Ahead

February 25, 2008

If you follow American politics and the tactics of the presidential campaigns on and off the web, you’re aware of ways they savage each other.  But, have you really thought about how these same tactics can be easily and effectively used against your organization?

Are you really aware of how much the damaging  effects of humor, sarcasm and parody come into play when these same tactics are used by those opposed to your cause?

I sure hope so, because like the deadly water moccasin, the strike is sudden, and at first silent.  Then the poison erupts in viral circulation through blogs and emails and turns deadly. Unless you’re on top of the new media and what’s happening in cyberspace affecting thousands or millions you won’t see it coming.  Nor will you be prepared.

For our readers in the ideological and issue advocacy sphere of the fundraising and communications spectrum our adivice is simple:   get ready.  What you see online in American politics will quickly migrate to issue and policy concerns as well. As we all learned in tenth grade biology ‘ontology recapitulates phylology’ (or in the words of Ms. Gibson, my biology teacher at Gettysburg High, "evolution makes sure strong stuff sticks").

Thus, the latest "love fest" debate between the Democratic candidates for the presidency, is immediately transmuted and translated by the alternative press and blogs of the internet. And the volume and quality of debate is modified and easily distorted.

Start paying attention right now by viewing this independent and well-produced video spoof on Friday night’s debate between Clinton and Obama. 

Of course it’s ‘comedy’  and ‘parody’ but you won’t be laughing when your opponents use this tactic on you.

Please pay attention. You simply must anticipate and be ready to deal with the "Wild West" tactics of the internet.  Look again at the ‘mashup" spoof of last week’s debate created by Cup O’Politics   ( in fact, look at a lot of their other stuff as well) and think how similar tactics, less benign, far more malignant in the hands of your opponents could be used against your cause.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Roger

P.S.  If you work for an organization with an ideological orientation and aren’t monitoring what your opponents are doing online, in the mail and in the press, and if you don’t have an Immediate Response Plan for all of these channels, well you oughta be fired.

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“The Mediocre borrow. Genius steals.”

February 22, 2008

George Bernard Shaw sure had it right when it comes to our trade. So much great, tried and true creative and campaign stuff out there, but so, so difficult to lay your hands on it.

Until now!

Enter SOFII, a new and wondrous web-based attic of fundraising creative and ‘how to’ wisdom that bills itself "The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration." Take my advice: spend the ending hours of your Friday, or even this weekend, and rummage through it.

SOFII is the brainchild of venerable British fundraiser Ken Burnett, whom many will remember as the author 15 years ago of the fundraising best-seller "Relationship Fundraising: a donor-based approach to the business of raising money", and of the recent "The Zen of Fundraising."

Because I’ve worked both sides of the Atlantic over the past 30+ years I’ve come to appreciate the fundraising work — paricularly the creative — found in the U.K and elsewhere. So, for Agitator readers SOFII presents the opportunity to see many effective campaigns first hand, along with background information on "why", "how" and "how well" they performed.

I reached Ken at his home in Melrand, France last night (why is that so many British fundraisers live in places other than Britain?) to ask him why in the world he was taking on a project like this. He rather shyly admitted that it had no ‘commercial purspose" as in business model ’cause it’s free, then explained that "people coming into fundraising should know a bit of what has come before"…."this is especially true for emerging markets where it’s a shame and a waste to reinvent the wheel. And, further, Roger, I love looking at other people’s stuff, but it’s just so hard to get it."

I then called Jerry Huntsinger, dean of American fundraising copywriters and my colleague at CMS and fellow-traveler in this trade for 40 years and asked him to take a look at SOFII. Jerry was quick to say "I don’t think history is so important", then quickly added "there’s stuff here you won’t find in today’s fundraising magazines…great overview of campaigns…and a great thing for American fundraisers to check on what’s going on elsewhere. At the end of the day I look for trends much more than old stuff and some of the trends featured on SOFII ae quite good and should be tested over here."

And now for The Exhortation: SOFII isn’t a one-man attic. It will prove to be an amazingly helpful resource for all of us PROVIDED each of us does our part. That means contributing content (from all around the world) and offering Ken our suggestions and help. For my part, I’m going to make sure the best of CMS’ campaigns appear soon on SOFII and I hope you will do your part too.

Finally, since Ken, Jerry and I are older than most trees, I’m going to be asking fundraisers from the 30 Something Generation about their ideas for SOFII. Look for that soon in future Agitator posts.

You can register and tour SOFII –free– by going to the SOFII homepage and clicking on the address of maxine@sofii.org to get your username and password. Content on SOFII is updated frequently. A magnificent work in progress. Thank you Ken Burnett.

Roger

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More Online Shopping = More Online Giving

February 21, 2008

E-commerce merchants continue to train American consumers to buy online … and ultimately, to give.

That’s my conclusion from the latest Pew Internet Project report on online shopping.

  • Two-thirds of online users have purchased a product online, such as books, music or clothing.
  • And 81% have used the internet to do research about a product they were thinking of buying … in fact, 20% do this on a typical day.

Convenience, saving time, and finding hard-to-locate items are the principal drivers. And reluctance about giving credit card info via the internet continues to be the main drag.

Coincidentally, one of our readers just reported that a major catalog marketer he knows of has just crossed the point where more orders are coming online than via mail order. Any examples like that you know of?

As goes online purchasing, there goes online donating. Purchasing is the behavior that comes first.

Tom

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Sick Cows. Sick Abuse. And a Vigorous, Effective Response.

February 20, 2008

Fallout from the dramatic and disturbing undercover video of the gross abuse of sick cows in a meat processing plant in California continued to capture the attention of the national and international tv networks and newspapers this week.

The video, shot by an undercover agent for the Humane Society of the United States, triggered the recall of 140 million + pounds of meat and a tsunami of public outrage. 

The event also triggered in me a wave of admiration for the vision and leadership of Wayne Pacelle, the President and CEO of the Humane Society, and his effectiveness in transforming a venerable, but somewhat quiet animal rights organization into a fighting tiger with a set of communcations "best practices" we all can learn from when it comes to inspiring donor loyalty, attracting new support and demonstrating in a very specific way an organization worthy of support.

Just take a quick tour of HSUS’ website today and you’ll see what I mean.  Not does the undercover video and the story of horrific abuse lead the homepage, but readers are given a range of options –both informational and action-oriented — to become involved.  

First, there’s a link to the full-story behind the investigation.  Then a link to give the reader a chance to get involved by sending a message to the US Dept of Agriculture demanding action.  Finally, check out the message from "Brian", the undercover investigator,  urging readers to help meet the costs of such investigations. This message and the donation page on which it appears is masterful.

What tops it all off in my judgment is Wayne’s blog entry concerning the investigation and what he hopes the legal fall-out will be.  In clear and personal terms you can feel his outrage and concern. 

As one of the 10 million members and supporters of the Humane Society of the United States, I’m feelin’ mighty proud of HSUS this morning and ready to do whatever I can to help.

Wayne Pacelle, you deserve a raise!

 

Roger

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10 Billion Views

February 19, 2008

That’s how many online videos were watched in the US in December, making it the biggest viewing month since measurements began, according to the latest figures from comScore.

One in three views occurred in a Google site (3.2 billion on YouTube). The next closest competitors, Fox Interactive Media and Yahoo, had less than 4% each. Online videos were watched by about 141 million unique viewers, or 77% of all US internet users. The average online video viewer consumed 72 videos in the month, with an average duration of 2.8 minutes.

Additional data from comScore divides online video viewers into three usage levels, with the top 20% of viewers watching a whopping 14 hours of video per month. While heavy use of YouTube is characteristic of all viewers, the top 20% also make heavy use of specialty video sites like Ouou.com, MegaVideo.com, Youku.com, zShare, and Tudou.com.

The next 30% of viewers drop to one hour and seventeen minutes of monthly viewing. After YouTube, these viewers tend to favor the online sites of major broadcasters.

The bottom 50% of online viewers watch only 6 minutes of video per month.

It looks like comScore and partner Media Contacts are developing a taxonomy of online viewers — Content Explorers, On Demanders, Sight & Sounders, Television Devotees — but unfortunately the released data didn’t elaborate much on this.

We’ll watch for more info.

Tom

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Threat To Direct Mail

February 15, 2008

Here’s a subtle example of the "forces" aligning to diminish the future viability of direct mail.

Seth Godin writes here about "Profligate." He makes the point that consumers increasingly will be offended by wasteful packaging. It will affect their purchase decisions.

Apply that to "wasteful" direct mail.

Environmental groups in particular have always felt varying degrees of guilt about "cutting down trees to send junk mail." And in the past, there has been an acceptably tiny percentage of mail recipients who have complained along these lines.

But that percentage will grow and grow.

Production cost considerations aside, nonprofits will need to contend with an expanding and deepening anti-waste psyche on the part of consumers. The days of multi-component, insert-filled packages — however well perfoming in the past — are definitely numbered.

Yes, Roger and I still insist: Don’t throw away your postage meter! But the clock is ticking.

Tom

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