SweetTweets: shows you your most popular tweets of all time (or since you started tweeted based on RT’dness)

First tweet: an app that can show you your first tweets to any user you follow (even if it is “yah i love coffee too lulz #coffee4evah”)

HashSmoker: an app that erases any new tweet stream you establish using any hastag (very popular with college kids)

Tweetaggedon: an app that blows up your account and erase every tweet you ever tweeted.

tweezer: an app that allows you to identify people who clearly should not be in your tweetstream and you can get rid of them – thx to @unmarketing

T’Creep: an app that allows every tweet from any person be forwarded to your phone, email, tweetdeck, twitter, hootsuite, for ever. Even if they set up a new account under a new name.

Twit-pid: an app that checks the stupidity of your tweet before you post it – so you don’t tweet something really dumb…

Twidder: an simple little app that 87 people use, thinking that it is twitter – and they don’t understand what the big deal is…

Twenius: an app that makes all of you tweets use really big and impressive words that no one understands but still respect.

Twhine: an app that removes any whiny words out of your tweets.

Twootfour: an app created by a Canadian (of course) that allows you to tweet no more than 24 times in one day

Twunchuation: an app that makes sure you say “you’re” instead of your, etc. #neverlooklikeanidiotagain

Tweathalizer: an app you have to blow in before you are allowed to tweet… (to make sure you aren’t loaded – duh).

tweetular: an app that makes it look like hundreds of ppl are RT’ing you and @’ing you…

FTW: an iphone or blackberry app that does crappy little fireworks on your display when you achieve something random #likegetacoffee

last one: tweener: an app that lets you quickly RT everything everyone says a half second after it’s tweeted

Any other brilliant ideas? Please share!

With that in mind, we want to offer you 10 ways to keep your donors at the heart of what you do, each and every day… Not for the sake of it, but because they really should be!

10. Read what you are working on – your letter, newsletter piece, email – aloud to someone who doesn’t know what you are working on. Make note of all the words, phrasing and timing that don’t feel write or that you’ll stumble over. You’ll change at least 5 things. Guaranteed.

9. Count the you’s. From the fundraising genius Tom Ahern. Count the number of times you say “you” in your piece. You should have way more references to “you” than to “we”, “us” or “ABC Charity”.

8. Make a promise – and keep it. In your next appeal, tell your donors you’ll report back to them with the outcome of the project you’re raising money for. And do it.

7. Invite personal contact – and mean it. Put your name on a thank-you letter or email. Ask your donors to connect with you directly if they have questions or would like to speak with you. (Please – no more info@charity.org!) Better yet, pick up your phone and call and thank a donor. It’s infectious.

6. Fall in love with Gary. Gary the Donor – the imaginary friend created by Good Works – is great for bouncing things off. Are you connecting with your donors’ mind, heart and soul?

5. Rewrite your thank you letters and thank you call scripts. Find the time. It’s worth it.

4. Use your heart. Your donors deserve your love. Show it.

These last 3 we call the Kimberley MacKenzie trifecta. She does all of them (and some of these others above) every single day. That’s badass.

3. Put a picture of a donor – or a letter from a donor – on your desk or post it on your wall.

2. Put an empty chair in your meeting room and imagine you have a donor in the room with you. It will change lots of what you say and how you say it.

1. Look through your mail every day for 2 weeks. Read the little notes donors write on your coupons – the good, the bad and the ugly. Respect the shaky handwriting. Remind yourself that you are in a conversation with your donors – you’re not just broadcasting.

As a final note – in the header we used the heart from our logo. Most people assume it is a clever way of showing a “o” for “of”. The smarter ones assume it represents our love of the sector, our clients and ultimately the very fact that we are in a industry of sharing and showing love… and they aren’t wrong. But the real reason is to remind us who really matters and is at the heart and core of everything we do. Do I really need to say who?

P.S. This “Top 10″ was inspired by a terrific series by Josh Bowman, 10 things I’ve learned. Thanks Josh!
EDIT: special thanks to Agent Clare McDowall for sending us in this missive from the field! “On the board and highlighted!”

“What do you mean… con-ver-sa-tion?”

“You know… talk? where you look someone in the eyeballs and listen, and laugh, and focus, and share? ….hello?”

tumbleweeds…

“Can’t you just tell me what you will charge to do ______?”

Sigh.

Way back I wrote about “RFP RIP“. The process of requesting for proposals is fundamentally flawed in so many ways, we have almost entirely given up on responding to them. We don’t need to respond to them. Why would we when we have charities/clients who see the value in our experience?

Every one of you are unique. Your needs as an organization and cause, your donors, your history, your unique reason for support, your staff, your dreams, your hopes… all unique.

Do you want me to give you a boxed solution and cost for that? Is that all you deserve?

I don’t think so.

What you think the solution should be, might not be.

It starts with a conversation – between you and us.

Let’s talk about everything and anything (and don’t expect us to sit there and talk about ourselves for an hour – it’s not going to happen). Let’s talk about your failures, your successes, your dreams and hopes… And for God’s sake – let’s talk about YOUR DONORS! What do they want from you?

It starts with a conversation – between you and us.

But if that conversation starts with – “We want to do ______, how much will it cost?” then the conversation is over.

You, our readers, and you, our clients have given us a lot to think about – and work on – in the first half of 2011.

Some highlights for us have been:
- Creating custom essential reviews for charities who want to know how they sound and look across every donor touch point, and then what to tweak, fix or overhaul.
- Our Second Harvest truck package… Who knew so many donors would fall in love with a truck?
- An afternoon in a sunny board room where we got to converse with the top minds of an organization, spend a little time navel gazing but ultimately giving donors a clearer reason to give.
- Working and plugging into the knowledge of so many of the worlds best fundraisers… David Love, Gwen Chapman, Jonathon Grapsas, Tom Ahern, Damian O’Brien, Sean Triner.
- Many road trips and hours riding with my partner Jen, in and out of Toronto for conferences, meetings, events.
- Working and plugging into the minds of some of the best clients you could dream of who only have one thing in mind… How can we care about our donors more? How lucky are we?
- Helping our good friend Jono create and hang out his own shingle in his home country of Australia. We know Jono and know flat earth direct is gonna to be a complete success.

When I sit back and reflect, which I don’t do enough of, I realize how incredibly lucky I am to do what I do, with the people I do it with.

But part of that reflection means also looking ahead. And now is the time for that, especially before we enter in the fall (traditionally the busiest time of the year).

My view from the deck.

So I’m taking a break. A real break. My first since Christmas – to head up north to a lovely little cottage on a quiet lake in northern Ontario.

Taking a break to stare out the window at the falling rain, to spend time with my quickly growing daughters and lovely wife.

Taking a break to listen to the silence and be far away from the daily comings and goings of everything.

But, I’m taking advantage of that time to do some navel gazing of my own and some thinking about you too.

How can we be better? How can we continue to do the best work (and what is our best) for our current and new clients?
How do we manage growth without “growing”?
What sort of things do we excel at and what sort of things do we suck at?
And so the list goes.

I had a light bulb go on in my head this week while in a meeting. A client said to us, ‘you folks are obviously champions for the donors‘ and it reminded me, that like the advice we give to you week after week and meeting after meeting, that as long as we keep your needs front and center… that so long as we remain as client focused as we possibly can, we will keep moving in the right direction whatever that might be.

So, with that, I’m shutting down the computers, and turning the lights off here at AOG HQ and packing up the van.

Thanks for an amazing, inspiring and collaborative first six months and we can not wait to see what challenges you have for us in the next six.

Hope you find time for your own break.

Recently I sat on an awards committee where part of my role was to review the all of the applications… but I realized (especially after having to read 1 paragraph like 6 times) that somewhere we have lost our way.

I’ve sat in boardrooms, I’ve read blogs and have been part of webinars where I’ve had to ask people to repeat what ever bullcrap they just spewed because I just didn’t understand what they were trying to say.

Now I’m no genius by any measure, and I also realize that my work depends on the ability to write and speak at a level that almost any one of any type of education can understand…

But what is this fear of being clear?

As always, Seth Godin nails it is his blog post today “Writing naked (nakeder than Orwell)“.

Here are Orwell’s rules, edited:

If the goal is to communicate, then say what you mean.

Preach on Brother Godin.

Successful projects rock. And while it does feel a bit like beeping our own horn, when we celebrate our success here at Agents of Good, it is all the more awesome because in our work, it also means that the world is a little bit of a better place.

And in the case of this project, more fresh food will be rescued from being thrown in the garbage and delivered to hungry people in Toronto. Second Harvest is an amazing and inspiring charity that we have the pleasure of working with. Our Spring Campaign was focused on buying a new truck for their fleet, and it has been a smashing success.

We raised twice as much money as the Spring Appeal last year. Average gift is up 40%. Beep! Beep!

Here’s just some of what we love about this campaign:

1. Surprise and Delight. The letter comes from the truck, and he starts his letter saying “I have a dream…” You KNOW you want to keep reading!



2. The illustrated truck is just so darn cute. You KNOW you’re going to open that envelope!
3. Engaging and involving the donor – the donor uses the keys (sticker) and moves it on to the coupon.



4. The matching gift. Donors “only” have to pay for half. A matching gift (secured with passion and energy by Second Harvest) secures the other half.
5. The last option on the gift array is for $65,000 and a note “I’ll buy the other half of the truck”. Yes, we were secretly hoping someone would send in a cheque or $65,000. But even though they didn’t, we wanted it to make every donor think about giving a little more. It worked.
6. It’s genuine. The match did come in at the 11^th hour, and we used the P.S. and the buckslip.
7. It flowed. We did a reminder pack, with a message of encouragement from the matching donor.
8. It rocked. And we stopped. We had planned to do a follow-up blast. But by the time it was due to deploy, we knew it exceeded the goal. So we did a thank-you email and letter instead. From the truck, of course.

Beep Beep!

This tough because I am more of a marketing fellow than a fundraiser like Jen, so I tend to read a lot of both. Nonetheless, in the last three years, the one book that I have read and loaned out numerous times (and now don’t know who has my copy! can i have it back?) is Tribes by Seth Godin.

I’ve blogged about Tribes before and even got a personal thank you from Mr. Godin.

To answer Nancy’s question, this is my book of choice because it ordered me to do the two things I feared the most.

Lead and challenge the status quo.

Seth writes, “Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. The scarcity makes leadership valuable. If everyone tries to lead all the time, not much happens. It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.”

Leading is scary because we can screw up. We can be laughed at. We can be fired. Leading is scary…

But – and here is the important point – we need to lead because we have fans, we have tribes of people who need us to.

In our case, I see a sector that is SCARED TO DEATH of being wrong. Funds are tight, our donors demand that we spend every dollar as wisely as possible. There is not a lot of room for mistakes. But here’s the thing…

If we do everything the same way we always do it – or worse yet – the same way everyone else is doing it – nothing will change. You will get the same results as the year before, maybe slightly more, maybe slightly less…

Being a leader and challenging the status quo takes courage, it takes guts, and we all can do it. You get that right?

We all can do it.

I’m prepared to be laughed at, or fired, or mocked, or criticized. It means I’m doing the right thing.

Your tribe needs you.

I strongly urge you to pick up Seth’s book, it will change how you think about the work you do and the life you lead.

So now you can tell me, what book has changed your professional life?

A few weeks ago I asked a question on Linkedin, “Simple question today: when i say “donor centered” – what charity, agency or consultant do you think of ”

The results were interesting and insightful and I invite you to read them.

I asked because I had been thinking of gathering some “donor centered” experts, as determined and perceived by others, for either a panel at a conference or perhaps just an interesting article…

But what really got me heated up was the dismissal of donored centered fundraising as some sort of catch phrase, a buzz word, something flung around in boardrooms by high paid consultants… I suddenly felt dirty for even asking the question, like somehow I was being grouped in with a bunch of overpaid, buzz word spewing consultants who have raked valuable dollars way from those who need it …

In the halls of Agents of Good, donored centered fundraising isn’t a buzzword. It’s a way of life.

If you don’t know what it means, either you don’t do it or don’t care to find out.

BUT you are in luck, I’m gonna tell you.

It means, (and please listen closely) that all things you do, you do for your donor.

Does that sound like a buzzword?

All things you do, you do for your donor.

Your charity was created because someone or ‘someone’s'… Wanted to make a difference or fix something that needed fixing. Once it was created, it needed some people to help sustain it, support it, nurture it, care for it… These people are called staff, board and donors… All of them are very important.

But at the the end of the day, the only consistent… Is your donors. Your staff, your board, you… Will come and go… But your donors, if they are cared for, supported and nurtured, will stay forever.

So who is the most important entity in this relationship?

We (Agents of Good) aren’t doing anything new here folks. People like Gwen Chapman, Ken Burnett and Tom Ahern have been going on about this forever, but it’s like everyone has forgotten.

A 80 page annual report all about your programs? Not donor centered.
A newsletter with small pics of people holding big cheques? Not about your donor.
A website with tiny type and links to every other site on the internet? Nope.

BUT

Tweeting about a volunteer who made a difference today – that’s donor centered.
Sharing the stories of how someone’s life was changed due donor support – that’s donor centered.
Making it easy for people to give and support – that’s donor centered.
Saying thank you when someone gives – that’s donor centered.
ACTUALLY caring and remembering you have donors with names and lives (and not numbers!) – that’s donor centered!

Don’t tell me you are being donor centered when you aren’t. Don’t tell me it’s a buzz word because you don’t know what it means and don’t tell me you can’t do it cause it costs too much money.

All things you do for your donor.

Put that on your wall above your desk and JFDI.

Additional resources: Pamela Grow’s Donor Centered Tip Sheet here.
Great collection of other people’s thoughts on what donor centered means via Kimberley Mackenzie.

Tom’s e-news landed in my inbox this week and once I read this I knew either I had to steal it or ask for his permission to post it (don’t worry – he said I could!) So I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did. – john

“Dear donors: We’re happy to say, we have switched to a digital annual report.”

Happy? R U really so sure?

In February 2011, The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a story that tracked the nascent rise of the digital annual report.

The Salvation Army (USA) had found that “about half” its printed annual reports went wasted: found no audience; were literally never opened. So “it decided to scrap the hard-copy version, moving to an all-digital one….”

You can almost hear the conclusion at headquarters: “Print isn’t working. Let’s go with digital instead.” And a digital version certainly has advantages.

-It’s conveniently available at the click of a mouse, 24 hours a day.
- It can offer lively entertainment. In this one, videos, professionally shot and edited, take the viewer on a journey into the actual neighborhoods where the Salvation Army does its difficult work.
- And even the messages from the director and board chair (customarily, the “Death Valley equivalent” in printed annual reports) are compelling when spoken on-screen, under dramatic lighting, with a musical soundtrack and Hollywood production values. Imagine your executive director acting in The Da Vinci Code; that’s what it looks and sounds like.

I wonder, though. Is this merely a “half empty/half full” conundrum?

If half the annual reports were never opened, then half WERE opened, after all.

And, unlike online video, you never know where a physical copy of your annual report might end up.

Let me tell you a real-life story. A couple of years ago, an attorney phoned this community foundation I know. He had very good news: the foundation would soon receive a multi-million-dollar gift from a man who had died without heirs.

Of course, the foundation was delighted. But puzzled, too: they’d never heard of their benefactor.

“How did he even know us?” the gift officer asked. The attorney replied, “Well, I happened to have your annual report on the coffee table in my reception area. He came in for an appointment and got to reading.”

So I have two questions for The Salvation Army (USA). One: Was it really print that failed? Two: Is it really an either/or situation?

One of the first seriously wrong conclusions about donor communications I ever heard was this: “We tried direct mail,” said the executive director of a small nonprofit. “And it didn’t work for us.” I accepted her assessment. Back then, I didn’t know any better. But as I armored up with training over the years, I learned to be more analytical:
- Was her direct mail piece any good to begin with? No, probably not.
- Was her mailing list well selected to begin with? No, probably not.
- Were the results, therefore, lousy? Yes, predictably so. Direct mail fundraising is a gladiatorial arena where only the well-trained survive.

Lesson learned: If you know nothing about direct mail, do not expect to succeed in that particular hard-to-get-right, easy-to-get-wrong medium.

Lesson extended: If your annual report isn’t getting read, don’t necessarily blame the reader or the medium. Look in the mirror first: Are you doing this well?

Even smart organizations (and the Salvation Army USA is a very smart organization when it hires donor communications vendors for things like direct mail) get clumsy when it comes time to do a printed annual report.

Takeaway >>>>
Boring and risk-free simply do NOT work in marketing. Ever. There are neuroscience reasons why that is, but I won’t get into those today.

Just keep this in mind: fundraising is a type of marketing. Fundraising must obey the very same psychological principles of persuasion that marketing must obey. Brains are brains. Being a donor may grant you an honorary halo, but it does not change your neural network.

What boring is is safe. Choosing to be safe is the professional equivalent of throwing in the towel. Safe donor communications will NOT raise as much money. But then no one above you is likely to know that’s the case. So if you do choose to be safe, this is one of those spanking great times when the ignorance of your boss and board (re: how donor communications really work) will help you. They also like — oh, come on: they love — safe, too.

Even though it doesn’t work. Guaranteed.

Thanks Tom – I would strongly urge that you RUN – don’t walk to Tom’s site right now and sign up for his informative, insightful and always entertaining e-newsletters right now. Like, right now. Why are you still reading this?

John and Jen are two incredible fundraising and marketing professionals who I have the honour of working with at Second Harvest. They have kicked our direct mail program and website development into hyperdrive, and I really can’t recommend them enough. Plus, they are awesome and opinionated people. Here is their website: http://www.agentsofgood.org/ and here is their terrific blog: http://blog.agentsofgood.org/

1. Nothing beats a good story. Nothing.
2. At the end of the day, it is our relationships that define us.
3. Sorry Marshall, the medium is not the message. Your channel of communication needs to be appropriate, but content is king.
4. Agents are everywhere, but not everyone can be an Agent.
5. People are moved to act because of stories and feelings, not facts and statistics.
6. People want to believe their support matters.
7. People are disgusted when they are betrayed or mislead by a charity. And they are suspicious forever.
8. We are truly and deeply inspired by the number of passionate people who want to be part of something special and unique. We all want to be part of a tribe that speaks to us.
9. Like all Agents projects, this list isn’t about us, it’s about you.
10. The three most important words in fundraising? You. You. And you.