Category Archives: Social Entrepreneurship

The Question They’re All Asking

[Dalya’s Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Do you know the big question on the mind of every reader of your organization’s material? It’s this: “What’s in it for me?”

As far as your readers are concerned, it’s all about the benefits you can offer them. You want to emphasize how your organization’s product or service improves the lives of your constituents and their communities.

We tend to focus on all of the wonderful features of the services and products we offer. But if you try to see things from your readers’ perspective, you will notice that they are most interested in buying or supporting benefits that address their specific needs and values.

For this reason, writing about benefits that matter to your readers is absolutely crucial in any kind of marketing or fundraising piece. I am talking about everything from a personal letter requesting financial support, to a general flyer about a service you offer, to a special report about your industry, to a website article.

Don’t just concentrate on what specific things your organization does or makes, or how. Those are the various features of your work. While those are interesting and necessary to discuss, I suggest you emphasize what difference your organization makes—how your services benefit the users, your supporters, and/or the community at-large.

Ask Yourself: How will your service or product improve the lives of your readers and their community, in the short and the long term?

Did you notice how I said both your readers and their community? That is because we work in the public interest sector and not the conventional business world. Our stakeholders want to find ways to benefit both themselves and the world around them. So we might want to edit their big question to now read: “What’s in it for me and us?”

Simply put, your job is to refine your text (your “copy”) so that it makes your readers feel good about the benefits you are offering. You want them to feel so good that they are willing to take a chance on you with their time, money, energy, or other resources.

Your writing has to persuade them that your product or service will help them achieve their goals, benefiting them and their community.

Personally speaking

This “feel-good” imperative reminds me of the old toothpaste commercials that implied that you would find love and romance if only you brushed with their minty fresh taste. Or of today’s cell phone ads suggesting that their products will win you lots of new friends and dates. While this is a blatant use of persuasive power, we can use that power in the public interest too.

You can, over time, compile especially effective phrases, paragraphs, and statements to recycle in your materials. But, of course, you will have to tweak everything to make sure it uses language that speaks most persuasively to your specific intended audience.

Your (Customer’s) Brain on Computers

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[Dalya’s Note: This guest post by Anne Michelsen was originally published on April 8, 2013 on her website, Green Ink Copywriting.]

How much time do you spend online?

If you’re anywhere close to average, it’s somewhere between 25 and 27 hours per week. ¹

That’s right. We spend nearly a quarter of our waking hours plugged in, and that’s not including the time we spend on other electronic devices, including our cell phones and our kid’s handheld gaming devices (admit it!)

Now, hold onto your chair. When you surf the web, you’re accomplishing more than shopping for shoes or chatting up your Facebook friends. Behind the scenes, what you’re really doing is rewiring your brain.

It’s true. And you may not want to hear what you’re doing to it – but I’m going to tell you anyway.

How the Internet affects our brains

Research on the Internet’s effect on brain activity indicates that it contributes to attention deficit, addictive behavior, scattered thinking, loss of focus, and reduced ability to read human emotions. In some cases, the effects can be physically measured: one recent study of 18 college students found that excessive internet use actually resulted in atrophy of gray matter in the brain. ²

Clearly, this is a serious issue. Due to my occupation, I admit to spending far more than the average amount of time online, and I can personally attest to feeling some of the effects. I am starting to take steps to limit my (and my kids’) time online, and I highly suggest that you consider doing so, too.

But no matter how much we limit our own time online, the fact remains: our customers probably don’t. To put it bluntly, our biggest source of competition anymore may not be our competitors, but what’s going on in our customers’ heads!

So we need to take special care to structure our messages to both capture and keep their attention despite any adverse effects their brains may be experiencing.

Read Part 2.

Read Part 3.

References:

Millennials Up Their Time Online, MarketingCharts.com, Jan.21, 2013
Does Life Online Give You ‘Popcorn Brain?’, CNN Health, June 23, 2011

Are You a Marketer Looking for a Cause? A Cause Looking for a Marketer? Read This!

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[Dalya’s Note] This original blog post was written by writer Anna Mullenneaux.

Pimp My Cause connects charities and social ventures with top marketers who can provide transformational input pro bono through a free, online matching platform.

“At Pimp My Cause we believe that marketers and causes have a lot to offer each other,” explains Paul Skinner, founder of Pimp My Cause. ”On the one hand, causes need marketing capabilities more than ever, as they seek to maintain relevance in a digital age and diversify their funding streams in the light of the global economic context for example through the adoption of social enterprise models.”

“On the other hand,” he says, “marketers are becoming increasingly keen to develop their credentials in terms of sustainable business, corporate citizenship and ethical marketing, and have a lot to learn from working with causes in terms of how to create the kinds of social and environmental benefits that are becoming increasingly relevant to their day jobs.”

The Pimp My Cause platform has options for anyone to search and browse listings of profiles to find their own best match – in terms of the type of cause they are interested in, or the marketing skills they have to offer, and where they are based.In the year and a half since the site launched membership has quickly grown to over 750 professional marketers and 650 causes, with around 60 streams of pro bono marketing in progress at any time. There are members in over 40 countries but the majority of activity is in the UK. Marketers have opportunities to support everything from big name charities like the RSPCA and Cancer Research down to tiny social venture start-ups, often with first-in-kind business models or ideas like Wheelchair Laser Tag.

Recent member stories that have been featured in the Pimp My Cause news section include:

marketers creating an animated video that helped Foodcycle gain £120,000 in funding
identifying ways to fund sustainable farming through the application of new business models at farmhopping
providing a design make-over and business model review for a Lakeview Monkey Sanctuary
developing the first strategic marketing plan for European Disaster Volunteers to help them build primary schools in disaster afflicted communities.

By exploring the website it is easy to see the openness and ease of use for both marketers looking to find a project to support and causes in need of marketing expertise. If anyone has questions they can email Anna Mullenneaux, Chief Match Maker of Pimp My Cause, to learn more.

Just published: Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation

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“This book is the primer for social innovation.”— Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Founder of Grameen Bank

97% of Millennials say it’s important for them to engage in work that has a positive impact on the world. The message is clear: Today’s younger generations deeply value social responsibility.

They feel an obligation to “do good” and solve the problems they see everyday on the news and in their communities. Their drive to make an impact has transformed everything from the way teenagers use their spare time, to the classes college students take, to the careers that young adults pursue.

But many Millennials (and others) struggle with the application and implementation of their idealistic intentions; they want to “do good”, but are not sure how to get started, or how to strengthen and sustain their efforts once they’ve taken flight.

That’s why I contributed to the new book, DO GOOD WELL: YOUR GUIDE TO LEADERSHIP, ACTION, AND SOCIAL INNOVATION
(Jossey-Bass paperback and e-book). Already a #1 Amazon Best-Seller, DO GOOD WELL is a groundbreaking leadership guide that provides a comprehensive and concrete roadmap to making a positive and lasting impact.

I was honored to co-author the chapter entitled “What Works in Fundraising.”

Sonal Shah, First Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, calls the book “a catalyst to help those who want to accelerate social change. It is the ‘go to’ reference on how citizens can make a big impact in their communities and around the world!”

Written with a fresh voice and a dash of humor, DO GOOD WELL offers students and young adults a practical and hands-on way to establish their unique brand of leadership.

The book begins with the knowledge that all impactful change starts from within. Next, it provides a 12-part framework for developing solutions that can break through any barriers to change. This process is simplified into three core principles: Do What Works, Work Together, and Make It Last. The final portion of the book gives readers the tools and step-by-step instructions they’ll need to execute their ideas and maximize their impact.

DO GOOD WELL captures the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of our time by drawing upon the experiences of today’s most talented young leaders. Incredibly versatile, the book delivers a winning combination of interdisciplinary research, case studies, personal anecdotes, practical advice, worksheets, and reflection questions. As a result, it is an ideal partner both as an individual read and in the group setting (managing businesses, nonprofits, or clubs; facilitating student affairs programs; teaching courses on entrepreneurship or service learning; running leadership workshops and trainings, etc.). DO GOOD WELL is the comprehensive must-read for anyone motivated to effect meaningful, sustainable change.

EARLY REVIEWS

“The book we’ve all been waiting for – brilliant and full of energy, this manual provides the tools and step-by-step instructions to transform anyone into a leader of social change. So hands-on and high-yield that it will never gather dust!” — Nancy Lublin, CEO of DoSomething.org

“A practical field guide for young people wanting to change the world.” — Nick Kristof, New York Times columnist and Co-Author of Half the Sky

“An outstanding leadership guide that empowers young entrepreneurs to be the change and take action today. An essential companion for the classroom, boardroom, and chatroom.” — Alan Khazei, Co-Founder of City Year and Founder of Be The Change, Inc

DO GOOD WELL is also a new organization! Learn more about it HERE.