Grow My Accounting Firm

7 steps to increase your chances of successful charitable support solicitation

This is a bit off-beat from what I normally write about, but since many of you probably serve on charitable and community boards, I hope you find it useful.

I have managed millions of client marketing dollars and seen thousands of requests for sponsorship cross my desk over the years. Of these many requests, I estimate that probably 80% arrive with insufficient data for me to take action without soliciting more information. This costs me valuable time...strike one, and makes you look unprofessional and amateurish....strike two.

So if you want to put me, (and other gatekeepers just like me,) in a position to quickly evaluate, submit and recommend the funding of your request, these are the steps you should take for your best chance to hit a home run.

1. Keep it simple and uncluttered. Save a stamp by sending your request via email in PDF format. Realize however that such requests have to be printed internally, and most professional printing is done on black & white laser printers, so keep graphics at a minimum and no colored backgrounds. Also, this must be formatted to print on a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. No odd sizes.
2. Include all options. Although you may be interested in securing major sponsors first, many organizations will be unable to support your cause at a high level, but would, for example, place a less expensive ad in a program book. Make sure you include complete sponsorship options.
3. List ad dimensions. This is where most support requests fail. Listing full page, half page, quarter page, etc, does not help. Ad designers need to know dimensions, so it's smart practice to include them on solicitations. Also designers expect dimensions to be listed width first, then height, as in 7.5"(wide) x 10.5" (high.) If you list them backwards, you will receive ads that won't fit in your book or a lot of phone calls from people who don't think the dimensions sound right.
4. Include your deadline. When is the support commitment deadline? When are payment and materials due? List this info on your request form.
5. Where should the check be sent? Amazingly, many organizations forget to include this vital piece of information.
6. List an email address. Most marketing representatives prefer to send a quick email confirmation of the support contribution and email the ad when it's designed. Make it easy by providing an email address.
7. Remind advertisers early. Most marketing reps are juggling multiple projects, and sometimes things get overlooked. Don't wait until the day that your program book needs to go to the printer to remind someone that an ad is due. Send out email reminders about a week prior.

Your primary objective in soliciting support for your charitable organization should be making it as easy as possible for people to evaluate your request and comply with it. Incomplete information frustrates marketers and makes you look unprofessional. It may even get your request dropped into the trash without serious consideration.

- Christine Pilch

LinkedIn: the art of sending a connection request to a stranger

If you read LinkedIn's own connection advice, you will see that it is supposed to be about connecting to people that you actually know professionally. This is oftentimes not the case, however, as more and more people are connecting to strangers for various reasons.

LinkedIn Open Networkers (LIONs) seem to view LinkedIn as a big competition, to see who can connect with the most people. Others just like to expand their networks because they realize that it's to their advantage to allow many people access to their profile, which may lead to an opportunity when someone with their skills is needed. Still others may read a post or comment within a group or the Answers section and decide they would like to connect for some perceived value.

Whatever the reason, sending a blind connection request to someone who has never heard of you requires a bit of finesse if you want a positive response. If you're in the habit of clicking on the "Friend" relationship designation and sending the stock LinkedIn message, you just might find yourself out of luck and reported. Multiple reports from users who don't know you may actually get you banned from LinkedIn, so don't do it!

A better tactic is to draft a brief message explaining why you would like to connect with the user and how that might benefit them. Here's an example:

"Joe, I read your recent comment about video production, and I would like to connect with you. I have clients who need such a service from time to time, and we may be able to work together."

When Joe reads that message, it is likely that he would perceive value in connecting with you. Worst case scenario, he can click ignore, but it is unlikely that he will report someone who took the time to draft a nice, personal message. Courtesy goes a long way in social media, just as in person.

 

- Christine Pilch

 

 

Making Marketing Sense of the New Facebook Groups, Lists & Pages

The new Facebook Groups, introduced a couple weeks ago, were heralded by some as a possible replacement for Lists and maybe even Pages. However, since they all have distinct advantages and serve specific purposes, it is unlikely that Facebook will merge them anytime soon.

Let’s start with Facebook Pages, which seem to be the most popular. Pages are easy to set up. You then invite friends, start posting relevant content, and watch the viral growth of the Page. You do not control your Fan base, however. Anybody can Like a page as long as they aren’t blocked. The main advantage to Pages is that Admins can keep in touch with Fans (Likers) by posting content that Fans find interesting and valuable. New posts to the page appear in the News Feed of each Fan, so it’s a way to push out information that people have agreed to receive. Such Facebook marketing is 100% permission-based.

There are a couple down sides to Facebook Fan pages though. There is no way to message your fans directly unless you set up an event and send a message promoting that. Also, don’t confuse Fans with Friends. Friends are mutual and both have access to each other’s wall. Page Admins can’t access anything restricted from view by non-Friends of Fans. So you generally don’t have access to your Fan’s Walls unless Fans are also your Facebook Friends.

Facebook Friends Lists are perhaps the most underutilized feature of Facebook. In fact, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that a mere 5% of Facebook members use them. However, Lists are a critical component to customizing the privacy and security of your information.

You can use Lists to decide who can see a particular status update, photo, album, video, photos and videos you’re tagged in, comments your friends post on your wall, particular sections of your bio information, and determine who can write on your wall. Lists make it possible to have a single Facebook page with Friends from every aspect of your life: family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, competitors, etc., because you can control what each group of people can see. Best of all, your restricted Friends don’t even know what they’re missing, so they’re not offended.

Facebook did, however, create confusion by introducing a new feature with the same name as an existing one. “Classic” Groups are radically different from “New” Groups, which leads many to ponder the sustainability of Classic Groups.

Classic Groups filled a unique niche on Facebook. They had options that made them open, closed or secret, and they required the invitation or permission of the Admin to join. They were designed much like Pages in their features, with the ability to create photo albums and host videos in a single location, and they were unique from Pages in their ability for unrestricted messaging of all Group members.

New Groups seem to be intended to promote discussion among a group of people with some commonality. They are essentially chat-like, without a button to push to post a comment and lacking the ability to add a paragraph break within a comment.

They are seriously flawed, however, in the fact that even closed or secret Groups allow any member to invite any other Facebook user, which can thus compromise sensitive information. Another issue is that there are no photo or video tabs in the Group’s navigation, so once something purges from view, it is forever lost unless a member is willing to dig for it through pages and pages of posts.

Facebook Page Admins have been pulling their hair out for years in frustration over the lack of notification of member activity on their Page, but New Groups went overboard. They auto-opted every new member into email and Facebook notifications of all Group activity, thus overwhelming members until they discovered how to turn off notifications. They also required auto-subscribed new members to leave unwanted groups rather than simply asking them if they wanted to join in the first place.

My blog presents a myriad of additional issues with New Facebook Groups. It’s unfortunate that Facebook didn’t simply add the great features of New Groups to Classic Groups.

So, to wrap this up, Facebook Pages are used essentially as a marketing vehicle. Friends Lists are used to augment privacy. Classic Groups provide what can be an exclusive space for a body of people to collaborate, share, and compile information, and New Groups are essentially an unsecure, collaborative tool. Each serves a unique purpose, and none are necessarily interchangeable.

 

- Christine Pilch

I am honored to have been invited to write this post for Social Times, where it originally appeared on October 26, 2010.

Your LinkedIn profile should promote you, not your firm!

One of the biggest mistakes I see on many people's LinkedIn profiles is that much of the content is about the user's company, rather than about themselves. These people don't seem to understand LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a professional brand-building tool. Your profile space is best utilized promoting yourself, your capabilities, and what a company gets from hiring you. Use your Company profile to highlight your firm.

Unfortunately, when I read the Summary and Specialties of many people's profiles, I see a lot of information about their companies... "We do this," and "We offer that."

Now think about why people check out your profile on LinkedIn. Among their intentions:

1. They might just be curious
2. They might be considering you for a job at their company
3. They might be considering hiring you to perform some type of service

You are wasting a wonderful personal marketing opportunity by not marketing yourself on your own LinkedIn profile. People who read your bio are curious about your skills and capabilities. They review your profile through the filter of, "What can this person do for me?" If all you do is talk about your current employer, how can that help you get the new gig?

Consider following modified Summary on a personal LinkedIn profile:

"ABC Company is in business to create solutions for our clients that build sales faster. We are:
- An experienced team with proven results in businesses, like Sprint, Discover, Kodak
- 100% senior people from every important functional area . . . from branding to interactive to social networking . . . devoted to solving client problems."

This person's title is Interactive Strategist, but what can he offer personally? How can this bio help him move on professionally if it only proclaims the benefits of hiring his company?

The separation of personal and company benefits may get a little muddy when you own your firm however, especially if you're a solopreneur, as you are the company. However, it's smart practice to try to focus your text on what you offer your prospective clients.

Remember that profiles are singular, so a good tip is to avoid the word, "we" in your profile. Use "you" and "I" instead, as in... this is what you get when you hire me!

 

Christine Pilch