Nonprofit Writing Stinks! Bring Your Writing Back to Life

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

A Webinar with Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Kivi Leroux Miller

Register for This Webinar Now!

The people who work for nonprofits perform some of the most interesting, engaging work around. So why do nonprofit grant proposals, newsletters, and web content sound as though they were written by heartless (and even headless) robots? Hack your way out of the jargon jungle and learn how to write about your nonprofit’s mission and activities like the smart, passionate person you are.

Using lots of real-world examples of both good and bad nonprofit writing, we’ll cover these points and more:

• Spot-cleaning jargon and nonprofit-speak out of your writing
• Avoiding the nonprofit topics most likely to bore your readers to death
• Honing in on your key points and cutting the blah, blah, blah
• Using analogies to make your point more clearly
• Writing for your readers, including donors, volunteers, and other supporters

Don’t let bad nonprofit writing cost you another grant, new volunteers, or political support. Instead, use your words to inspire and motivate people to support your organization and your cause.

Kivi Leroux Miller, president of EcoScribe Communications and founder of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com, will present this webinar.

Nonprofit Publicity 101: Great PR Ideas that Get Attention

Thursday, October 9, 2008

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

A Webinar with Kivi Leroux Miller and Claire Meyerhoff

Register for This Webinar Now!

Why is no one noticing all the great work your nonprofit is doing?

If you are having a hard time getting the attention your good cause deserves from the news media, community residents, your professional community, or the people you think should be supporting your cause, it’s time to explore some proven techniques for getting good, free publicity.

Publicity is about much more than getting your name in the paper or mentioned by a blogger (although both can be incredibly valuable to nonprofits.) It’s also about getting people talking about your group and what you do, and getting them to spread the word for you. This kind of word-of-mouth marketing is priceless, because people trust what their friends and family tell them much more than they trust advertising or the media.

Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Kivi Leroux Miller will provide a dozen proven ways for nonprofits to get good, free publicity, along with some public relations do’s and don’ts that all nonprofits should follow.

Claire Meyerhoff, a veteran broadcast reporter, news writer, and all-around “big idea” gal, will brainstorm specific publicity ideas with several participants live during the webinar. (You’ll receive information on how you can suggest your nonprofit or specific project ideas for the live discussion after you register.)

You’ll leave the webinar with tons of tips and the knowledge to put them to work for your nonprofit, all in one hour.

Tags: Marketing Webinars

Ten Captivating Ways to Start Fundraising Letters, Newsletter Articles & More

Thursday, October 2, 2008

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

A Webinar with Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Kivi Leroux Miller

Register for This Webinar Now!

Are your fundraising and communications campaigns lagging because you can’t get over your writer’s block? Do all of your newsletter articles sound the same? Do you fear your writing gets recycled before it’s read?

During this one-hour interactive webinar, you’ll learn 10 different ways to start your fundraising letters, newsletter articles, press releases, and other written communications — all of which will engage your supporters and keep them reading.

After thorough explanations of each of these 10 proven techniques, we’ll look at real-world examples so you can see how they work in action. We’ll also spice up some boring writing using the tips provided, so you’ll get some good ideas for how to change your own writing for the better.

But you’ll learn more than how to write a good first paragraph — you’ll also see how to build out the rest of your letter or article based on that lead paragraph, helping you write more quickly and effectively.

Kivi Leroux Miller, president of EcoScribe Communications and founder of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com, will present this webinar.

How to Build or Edit a Website without Technical Skills

Introduction to Content Management Systems

Wednesday, October 8th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST.

If you need a way to update your website, but you’re not sure where to start, this is the session for you. We’ll we talk about what content management systems are, and look at various affordable options for updating your website text and images, including using What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get software like DreamWeaver and Contribute, website-in-a-box tools like Homesite, blog tools like WordPress, open source tools like Joomla and Drupal, and more.

Register now>

Introduction to Website Analytics

Thursday, October 2nd, 1:00 - 2:30 EST.

How many people visit your Web site every day? What are visitors doing when they get there? Which features are most popular? We’ll talk through the tools and strategies you can use to get the answers to these questions. Through demos of free tools such as AWStats and Google Analytics, we’ll look at what these tools can tell you about your site, and what the statistics mean. We’ll close with a discussion of when more advanced statisics packages - such as ClickTracks or WebTrends- might be useful.

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Choosing eNewsletter Software

Thursday, September 18th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST.

Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with and grow your audience, but it can be complex to send and track thousands of emails. In this seminar, we’ll walk through what you need to know in order to setup, send, and track eNewsletters effectively, and talk about some of the reliable and affordable tools most commonly used for mass emailing, such as EmailNow, ConstantContact, NPOGroups, CampaignMonitor, Vertical Response, Emma, Topica, and more.

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Getting Started with Online Conferencing and Seminar Tools

Thursday, Sept 11th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST.

What better way to learn about online seminar (webinar) tools than via an online seminar? We’ll talk about the features that can help you conduct meetings or training over the Web – for instance, desktop sharing, slide shows, chat functionality, polls, voice conferencing, and more – and then look at some of the free and affordable options, such as Glance, DimDim, Yugma, GoToMeeting, ReadyTalk, and Adobe Connect. We’ll close with some tips and tricks about conducting training via the web.

Register now>

Email Newsletter Basics for Nonprofits - From Start to Finish

Sending an email newsletter to your supporters is a great way to keep in touch: email is much cheaper than print, readers can act instantly with just a click (including making a donation), and you can easily track the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that your email newsletter can be deleted in an instant or trapped in a spam filter before it’s even read. And if your email is opened, nonprofit newsletters are often too boring, wonky, or self-centered to convince anyone in her right mind to do anything, let alone whip out a credit card for a donation.

How can you get all the goodness of email newsletters, while bypassing the bad? During this one-hour webinar, Kivi Leroux Miller will walk you through the basic of producing a great email newsletter that actually does get read and acted upon. We’ll cover these topics and more:

* What kinds of articles work best in email newsletters?
* How can we use e-newsletters to move our supporters to act?
* How long should our email newsletter be?
* Should we includes graphics and photos?
* What’s the most important part of an email newsletter?
* Are there templates we can use?
* Do we have to know HTML?
* How do we get people’s email addresses?
* Can I send the email newsletter from Outlook or do I need to sign up for an email newsletter service?
* How do we comply with the federal CAN-SPAM law?
* How do we avoid getting stuck in the spam folder?
* How can we measure the effectiveness of our email newsletter?

We’ll also have plenty of time for your specific questions too.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

Parties with a Purpose: Put the Fun Back into Your Fundraising Events

Would you rather be the brains behind yet another dry, sedate fundraiser or the Best Party in Town?

If you’re in the throes of planning your big event or thinking of hosting one soon, you need to attend our first-ever webinar about “Parties with a Purpose.”

Special Guest Gail Perry, author of “Fired Up Fundraising” and a leading expert on raising money for nonprofits, will dish all her secrets about how to turn your next nonprofit fundraiser into an incredible event — without busting your budget. From “Building the Buzz” to “Amazing Auctions,” Gail will show you how you can take your event from good to better to BLAZING.

Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Media Maven Claire Meyerhoff will also be part of this can’t-miss webinar, and she’ll reveal how you can get the media to cover your fundraising event (yes, you can get coverage for your events, if you know the right way to go about it).

Let’s face it: fundraising events can take a ton of work without much reward - if you take an old-fashioned approach. Gail and Claire will share how to break away from bad event hosting habits and host a fun, profitable event for your organization.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

Kivi Leroux Miller, president of EcoScribe Communications and founder of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com, will moderate the webinar.

Tags: Marketing Webinars

Nonprofit Storytelling: How to Write Your Nonprofit’s Best Stories

Storytelling works in nonprofit marketing for many reasons. Stories are emotional, and emotions drive giving. Stories are also easier to remember than facts and figures, making it more likely that your supporters will tell others about your good work.

All nonprofits have great stories to share, but exactly how do you go about telling those stories? What do you emphasize and what do you leave out? Why are some stories more powerful than others?

During this online writing workshop, we’ll remove some of the mystery from the storytelling process by showing you how to use three time-honored storytelling techniques. We’ll look at several examples of good nonprofit stories, break down why they work, and review how to apply those lessons to your nonprofit’s stories.

You don’t need to be a creative genius or even a great writer to make stories work in your nonprofit marketing. With the basic storytelling patterns you’ll learn in this webinar, you’ll be well on your way to capturing your nonprofit’s best stories in writing.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
(10:00 a.m. Pacific)

Registration is $35

Kivi Leroux Miller, president of EcoScribe Communications and founder of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com will present this webinar.

Tags: Marketing Webinars