Dear Nonprofit,

I just received your email wishing me "Happy Holidays." Yet since these "wishes" are just a thinly veiled request for money, and your email included a TAKE ACTION button at the bottom, I thought I would by hitting reply and giving you a little advice.

First, I don't even support your organization. So I have no idea why you are wishing me anything. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember signing up for your emails. So my first bit of advice for you is to build your email list organically with people who truly want to hear from you. Stop buying email addresses from companies that also claim to know me but don't.

No, building your own list is not as easy as buying one....

While the quote above from Joe Pulizzi references businesses, the lesson of loving your audience certainly applies to nonprofits as well.

Everything should begin and end with your audience.

Once a month I teach a webinar on selling event sponsorships and one of my main messages to the nonprofit attendees is they need to shed their self-centeredness and embrace their audience.

For sponsorship, this happens in two ways.

The above graph and the below video from Rand Fishkin of Moz are must see and watch as they clearly explain the content marketing sales funnel, how it works and why it only works when you have content at all three phases: Know, Like, Trust.

Now, Rand's not talking specifically how the funnel works for landing corporate partnerships so let me interject a few comments to coincide with his remarks...

A reader asked how I keep track of all the content I consume every day. I use a service called Pocket.  Pocket is great and it's FREE!

Whenever I come across something on my laptop or on my phone that I want to save, I just click on the bookmarklet and save it to Pocket.

My son finally convinced me to buy a smart speaker for the house. We started small - literally - with the Google Home Mini.

Now, when I want to hear breaking news or listen to Christmas music or find out the year the War of 1812 began I just say "Hey, Google..." Oh, joy.

Whether you are using a smart speaker at home or talking into your phone, voices searches are a real thing that organizations should be thinking about. 

Today on CauseTalk Radio, Megan and I talk to Carol Cone, CEO of Carol Cone on Purpose and The Purpose Collaborative and Chris Noble, CEO of Matchfire (and Purpose Collaborative member!) on who give us an update on the Collaborative and share news on an exciting new cause platform from electronics giant LG. 

On the show, Megan, Carol, Chris and I discuss...

It must be my age because I'm a sucker for things that bring up memories of the old days - and all the happy feelings of comfort and joy and safety that come with them. I call them "The good ole days" but what I'm really talking about is Nostalgia. 

I get nostalgic get whenever I watch The Waltons or White Christmas or think of The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon or remember playing Space Invaders. It's an ache for a simpler time when life seemed easier, richer and happier.

I vividly remember coming home from a day of canning for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Telethon weekend. It must have been 1975 or '76. I came through the front door and my mother and godfather were watching Lewis on our old Zenith television (which needed to be serviced by a repairman named Lloyd at least once a month). They were laughing about something on the show and asking me about how much I had raised.

Happier times. Simpler times. Warmer times (and not from climate change).

Two of the biggest challenges facing nonprofit organizations are relevance and visibility. To prosper on the new philanthropic landscape, nonprofits must change how they engage the world with branding and communications.

Historically, nonprofits have largely practiced self-centered marketing - focusing on transmitting their story, showcasing their achievements and asking for support of their cause. Today, they are competing in a true consumer marketplace where they need to work differently in order to resonate with people.

There's an interesting body of research that shows that people will go to great lengths to escape giving a donation over the holidays. Ah, the spirit of the unreformed Scrooge is very much alive!

Even for folks in the nonprofit field such as us, the unending request for money can sour generosity as obligation takes hold. Personally, I've been blown away by the of number charitable appeals I've been getting in the mail since Thanksgiving. It's overwhelming, and frustrating because there is no way I can support all of them.

To ensure the spirit of generosity doesn't harden into resentment, I'm doubling down on giving this holiday season. And I'm using cause marketing as my guide!

I know what you must be thinking: Joe has finally gone nuts. 🤪 The cheese has finally slipped off the cracker. 

But hear me out before you call the guys with the van and white jackets. 🚑

1. I've talked before about why content, especially email marketing, should be part of every cause marketing team's outreach efforts....

I hate wasting food. Ask my kids. It drives me nuts. And it drives them crazy because I'm always yelling at them about it. 😤

That's why I'm excited about a new app called Food for All. I'm doubly excited that it was developed right here in Boston!

Here's how it works.

There's a fascinating article in this week's Wall Street Journal on how discount retailer Dollar General is thriving in rural America. The numbers are impressive.

"Dollar General Corp.’s 14,000 stores yielded more than double the profit of Macy’s Inc. on less revenue during its most recent fiscal year. And its $22 billion market value eclipses the largest U.S. grocery chain, Kroger Co., which has five times the revenue."

Sadly, as you'll learn in the article, the reason Dollar General is thriving is because rural America is not. Still, Dollar General's business and success has a few key lessons.

People often ask me what tools I use to run my business. Here they are! I use these tools EVERY. DAY.

1. Squarespace. My website is hosted on Squarespace. While it's not a perfect platform, and I would sometimes like more of the flexibility that Wordpress offers, Squarespace is easy to work with and their customer service is great.

2. Tweetdeck. I wouldn't want to look at my Twitter feed on anything else. I segment most of my followers into one of two columns, a "Watch" list or an "Influencer" list. Which one are YOU on? 😉

Check out nine more tools I use every day!

Colleen Brinkmann has been raising money for a long time. Way back in 2002, she started as the communications and marketing director for the North Texas Food Bank.

It wasn't easy back then.

"We said yes to everything," Colleen told the Chronicle of Philanthropy. "When anyone wanted to do a food drive, we said yes, whether it was Joe Bob’s Tire Shop or AT&T."

The food bank has come a long way in the past 15 years. In 2016, it raised $127 million in cash and donated goods. Along the way, Colleen learned a couple important lessons about raising money...

Today on CauseTalk Radio, Megan and I talk to Brock Weatherup, Executive Vice President, Strategic Innovation & Digital Experience, at Petco, about the launch of Heads & Tails, the first iOS app where pet parents can both receive a gift card and donate to help animals in need by simply having fun taking cute pet selfies.

On the show, Brock, Megan and I discuss...

After starting my blog, getting on Twitter and starting an email newsletter, the next best thing I ever did for my business was to start a podcast, which many of you know is CauseTalk Radio. This week Megan Strand and I will air our 243rd episode!

There are a lot of benefits to having a podcast beyond amassing a huge following that you can monetize with advertising and sponsorships. I say this because the listenership for CauseTalk Radio is small - just a few thousand downloads a month. And while we have done some advertising on the show, the money isn't what keeps the show going.

This is what does...

It started as almost a joke. It was 2005 and I was wracking my brain trying to choose a name for my new website. I can't even remember the other names I was considering. Even then it felt like all the good web domains were taken! But, truthfully, you could still get many great domains with a vowel!

Back then, people were still trying to come up with clever names for their websites. If I had started my site a few years later I probably would have just gone with my name, JoeWaters.com.

I remember talking to my friend and colleague, Joanna MacDonald (who co-wrote Cause Marketing with Dummies with me five years later), about what to call it...

Friday was World Aids Day. I heard about it because I saw on Twitter that 25 cents of every holiday drink sold at Starbucks was going to Red. This was great news for me as I didn't feel guilty about splurging on a second drink.

I've been a big admirer of Red since it's founding in 2006. And while it's a unique brand in many ways there are few things that causes of all sizes can learn from Red.