For their 20th anniversary, Charity Village has asked the nonprofit sector to share our collective wisdom through answering some of their ‘20 questions’. We love the idea, and decided to enlist some of our staff to help add to the growing wealth of answers! Check back later this week for more.
Visit Charity Village’s website for more information and to hear responses from others in the sector.
Jenn:
What’s the most creative nonprofit campaign you’ve seen in the past 20 years?
Campaigns, both nonprofit and for profit, have seen major changes over the last 20 years. With these changes, the best companies are using platforms that work for their cause. Be it visual, video, print, radio, music, the possibilities are endless.
The nonprofit campaign that popped into my head first is a YouTube video the Winnipeg Humane Society created in 2011. It has humor, a fast talking salesman, and is full of cats. In my opinion, they nailed it!
Other nonprofits that have great campaigns include:
- Alberta Cancer Foundation: Doug’s Story.
- Spare Change Real Change: a social media and email campaign to increase donor participation. The award winning campaign was created for the United Way of London & Middlesex by Lashbrook Marketing and Public Relations.
- In 2011, PFLAG Canada used QR codes (which we really big at the time) for their awareness campaign. Read about the campaign here and check out their current site.
20 years ago I was using my computer to…
…play Solitaire and the other pre-loaded games!
Katherine:
What one thing should every nonprofit professional do for 20 minutes every day?
I highly recommend connecting with the people who matter most to your organization – volunteers.
Sometimes we get lost in our work and we forget about the relationships that are so important to our work. Talk to your volunteers – face-to-face or over the phone. Volunteers are critical to our work in the nonprofit sector, we value that they choose to give their time and energy to our causes. Get to know them better!
- Learn about their goals and motivations for volunteering with you. Show your appreciation for the reasons they choose to volunteer with you and work with those reasons in mind.
- Ask about their volunteer experiences (both with your organization and others). Honouring their input will keep them engaged and help them get what they are seeking from their volunteer experience. It can also help you improve!
20 years ago I was using my computer to…
…learn to type without looking at the keyboard (with the help of Mavis Beacon) and write a novel – at the age of 13. On this bad boy: