Creative Donor Communications

 

Hello everyone! I know sometimes it seems as though I am highly critical on this blog. I just want us to do our best, I promise. So this week I am full of good news and best practices. I often speak a great deal about innovative donor communications and my simple formula is that we need to, "write  brilliantly, package it superbly, and to present it in a way that will captivate, thrill and inspire" sound easy eh? What I'm really hitting at is that we need more imaginative and courageous communications. And I have recently stumbled across some gems I'd like to share with you. While it's true that these examples won't fit all situations and populations, their courageous innovation is inspiring, especially to someone who sees a great deal of pieces every day!

 

I received the following from Sandy Bosco one of my followers and thought it was too good not to share: "Check out this email I received a week after the Boston Marathon. Director Maureen Gallagher and her staff artfully took a tragic and dramatic event and gracefully turned the spotlight onto the positive, without sacrificing respect for those directly impacted by the bombing. The man-hours they put in were obvious, but the professionalism and compassion they displayed shined through." Kudos to the Massachusetts Downs Syndrome Congress: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Making-Sense-of-the-Marathon.html?soid=1102107208525&aid=TbZgOaKnfvI

 

I was recently in Texas and saw some of my favorite people on the planet at the Stewardship Summit. The wonderful ladies from Cook Children's hospital shared with me a new and innovative acknowledgment/impact piece they're sending out. Scanning it here doesn't quite do it justice but its the best I can do, these are simply brilliant in their execution and delivery! Kudos Cook Children's!

 

 

 

 

Finally, I'd like to recognize a truly innovative concept for an annual report. I read this on the CASE blog and thought it was brilliant! The organization, Calgary Zoo used Instagram  for their annual report here: http://instagram.com/calgaryzoo2012ar/ it is a dazzlingly beautiful story of a year in the life of the zoo and the impact of gifts. It's very non traditional essence makes you feel like the zoo is alive! I am thinking of doing a webinar or some conference session on impact and annual reports that really are bet practice and innovative at the same time. I hope to share that with you soon. For now, spend some time with these pieces and let me know what you think. I'm always on the lookout for the good, bad and ugly... So please send them to me!

Thanks so much!

Cheers, Lynne