Julia Kaisla: Director, community engagement, Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division
When non-profits invest their donor dollars into creating a website, they do so with careful consideration, because websites are a double-edged sword.
They provide an easy one-stop shop for individuals looking for information, and if organized right, they provide a home where agencies like the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHABC), can tell the stories of those we've helped, address frequently asked questions about mental health and describe all the ways we can help workplaces improve their psychological health.
But just because we built it doesn't mean "they" will come. We look at push channels, such as e-newsletters, to connect with our supporters and donors. In most cases, the newsletters are light on text and heavy on links.
By linking to our website we can present a lot of information in a short format. You can scan through headlines, look at photos and choose what matters to you. Through our e-newsletters we can connect to those who care and make it easy for them to find what's most relevant to them.
At CMHABC, we have several e-newsletters geared toward different audiences. Our e-newsletter on workplace mental health, a key area of concern for B.C. businesses, is sent monthly to more than 3,000 subscribers.
This year, in support of our Bottom Line Conference theme Workplace Mental Health – It's Personal, we feature our speakers, panellists and steering committee members. We're asking them why workplace mental health is personal for them and use snippets in the e-newsletter to entice you to click and learn more.
According to the click rates that we review regularly, these human-interest stories resonate with our audiences. These are also the stories we will elaborate on at the March 5 conference in Vancouver.
Dick Volle: President and CEO, St. Paul's Hospital Foundation
The St. Paul's Hospital Foundation has developed many important corporate partnerships over the years. One of the most important factors that helped us to build these relationships has been the high level of accountability that we show our donors.
It makes sense. Corporations are held to a high level of accountability, so they should expect the charities they support to be held to that same standard.
It's particularly important to demonstrate accountability in the following:
- Financial transparency: In this economic climate, it's more important than ever to show donors how their gifts are being used and that their donations are being used efficiently.
- Recognition: The charity-donor relationship should be mutually beneficial, and promises made to the donor in this area must be fulfilled.
- Results: Traditionally, charitable organizations have discussed results on a micro level: they talk about how your donation will help provide these meals or find a home for this person or treat this illness. Those are essential points, but there's also a growing interest in discussing results on a macro level. Corporations are big-picture thinkers, and we've generated the most excitement from them by discussing how they can contribute systemic, sustainable advances in health care – and then providing evidence to support it.
Taking a more corporate perspective on accountability might be a change in mindset for some charities, but it's one that I highly endorse. Having worked in both corporate and charitable worlds, I believe that both sectors can learn a lot from each other.
Trevor Boudreau: Partner, BreakThrough Communications
There's no magic formula when it comes to successfully engaging a potential donor. But organizations should focus on creating relevant content that makes the call to action personal for potential donors.
If that content is well planned, organizations can use it across multiple platforms, which helps make the most of often limited resources.
Content marketing is extremely hot now because more people are tuning out and turning off advertisements. They're increasingly viewed as noise: intrusive, ubiquitous and impersonal.
Quality content with a human dimension demonstrates an organization's worth to potential donors meaningfully and authentically – whether it's an individual or a large corporation.
In the case of non-profits, personal stories are a highly effective way to demonstrate where donor money goes while establishing a connection – the first stage of what could become an ongoing relationship.
For health outcome-focused organizations it's about creating – or recreating – the sense of community and inviting donors in. A perfect example of this is the Canadian Mental Health Association's (CMHA) Ride Don't Hide campaign.
Pioneered by the CMHA's B.C. Division, Ride Don't Hide invites people across the province to join together in local community rides to promote an open dialogue around mental health issues, with a specific focus on women.
The campaign includes a central website, complete with crowd-sourced blog where supporters share personal stories and training tips and develop relationships leading up to the one-day event.
Ride Don't Hide was a tremendous success in its first year. It attracted a major corporate donor for its second year and is now growing into a national initiative.
