And Agent of Good is someone like you. You exist in the world to make positive change, you live your life guided by the principals of being a good human and the desire to make some sort of difference in this world.

You are an Agent of Good if you love what you do, as difficult as it is sometimes, and you love to work with others – not to make yourself look better – but you know your weaknesses and can admit that the help of someone else will make the end product far better.

We are Agents of Good and – so are you.

Before I go much further, if you are a subscriber to The Naked Idea:

1: You are obviously an Agent of Good so you must click here NOW and enter in your email on the right side. I do NOT want to lose you. Go ahead. I can wait.

2: I want to thank you for subscribing and hope that you will follow me along to my new blog.

The Naked Idea was created out of a desire to talk about fundraising simply and honestly. No hidden cards, no rope-a-dope, no bait and switch. It was fueled by the need to acknowledge and comment on the good and bad that is taking place in our industry. And obviously, it was a marketing device for my design studio Idea Design.

But I’ve know for a while, I wanted to go further than that and so began the building of Agents of Good. If that’s all you need to know then please, before you go, please click here now and register your email so you keep getting the blog posts. But if you want more, keep reading.

Agents of Good was created out of the desire to do more. To do more for the charities that needed it because what they were getting (or weren’t getting in many cases) was NOT good enough.

First off, Agents of Good love to collaborate and work with others. That’s why I work so closely with Jen Love and Mark Haak, my two other partners. That is also why we work so closely with the charities and agencies who have already seen and acknowledged how much stronger and better everything we do comes as a result of sharing and working together. As it has been said, all ships will rise together. We will all share in the victory, we will all learn from the failures, but no matter what happens, we will be in this together.

Together. Everything we do together will be better and it will be stronger.

Agents of Good was a necessity because the way some charities are working with consultants or agencies is failing.

People like you who work day to day in our sector and are tired of paying too much for not a whole lot of result. People like you, who want to be listened to, and who are made to feel like their opinion matters. People like you, who want to be a part of something bigger and more fulfilling.

Those of you who are nodding – you are Agents of Good. And we need you. We want you! I want you to come on over to Agents of Good now and exclaim “I am an Agent of Good too!”

Agents of Good is a club, and an exclusive one at that.

Not everyone qualifies. But I have a feeling that if you are still reading this and you can acknowledge that this for you is not a job. If you can acknowledge that you don’t “work” in this sector – you live in it, if you can acknowledge that making change, big and small every day is a REALLY F’ing exciting thing and you LOVE being a part of that… if you can acknowledge that you do this thing called “fundraising” everyday to leave something better behind than when you started… you are an Agent of Good and we need you and we want you.

Please join us now. Join the club and come help us make a difference.

One last note: this will be my last blog post from The Naked Idea so please sign up over at the Agents of Good blog to keep getting our blog posts.

Thank you for reading.

I have started blogging on a more regular basis as well as adding some video posts in here and there which have really been awesome to make. Also this month, we published the most popular post to date this last month – check out and hopefully join in on the VANILLA SUCKS campaign.

Here is a look back through July and I would like to ask is to please forward posts along you find interesting to your colleagues and let me know what sorts of articles you would like to see more of, or comment on the blog or tweet my posts – it all helps and I really appreciate it – Thank you!

July 6, 2009 – Are you kidding?

“…and these blogs, written by so called experts… why should I give a flying crap? Who cares what you think? Stop harassing me with your twitter address and latest blog post…” I listened in silence to a former colleague pontificate about her opinion on social media. I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding?’

July 13, 2009 – Who stole the “Fun” in fundraising?

“When did everyone become so serious about fundraising? I mean I kind of get it – we are in a recession, people are worried about their jobs, family, lives… it’s the same for all of us. But when did we stop having fun? When did we stop enjoying what we do?”

July 16, 2009 – Twitter and Tweetdeck

“A lot of people ask me how I use twitter or what application I use so I decided to do a quick two minute tutorial to help you out. You can get tweetdeck right here and it’s free! check it out.”

July 20, 2009 – Vanilla sucks

“Finishing up Seth Godin’s “Tribes”. He tells the story of the unicorn in the balloon factory… racing through and disrupting the status quo. It disrupts the stability. Not for the sake of it, but because the status quo is so vanilla.”

July 22, 2009 – The “Vanilla Sucks” Campaign

“I’ve been really happy with people’s responses on twitter, here on the blog, over at linkedin to the Vanilla Sucks message from Monday. If somehow you missed it - feel free to check it out.”

July 27, 2009 – Direct Mail Tip #1

“I’m not actually sure that this is the first time I’ve published a tip about direct mail – but it IS the first time I used a video to do it… This is a quick video showing how you need to think about what you are mailing your donors from the very get go.”

July 28, 2009 – Direct Mail Tip #2

“Today’s tip is about my favourite topic in Direct Marketing: Testing. If you are spending the money to send mail out to your current donors or to potentially new donors – you should be testing something every single time. No testing = no learning.”

July 29, 2009 – Direct Mail Tip #3

“Coupons. You know – the thing donors use to give your charity money? Is there a more important piece in the direct mail piece? I sadly see laser and fulfillment taking over 50% of the space for their codes and lasering. When it comes to coupons, bigger sizes and having more space for the donors to respond is always better folks.”

July 30 – Direct Mail Tip #4

“Taglines – a simple line that can make or break your package. Will it get opened or thrown in the recycling bin? Make sure you get this part right!”

July 31 – Direct Mail Tip #5

“ “You”. Aside from “thanks”, “you” is likely one of the most important words in your direct mail letter. And that’s “you” as in ‘you the donor’. Get out your highlighter folks.”

Thanks for reading and for leaving your comments.

I like marketing author Jim Sterne’s two cents, “Whoop-dee-doo.” Well said Jim.

Jim was quoted in an article in Marketing Magazine called “The Numbers Game“. Most of the numbers that people quote ‘are great for chest-beating and nothing else’.

So how do we measure the effects of social media?

Recently Mark, my part time partner of Idea Design asked me “Seriously, how much new business have we gotten as a result of all this work you are doing (using social media).”

And I don’t know. I’m not sure I even care. For me it’s about establishing new relationships with colleagues in our sector, or sharing some of the great content that I stumble upon from and with my network, or blogging about what I do and what I think because it forces me to think about what I do and what I think and reflect on that. For me, it’s about being a leader in my chosen profession and having people look to me as a leader.

And if I get new work as a result of this work then I’m thrilled. And to answer Mark’s question, I don’t think I have won a lot of new work directly but indirectly I have met people via social media (hello Laurie Pringle!) and I have been offered new work through those contacts…

So back to the question – how do you measure this social media thing?

The article quotes analytics evangelist for Google, Avinash Kaushik who says that the over used word of ‘engagement’ is not a metric. “Engagement no longer means anything to anyone because it means everything to everyone.” Instead he thinks in terms of amplification.

Kaushik states what matters is what happens to your message after you post it. He charts the performance of his own twitter account by measuring the number of retweets he generates, and breaks it down further by calculating the number of retweets per thousand followers (he has over 7,000 followers and boasts a retweek-per-thousand rate of 7.86).

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. This stuff can be analyzed to death.

What you, the charity, should be thinking about is relationship building and producing content that is important and relevant to your donors. I only have 150 followers on twitter (I think) but I hope that everytime I tweet or RT a message, those followers are finding it useful or enlightening or informative or funny.

And that to me, it is the one of the most important measurements.

I also wanted to bring your attention to a special offer. I am offering up 4 hours of free studio (design and/or consulting) time from Idea Design this month to any charity that may need it. You can read all of the details (and there aren’t many) here. I have been really surprised so far at the response to this offer and makes me think I need to do this every month -even then there will be a lot of charities who desperately need the help and may not get it – I’ll make sure I get in touch with everyone who responds to the offer. Email me soon – the offer closes for June as of this Wednesday, June 10.

And finally, saw this video at Fundraising Day a few weeks ago and sadly, it reminded me of a few charities I know of. Please don’t be this “guy”.

Laurie is among the new generation of fundraisers who believe in the concept of the flat fundraising world, creative commons and complete transparency in what she does – and how she does it – for better or worse. And I applaud her on sharing her experience with the Gala and her disappointment with the result – specifically in attempting to garner donations from the participants.

I think any charity who relies heavily on special events for their main means of fundraising might learn a thing or two from Laurie’s experience.

I would invite you to read Laurie’s post and if you have any thoughts or ideas to share – you will.

That is the beauty of the flat world, in that we can learn and grow from one another’s experiences and challenges – and more importantly – stop treating our knowledge and thoughts like a poker hand.

I think that this chatter has led to some suspicious reports about the death of direct mail and the reason why everyone in the fundraising sector has been jumping on the new media/internet bandwagon. There seems to be some search for the holy grail of donors – and from my chair – it seems that fundraisers think it is Generation Y. But what of the other generations? For each generation there is a ‘holy grail’ approach(es) to seeking and receiving donations. Have you already figured those out?

And speaking of Generation Y, I’ve been reading a fantastic blog as of late by Miriam Kagan called Generation Y Give. Miriam is a thoughtful and inspiring, Generation Y donor. And – yes, she does work in the sector at Merkle. I think you might be surprised by some of her observations. And I hope to have her featured in this space soon.

I’ve said it before. If you work in fundraising – you needent drop $4000 to fly around the world to a massive fundraising conference (although if you have the funds – it’s not a bad idea!), most of the NEW creative and strategic thinking is already here. It can all be found all across the blogsphere. From professionals to donors.

If you’re not in touch with some of the biggies, then, you’re not in touch at all.

1) I love it! There is so much variety, so much knowledge coming over the web. I recall a colleague saying to me – “Are you kidding? I don’t have time to read blogs…” This is a senior person in the fundraising sector. I still shake my head. If you want to know what other charities or agencies are doing with their donors, or get inspired for your next campaign to reach donors under 30, or find out what your colleagues are up to half way around the world, blogs are where its at. It’s like being a journalist and saying – ‘oh – I don’t have time to watch the news or read newspapers…’. I have learned more in the last year plugging into the blogsphere and extracting knowledge from some of the top minds in our sector. And if you aren’t – well – you probably aren’t reading this anyhow.

2) I hate it! There is so much variety, so much knowledge coming over the web! Currently I have about 75!!!! blogs bookmarked that relate to the sector and subscribe to half a dozen. It’s blog overload! Maybe it’s like going to a buffet – I know it all looks good, but perhaps I should resist the temptation to gorge myself on all of it’s fundraising goodness. Especially being another blogger, the keys are to interact, comment, link back to, trackback, invite, suggest and rehash… and that takes a whole lot of time and energy. When am I suppose to work damnit!

I think with blogs – that I am like the guy who stayed out late at a party but had to get up early the next day to work… I am tired but boy – it is worth it!

NOTE: Tuesday I will be doing special post as part of the Post2Post Virtual Book Tour, please come on back!

But I would like you to reconsider.

One of the most popular stock image sites out there is istockphoto. I know – I use it all the time. It’s relatively inexpensive and there is a great selection with new shots coming online all the time.

Here’s the problem. Everyone else I know is using it all the time. Good for istock – bad for you. Why?

Consider this, you’ve spent countless hours or funds to craft a beautiful letter from one of your donors. It’s moving, emotional, riveting and you know it’s not only going to knock the socks off your other donors but make them immediately drop $50 in the BRE and send it to you.

Your designer pulls a nice shot of your letter signer off istock – who now becomes the face of this signer.

Your donors, a day after mailing their $50 to you, are flipping through their local newspaper. Here is a massive ad for that new condo that is being built in town. And in that massive ad is a massive picture of… hold on… isn’t that the same picture of the woman that was the letter signer for… Yah.

Stock is great, versitle and cheap. Do you donors feel lied to in a situation like this? Do they start to doubt the authenticity of your letters? Of everything?

I know donors out there who think that letter of yours REALLY did come from who you tell them it came from. They believe you because they trust you.

I make a point of either taking my own images when I can or leave it to the professionals when I think I can manage the budget. At the very least, I try to alter the images in some way to make it unique.

I just want you to remember – your donors trust you. They believe what you tell them. Be truthful to them in every way that you can. “Transparency” is one of THE business concepts of this still very young 21st century.

—————-

Alltop

You might notice a shiny new badge on the right there from Alltop who has listed The Naked Idea in their impressive “who’s who” blog roll because they feel I am kicking some serious ass with this blog. Take a look at their site and maybe you will find one or two new favourite blogs to follow.

This display is a bit different in that there are only a dozen white #10’s. Usually they are almost all white #10’s. I’ve also learned that Covenant House is on to something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white #10 package from them.

Steve Thomas always said you know something is working if you will see it again and again. So I would have to make an educated guess that Covenant House knows that if they produce anything EXCEPT for a white #10 envelope package, their results will be pretty good.

The other ‘learning’ here is really how much the mail all looks the same. Logo in left corner, address window, indicia, tagline…

A golden rule of marketing is in order to stand out from the competition, is to do the opposite of what they are. And in our market right now, it is safe to say the majority of charities are all mailing white #10’s all year long.

So here’s a free tip: Don’t!

Communicating with your donors is critical to building relationships with them. Make sure that what you send them is interesting and meaningful to THEM (not you). They want to read stories about people you’ve helped or how your organization has made an impact in the community.

In addition to content, you want to use design elements that make your newsletter and other communication pieces easy to read. Remember, if something looks hard to read, most people won’t put in the effort. They’re too busy.

Here are some tips for keeping your materials easy to read:

1. Use lots of white space. Don’t put too much text on one page. If you are trying to cram too much into your newsletter, shave some of it off and save it for another issue. Less text is better.
2. Use plenty of good photos. With captions. Make sure that the reader can see the eyes of the person or people in your photos. Group shots are not effective. And put captions with your photos so your reader knows what she’s looking at.
3. Make your piece scannable. Your donors will read your materials like they read the newspaper. They will scan it and if they see something interesting, they’ll take a closer look.
4. Write good, compelling headlines for your stories. Remember that your donor will only read the story if the headline draws her in.
5. Use a large enough font. Many donors are over 50 and anything less than 12 point is tough to read. Also, don’t an unusual font. Stick to something plain and simple.
6. Use black text on a white background for maximum readability. Colored text is hard to read. Inverted text (white text on a black background) is very hard to read.
7. Write simply. Use short, simple sentences. Be concise and Avoid jargon or acronyms that your donor may not be familiar with.

Use these tips and you’ll be on your way to deeper relationships with your donors.

More tips for newsletters, direct mail, and fundraising can be found in Fundraising Buffet: A Heaping Helping Practical Ideas to Increase Donations & Deepen Donor Satisfaction. Check it out at www.sandyrees.com.