Blogs « The Naked Idea

Idea Design

Creative and Strategic Communication for Charities

Home Work Biographies Blog Contact

A weekly look at how charities can communicate better with donors through design.

Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

My Two Cents: Blog Fatigue

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

I don’t think it’s just me – there really are a lot of blogs out there. Almost every sector has them – people writing about this and that. I am of two minds.

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!

Posted in Blogs, Two Cents | 2 Comments »

My Two Cents: Stock images

Monday, June 30th, 2008

I’m not exactly sure where this would rank on your list of “Things I should be worried about” but I will go out on a limb and guess it’s not very high.

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.

—————-

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.

Posted in Blogs, Two Cents, branding | 2 Comments »

A week of mail…

Monday, June 9th, 2008

For those of you who visit, I have mentioned my mother-in-law before. She is very much a typical Canadian donor – the target audience of almost every direct mail package produced. Every time she comes for a visit, she brings me her stack of mail which I eagerly tear through learning all sorts of things… Take a look at a week of mail…

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!

Posted in Basic Design, Blogs, Inspiration, Testing, direct mail | 3 Comments »

Communicating with your donors, Sandy Rees, CFRE

Monday, April 14th, 2008

A while back, I had asked Sandy if she might be interested in writing a post for “The Naked Idea” and she graciously accepted. Sandy is a fundraiser all the way from Tennessee. She writes her own blog called “Get Fully Funded” which I invite you to check out when you get a chance. Thanks again for your thoughts Sandy!

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.

Posted in Basic Design, Blogs | No Comments »

Welcome to Idea Design 2.0

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Spring is, of course, a time of renewal. After six months, Idea Design 2.0 is here. And welcome.The revised site and blog really encapsulate all that we believe. Please take a few minutes and poke about, subscribe to the blog, email me your thoughts, critiques or to discuss what we can do for you.Thanks for coming by and we look forward to you inspiring us today.

Posted in Blogs, branding | No Comments »

Moving The Naked Idea

Monday, March 17th, 2008

I hope this is my last post on blogger.

I blogged a while back about the redesign of Idea Design. This has been a year long project with many ups and downs and has given me the opportunity to step back and really analyze what Idea Design has to offer to the sector of fund raising and more importantly, it’s clients and customers.

I got to work with an amazing writer and designer, Kim McMullen of Flipside Creative from Vancouver who left no stone unturned in her search to understand what Idea Design does and who we work for.

I finally understood what it was like to be on the other side of the fence – I was now (deep breath) the client! A very scary prospect indeed, but unique in the sense that I could understand why some clients react the way they do and resist against some types of changes.

But Kim was gentle. She found the voice in my head, she got to the very heart of what it is that I do and my feelings for the creative I produce. And executed it flawlessly.

Other creative colleagues expressed surprise that I would allow another to rebrand me. I think like all clients, we know what’s best for us and what the correct solution is – but we are blinded by those beliefs as well.

You’ll have to ask Kim, but I believe I was a good client. I challenged her, I pushed her and I respected the hell out of her for what she was doing for me and my company. It’s a tough job.

So now, I have been working with the uber-patient Paul Koehler, of Omega Station to make it sing. And it is thrilling to see all the jigsaw puzzle pieces fall into place.

The job of a programmer-designer is probably a thankless one. There is so much of the process that goes unnoticed and misunderstood (Paul has caught me going “huh??” on more than an a few occasions)… and yet so important.

And so, I hope to be relaunching Idea Design one week from today – and at the risk of offending all Christians around the world – almost to the day that Jesus rose from the dead. There’s something symbolic in that I think.

I have tried to be a good client and let the talented people around me do their absolute best for me and I hope I succeeded.

You will be the judge on that. Stay tuned.

Posted in Blogs, branding | 1 Comment »