What troubles me, is the very “do as i say and not as I do” attitude of these experts. This past weekend, one of them asked me, pleaded with me to please come by their blog and say hello, because so many of his hundreds and thousands of readers never do! “Just say hi!” he says.

I commented:

Why Chris? Listen I like you, i enjoy reading your emails and stuff. I’ve watched most of your vids, read Trust Agents… I’ve tweeting to you, I’ve RT’d you, I’ve commented on your thoughts or forwarded your posts – but not once have you even acknowledged any of it. You have many thousands of followers, you have God knows how many subscribers to your blog – and I’m sorry – but after a while – it just becomes a little fake to me. I love what you preach, but not how you practice it – and i speak only for myself. I make sure i take the time (and GOD knows it takes a lot) to interact with those who interact with me and that’s why I have no aspirations to be a “Chris Brogan”. Some of “you folks” have a lot of interest, eyeballs, readers and followers – but we both know after a certain level -you can’t keep up. And as soon as you get to that point – you start moving into hypocrite territory. I like you Chris, I like what you say – but please – don’t do a blog post or tweet about how you want my input and then can’t even acknowledge it. That’s not cool.

I noticed after my comment he started acknowledging people’s comments – even at one point saying – “oh but see how much WORK this is???”

Dude. You asked for it. Don’t complain to me.

Bottom line: don’t ask for someone – be it a client, customer, donor – anyone – to engage with you and not acknowledge it. Don’t tell someone that these are the rules but you don’t need to play by them. Don’t complain that you are so important to so many people that you can’t do the very things you are constantly telling them to do. Especially when you are the “expert” in this kind of thing.

Just a reminder: please resubscribe over at our new blog which can be found at: http://blog.agentsofgood.org

What did you fail at today?

Just a reminder: please resubscribe over at our new blog which can be found at: http://blog.agentsofgood.org

I, like many others knew about SOFII. I was a registered user and once in a while would check it out if I had some time to kill. I LOVED the idea behind SOFII.
To have a online, living and breathing museum of fundraising that I could access anytime – FOR FREE! – was almost too good to be true. And in a way it was.

I found it largely unusable. [EDIT: To clarify this statement, I found that due to varying navigation and overload of links and images, SOFII, for me, was hard to use as a tool.]

Kimberley described SOFII to me as “a fundraising conference every day“.

SOFII founder Ken Burnett describes it as: “…an archive, a historical record, a repository of wisdom, tips and insights and also hopefully a stimulus to new innovation too. It’s much more than just a stimulus to new ideas though, important though that function is.”

SOFII is a great idea in theory but in practice, was it working?

Ken Burnett acknowledged it might be working, but it could work far better. A redesign and overhaul was on the table for 2009 and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.

Full disclosure – I knew to have my name attached to a project as important as SOFII would be fantastic. To be able to work closely with Ken to help redefine and re-imagine a site like SOFII would be a great communications and design challenge and, I hoped, would expose the work my firm is doing to fundraisers from all around the world.

I offered up the skills and experiences of my partner Mark Haak and I to Ken, and hoped they would let us help.

I knew that the most important thing, the make it or break it moment of the new SOFII would have little to do with design and more to do with its functionality.

The content on SOFII is, in a word, phenomenal. The problem is how to find it. There are so many links and graphics on every page it is difficult to know where to go to find what you want.

The current site also has a search function but it still requires a bit of work to find what you might be looking for.

So we knew from the “get go” we had to make the site functional, clean up the navigation and design and build in stronger search functionality.

The other thing I wanted to do is give SOFII a new logo that hopefully better represented the spirit behind the site.

I remember an early conversation with Ken. It was important that he knew we were both on the same page about what we wanted from the site, and to make sure he fully understood how we were approaching this redesign.

A philosophy,that obviously wasn’t ours, but we preach to our clients all the time is: WE put the donors at the center of everything we do – which means – we make sure whatever we are designing or writing or asking for is appropriate to that audience, will make sense to them, and puts their needs ahead of everyone else’s.

As I explained to Ken – we were approaching this rebuild in a VERY user-centered way. It needed to work for the user.

So starting with form of the site we broke it downtown into, what we felt were the most important elements of the site and presented this wireframe to Ken and Carolina Herrera.


We knew that most people were coming to the site to look at the exhibits and maybe catch up on the latest news.The search functionality was front and center – it had to be. We wanted people to find the things they might be looking for from anywhere they were on the site.

Trying to organize the exhibits in a way that might be obvious or intuitive to the user was largely one the biggest communication challenges. Especially as we started looking at how exhibits were classified. But ultimately, upon the relaunch and testing by users like you, we will know if we succeeded or not.

My brain was also working on the logo.

I remember I was sitting in a session by Kimberley MacKenzie at Fundraising Day in Toronto this past spring, where she was presenting a session about SOFII. And while listening to her talk and the feedback from the audience (about 95% of whom had never heard of SOFII), my brain kept repeating one statement.

Inspiration leads to innovation.

Of course, it says that there on the SOFII main page:

But to me, the inspiration needs to come first right?

I doodled a couple ideas at the conference which I later mocked up and sent to Ken to consider.


After circulating to some of his SOFII ambassadors, the feedback was that the light bulb just wasn’t cutting it.

The logo needed to say inspiration and without going into a long drawn out ramble about the process we came up with a few more solutions.

Which lead to the selection of the final logo.

So once we had our wireframe approved we moved onto the design. Again, our desire was to keep the site functional and to hopefully make sense to the user as to where they need to go to find the things they might need.


Ken really pushed us to make sure the images on the exhibit pages could be displayed as big as possible so we revised the layout of those pages.


Upon approval, it was time to move onto programming and migration. This whole site rebuild would not have been possible without the incredibly hard work and dedication of our programmer Dean Reeds from Open Web Group.

As we often do, as we started migrating the content from the existing site into the new site, Dean made many video tutorials of the “how-to’s” so he could train Carolina on how to insert new exhibits and articles moving forward, and fortunately due to Dean’s hard work, that process is as simple as creating a word document.

Here are a few more screen caps of the site:
Site map:

Create exhibit:

Articles:

So what’s next?

SOFII has been on a bit of a fundraising drive because there are costs associated to running a site like this. And if you have a moment take a look at this video and then contact Kimberley if you would be able to give something to keep a resource as important as SOFII up and running and moving forward.

We are hoping to relaunch just in time for the new year. I was speaking to Sean Triner this past week about a selecting a few of the current users to act as beta testers to find any cracks that might still exist when it goes live and after the testing is complete, and we’ve made our final tweaks we will be releasing SOFII 2.0 out to you and the world.

A site like SOFII has a lot of potential for growth, and we have some ideas already for version 3.0 which will continue to make it a one of a kind and massively important resource for any fundraiser in the world.

Obviously, if you haven’t already, go to sofii.org and register as a user. Then send it to 10 people you know in our sector and ask them to join.

The success of this site will always require the support of its users. Users like you.

Thanks for your help and support.

No, I jest. This isn’t for real. In “real life” we would never ask a pool of lawyers to do work without proper compensation would we?
This is a issue that I feel really strongly about. The issue of spec work. (I written about it here before as well.)
Sadly, I hear about this issue far too often in our sector and as a creative person who values what I, and my creative colleagues offer to this sector – I take exception.
And let’s not confuse pro-bono with work being done on speculation.
I do a lot (too much) of pro bono work – where I either offer my services at no cost to the charity or I am asked to offer my services for a specific task.
Compare that to a charity or business looking for designers, or writers or whoever, to provide a service for free and if they like it, maybe they will pay for it.
I really want to ask you – please do not do this.
That means no “contests” for new logos, or “open calls” for web site redesign ideas…
This is a great site called NO! SPEC which I invite you to check out for further education and reading.
Poster by Chad Behnke.

EDIT: I posted this post over at the Communication Arts group on LinkedIn and have been astounded at the comments that have been pouring in. The consensus seems to be it would take an industry of people to say no to see this type of work go away but sadly, I think that there will always be those who try to take advantage of those desperate for work. I plan on posting this in some of the Fundraising groups in LinkedIn. I don’t expect the same level of commenting but would love to hear from you about this issue nonetheless.

I leave you with: (some of this sounds way to familiar to me…)

IKEA, famed makers of cheap Swedish furniture change font on their catalogue from Futura to Verdana. Thousands of designers moan everywhere. IKEA basically tells them to shut the hell up and stop being such babies because most “normal” people, aka non-designers could give a rat’s butt about what font they use.

Hm.

So who cares right? I’ve argued this point before – no one really cares what size your logo is, what font you use, that you are rebranding your business (did I mention I am doing that?) or that you have a brand new website.

Do you know what your donors, clients, customers care about? How are you better for me today then yesterday. How are you better, cheaper, faster, more relevant than before?

Hm.

So the designers – why are “we” getting all worked up in a sweat? Because we like to think stuff like fonts matter. Futura is sleek and elegant – Verdana is 100% PC ugliness… no class, no nothing. How could a worldwide company like IKEA who obviously see the importance of clean, elegant and – sometimes cheap – design, not see why so many would be up in arms.

So – the question remains – does design matter?

I say yes, of course it does. But it only matters SO much. And it matters when it is relevant and appropriate.

Case in point. Direct Mail: Designers HATE direct mail. Especially for charities. Why? We know that more often than not, boring, white #10’s with a logo and maybe a return address work. We know that courier will still whup some serious butt when in a letter. We often know that using two colours over four is just as good. I remember being chastised at a gathering of “art directors” when I mentioned I designed direct mail for charities. Like I was lesser of designer than they were.

It’s HARD to be this good -if I may… By understanding the rules of what makes the medium of direct mail successful makes me a good designer. And it makes the design I do matter. It makes the pack do better. But it only plays part of the role as we know.

Design matters – but only when it’s done with your audience in mind. And how many designers can say they design with the end user in mind? I hope you can.

This the the Princess Margaret Hospital commercial I reference.

and finally, a Jeff Brooks video about The Boy Who Learned How to Pick Up Girls from Fundraising Letters.

BUT (you knew there was a ‘but’ coming) I also think that clients, past, present and future acknowledge that you’ve done good work for them and I see no reason why I can’t share that love. We work hard, and too often I gauge success by the fact that a client didn’t call me up and complain – the whole no news is good news thing…

What do you think? Especially those of you who might be potential clients – do testimonials make you more or less likely to work with a firm? Have you ever worked with anyone based on a testimonial?

Useful or useless?

While you decide, here are some testimonials that we have gotten – so please allow me to honk my own horn. TOOT TOOT!

“I’ve not met John so my recommendation is limited to three key qualities I can easily see as a ‘remote’ client. First, John is an enthusiast; he has a seemingly endless appetite for what he does. Second, he’s knowledgeable; he knows what he’s doing and what he talks about and isn’t afraid to challenge accepted wisdom. Third, he’s creative; he ‘gets it’ really quick and comes up with neat, practical solutions that work. I’m sure when I finally meet John I’ll spot all sorts of other qualities, but these three seem fairly crucial, from the client side. (Oh, and he’s generous too!)”. Ken Burnett – Managing Trustee at SOFII Foundation and Director at The White Lion Press Limited

“We did some of our best work with John. I recommend him enthusiastically.” Steve Thomas, Chairman and Creative Director, Stephen Thomas

“You get an important bonus when you give John an assignment – strong strategic thinking. You also get to tap into his many years of experience, which can be very valuable.” Bob Knight, writer

“I hired John while while an Account Director at Harvey McKinnon Associates. Our first project together was to create a fantastic proposal package to wow a potential new client. We also wanted to be able to reuse the template for future proposals. John certainly stepped up to the plate! He came up with a great creative concept and worked closely with me to refine it as necessary. And, of course, this project was a “rush” job, to be completled in just a couple of days. John was a pleasure to work with, maintaining good humour and producing a high quality product. We continued to use John to design many of our direct mail appeals. I’d work with him again in a heartbeat!” Rachel Zant – Direct Marketing Copywriter

“John created the logo for our non-profit’s main initiative. What impressed me so much, was John’s thorough and enthusiastic interest in what we’re doing. His research and creativity meshed to produce the ideal logo that’s not only aesthetically beautiful, but also on target with helping Spa4Diabetes reach it’s goals. Thanks so much John and we look forward to working with you in the future!” Candy Silvasy, Principal & Creative Director

“Why is John Lepp so great to work with? Not only is the guy talented as a designer, he is incredibly passionate about fund raising and he is probably the most honest creative person I know. Despite being in the industry for over a decade, the start of each project brings a level of excitement and creative energy that I don’t often see in other creative people. For John, every new project isn’t just another job, its an opportunity to create and to collaborate. There is something refreshing about working with John and I look forward to working with him every time.” Dan Banko, Principal, Banko Media

“John sits in a little studio in a leafy suburb of Toronto and turns out some of the best non profit creative we’ve seen for a very long time. And he’s also a quite incredible cook, so if it all goes horribly wrong you can always ask him to make you dinner.” Jon Duschinsky, Director, BeTheChange

“Mr. Lepp has plenty of good insights on design for nonprofits and I recommend The Naked Idea to all fundraising creatives.” Dan Shaw, blogger at Happydonors.com

“Recently John designed a newsletter for Reach for the Rainbow and the entire organization is overjoyed with the look, feel and effect. With precious little guidance from our overburdened team, John designed a bright, crisp, enticing and effective newsletter that we are proud to send to our constituents. John’s design clearly portrays our organizations’ values with simple, but impactful elegance. I look forward to enlisting John’s expertise on many future projects. The children and youth who rely upon Reach for the Rainbow’s services will enjoy a happier holiday season as a result of his excellent work.” Laurie Pringle, ALS Canada

“Despite a tough economy and the rainy weather, The 9th Annual Kenaidan-York University Chairs Cup Golf Tournament was a resounding success.  A special thank you to John for creating a logo and re-branding our sponsorship materials and collaterals.  With York’s 50th anniversary this year it was time to create fun and dynamic marketing materials”.   Joanne Giannakopoulos, Associate Director, Integrated Marketing, York University Foundation

“Working with Idea Design was the best decision we made when deciding to rebrand. John took us through a thorough process that helped translate our work, vision and values into a new identity that we love!” – Simon Geoghegan, Epiphany Coaching

“Basically, John is an uber-talent with big ideas, a great sense of humour, and a passion for doing things right. It’s refreshing.” Kim McMullen, Owner at Flipside Creative

“John, I love giving out our cards! because people always have such a positive reaction. As you told us, they really are a mini-brochure that provokes interest and a great conversation. Thank you design guru!” – Cheryl Breukelman, Epiphany Coaching

“John was a great person to work with as I developed the organization Get Active Now, Get Active Now Canada, Access Waterlooregion and Active Halton. John is able to take the idea to the next level, and not losing the values of the organization. His out of the box thinking is most appreciated, and his forward thinking ideas. It has been a great pleasure to work with John and I will continue to use his services in the future.” Frank Prospero, Recreation Supervisor – Community Development at Town of Halton Hills

“Over the years I’ve worked with John on the implementation of numerous creative projects. His very thoughtful approach has helped us achieve the product and the results we were looking for. Kudos.” Paula Attfield, Vice-President, Stephen Thomas

“I have worked with many dm designers over the course of my 30-year career in direct marketing. Most of them do not possess John’s skill as a direct mail designer. Not only is he able to use his skills to design creatively but he is also able to encompass and visualize his designs in the context of the actual production process. This skill is extremely important to ensure that the dm package can actually be produced within the scheduled time frame AND budget. He is a member if an elite group of designers who should be on every organization’s fundraising team.” Rainer Fischer, Owner, DM Graphics Inc.

“John is a passionate designer who cares deeply about finding the best solution for his clients. During the two years I spent as a colleague of John’s at Stephen Thomas, I was consistently impressed by the packages he created that met competing priorities with style and professionalism. John offers his clients a thoughtful interpretation of current trends to meet their fundraising and marketing needs.” Barb Crisp, Fundraising Consultant and writer

“Out of my three son’s, John is easily my favourite. The best son ev-vah!” My Mom.

Ok I made that last one up – but I’m quite sure it’s true. So are you more or less likely to work with Idea Design now?

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.

For those of you who might care, here is a quick tutorial on how I produced these video’s this week.

and lastly- Seth Godin speaks very appropriately for this post on why no one cares about – you – they only care about them.