Tip of the Week: If a tree falls in the forest…
I read an inspiring article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. It was about how a US charity, the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired (what a mouthful!), capitalized on a media story. They were featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. They had worked hard to get the paper interested in the story but when it appeared they didn’t consider their job done. They jumped into action — pulling staff from communications, fundraising and other areas together to capitalize on the attention for the day. Here’s what they did:
- Drank some champagne to celebrate the story (always have some champagne on hand)
- Contacted other media to interest them in the story/scheduled several interviews and follow-up stories
- Phoned board members to alert them to the story
- Phoned donors to tell them about it
- Purchased copies of the paper (enough for all major donors)
- Sent out copies of the paper with a note from the president or executive director
This is so smart. Don’t just hope that people hear you on the news or see you in the paper. Point it out to everyone who matters to you — and do it quickly because it will be old news in about 24 hours.
Related Posts:
- Public art fundraising, as it should be done
- Ancient forests video from Greenpeace UK
- Tip of the Week: Event accounting
- Tip of the Week: Handy tax credit calculator
- Software discount coming next week
