With rakes, trash-picker-uppers, brooms and wheelbarrows in hand, the newest class of Public Allies Arizona joined the staff of the Creighton Community Foundation on Oct. 28 with a mission: to help their local neighbors beautify their curbs and develop long-lasting relationships.

The Allies of Class 12 gathered that Saturday at Doras Church of Phoenix for National Make a Difference Day. Allies worked in groups in the Elsinore neighborhood picking up trash, interacting with community members and painting addresses onto curbs. Many community members excitedly approached them to ask, “What are you doing here?” to which the Allies eagerly responded, “Making a difference!”

Once people in the community found out what the Allies were doing, they were eager to connect with the Allies and staff of CCF – and they wanted their own curbs painted, too! The Allies exceeded their initial goal of 68 curbs, painting 75 in all, and picked up hundreds of pieces of garbage. But they did more than just beautify a few…

What does a successful web engagement look like from a client’s perspective? How about from the perspective of an agency? How can these two perspectives be aligned to maximize the experience for both parties?

That is the topic for discussion and I’ve been on both sides of the fence before. It is my hope that I can smooth the process for all parties concerned with several  handy tips.

The Ground Rules

First, let me explain what I mean by a ‘Web Engagement’. This term refers to an engagement between a client and a service provider for the purpose of completing an internet based project. These engagements may include website builds, online marketing work, website integration projects and much more. A ‘Web Engagement’ is a broad term that simply refers to any occasion where a person or business seeks outside consultation, including swot analysis, assistance or collaboration in achieving online goals.

1. Make Sure You Don’t Irritate Each Other

This may sound like a no-brainer, but, the digital world is full of larger than life personalities and sometimes these personalities clash. This helps no one and createsa relationship fraught with pain and sleepless nights – not to mention the economic costs.

First and foremost, any engagement is about the relationship between agency and client and the success (or failure) of…

Email marketing is an essential piece of any nonprofit communication strategy, especially if it's going to be used as a tool for donor engagement and fundraising campaigns. However, how can you ensure that your donors will even read your email? The answer is pretty simple; you have to make your emails enticing, engaging, and approachable. 

Here are some tips to help you create content that your recipients will open, read, and take action on. Once your nonprofit learns how to leverage email marketing, you will be able to reach your goals with a comprehensive internet marketing strategy that will ensure your success. If you use these tips to improve your email marketing strategy, then you will see increased donor and volunteer engagement for your nonprofit. 

1. A Striking Subject Line Can Do Wonders

Like what they always say, first impressions last. This can be applied to email marketing as well. You have to consider the fact that most of your donors are probably receiving a plethora of email on a daily basis. Some are tagged as relevant, and some are not-- these often land to the spam folder.

To ensure that your email reaches your donor, you have to take extra measures. One of which would be to…

After months of recruiting for our 2017-2018 cohort, the Public Allies Arizona team has found 46 wonderful individuals that we are proud to call our Class 12 Allies.

At the beginning of September, they started CORE Training, the first step on a life-changing journey. Over the next 10 months, this diverse group of up-and-coming leaders will serve full-time at local nonprofit organizations and learn the skills to start careers in the nonprofit sector.

At CORE, topics such as capacity building, oppression, inclusive spaces and vocabulary, leadership, and professionalism were all discussed. Miquella Young, one of our allies, said that during training she discovered “the deep roots of my passion, my why, my driving force that pushes me when adversity strikes. Practicing our +1 of self-care along with self-awareness will ensure I spend every day learning and growing. Our diversity is a blessing: a valuable resource. Our problems are breeding grounds for solutions.”

Following CORE training, our allies and program managers ventured into the woods of Prescott for the three-day CORE Retreat. On the first day, identity, power and privilege were explored…

Nonprofit organizations have become sophisticated marketers using techniques like targeted campaigns and engagement (nurture) tracks to build strong, sustainable relationships with potential supporters.

Why then, do they still limit their effectiveness by using antiquated systems for the data so important to making these marketing tools effective?

We all have experience with the challenges presented by these systems.

1. Similar data is in different places

I want to put together a mailing list for my big annual event. I pull last year’s invite list from my mass email tool. Then I find the list of “day ofs” that I don’t have but my event coordinator (hopefully) stored in an Excel spreadsheet. I put the two together, hoping that I didn’t miss anyone because they weren’t in last year’s emailing, or that I don’t send two (or more) invites to my spam-sensitive donors.

2. Touchpoints and follow-up are hard to remember

How many times have you forgotten to call someone back after a meeting? ‘Nuf said.

3. Targeting is difficult

I want to reach out to people who have donated multiple times in the past, but did not donate this year. I concede that I’m not going to check all the donations because that might be as many as 3 or 4 spreadsheets a year, and if donations came in online it’s an additional problem. So, I look for the yearly event sheets for the last several years and hope…