The Trainer for Do-it-Yourself Communicators

Steve Cebalt of HighviewHelp.com LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana (260) 471-5870
 

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PROGRAM 3:
“Shortcuts to Success Licensed TUTORIALS”

Philanthropic foundations can provide their grantees with course booklets (described in detail below) on a wide range of topics, covering branding, communications research, media, social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, etc), and other topics that can help your grantees do their own communications and help them raise awareness, promote programs, and raise revenue. Each PDF is a freestanding course on the subject, and enables the reader to adopt a new do-it-yourself skill in communications. The intent is to provide nonprofits that can't afford consultants with the same type of training they might get in a workshop, but at an affordable cost. The courses focus on communications tactics for nonprofits that want to do more communications themselves to save money and become more self-reliant.

Grantees can purchase these courses directly, of course. But since many foundations support dozens or even hundreds of grantees who can benefit from this information, I am often asked by foundations whether these courses can be licensed by the foundation for use by its group of grantees.

YES! You can provide these courses to as many of your grantees as you would like and receive a significant discount for securing a group license. Each of the courses below sells individually for $19.95. Philanthropic foundations, including private foundations, community foundations, United Ways and others, can secure licenses to share these courses with their grantees according to the following schedule:

We can invoice your foundation, or you can pay with a charge card online or over the phone. Either way, the course is delivered to you immediately via e-mail with a link to the fully licensed PDF that you and your grantees can download.

Remember, the PR PRO to GO Free Retainer Service is INCLUDED!

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Your Nonprofit
Sorting the bad advice from the good when it comes to online social media marketing

Our most popular training topic today! Finally, get some straight answers and a clear planning template for your local nonprofit to make the most of the Web without wasting time or effort!

Product Description:
This 22-page course comes with a 4-page Social Media Planning Template.

What you'll learn in this course:

• Is it worth your time to create a FACEBOOK page for your nonprofit organization?

• How about a nonprofit BLOG?

• Can you afford to ignore TWITTER when 12 million people are using it ... and its numbers have been doubling EVERY MONTH in recent months?

I've heard more bad advice on this topic than anything in my career: Social Media. The term refers to online marketing tools like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.

Whether or not your nonprofit organization plans on using these online networking tools, there are certain things every nonprofit communicator needs to know in order to maintain a core competency in today's marketing environment.

The bad advice that I hear so often is that nonprofits should "experiment and play around with these tools ... see what works."

Folks, we can do better than that! In this economy, none of us has the time to experiment and play around with Social Media, when our to-do lists are overflowing with significant responsibilities. Do we?

So I've worked hard to isolate the Social Media tools that have already reached mainstream status and proven to be worth the time and effort for a local nonprofit. We’ll discuss online tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, GuideStar and Wikipedia. Unlike many of the experts, I'll take a stand and tell you where I think you should begin and how to prioritize your efforts. And I'll admit to some of you that after a rational evaluation, you may make a deliberate business decision to wait until some more best practices emerge before you divert time and energy from your to-do list to take on a new Social Media initiative. But I'll give you the information so that you can base that decision on facts, data, and evidence of "what works." And you'll be able to explain your decision to your boss, your board, and others who may be wondering what your organization is doing to take advantage of online marketing and networking.

The purpose of this PDF course is to provide you with that core competency in online marketing, also known as Social Media or "Web 2.0."

Objectives:

• Plan on learning some surprisingly good, simple, effective uses of Social Media that are free and within the reach of any nonprofit communicator.

• Consider downloading this course even if you aren't currently using Social Media, because a certain knowledge of this topic is essential for any nonprofit communicator today.

• Plan to get a Social Media Planning Template that will help you determine where to start – a decision that is different for every nonprofit organization.

Key Points:

• Define key “Web” terminology (i.e., Web 2.0)

• Explore blogs and social networks: MySpace, Facebook & LinkedIn, blogs, GuideStar, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

• Determine goals for your nonprofit’s online presence

• Determine which online media is best to reach your audience

• Use a straightforward Social Media Marketing Planning template to identify your next steps

E-Newsletters I
How to determine whether e-newsletters are right for your nonprofit

Product Description: A PDF Mini-Course of 9 pages.

This lesson is for you if:

• You are deciding whether or not to start sending e-newsletters from your nonprofit

• You want to know the advantages of e-newsletters vs. printed materials for nonprofits

• You want to know how to transition to e-newsletters

• You want to know the success rate of nonprofit e-newsletters

After reviewing the information provided in this PDF document (approximately 9 pages), you will know whether or not you want to begin sending out e-newsletters from your nonprofit, and how to make this transition. You’ll also gain a full understanding of the "pros and cons" – the many benefits provided with nonprofit e-newsletters as well as the reality of their readership. Below are a few of the topics covered in this 9-page lesson:

Key Points:

• Choosing print vs. e-newsletters

• Understanding the reality of readership

• Analyzing the cost

• Reaching a larger audience

• Covering more information

• Learning about your nonprofit's audience

• Using a vendor program to create and distribute your e-newsletter

E-Newsletters II
How to get people to open and read your nonprofit e-newsletter

Product Description: A PDF Mini-Course of 5 pages.

This lesson is for you if:

• You have decided you want to do an e-newsletter

• You already are doing an e-newsletter and want some advanced tips specific to nonprofit e-newsletters designed to enhance the number of people who actually read and respond to your e-newsletter

After incorporating the tips provided in this 5-page PDF document, your nonprofit will be prepared to create an exciting and innovative e-newsletter that will capture the attention of your specific audience. Getting their attention is key, and once you have it, your audience will be much more likely to open and respond to your e-newsletter. Below are a few of the topics you’ll explore in this 5-page how-to lesson:

Key Points:

• Understanding the most important fields in your e-newsletter

• Choosing graphics and layouts

• Focusing your content

• Avoiding viewing problems that hamper readership and response rates

• Testing your e-newsletter

• Timing your distribution

YouTube Your Site!
How to add multimedia to your nonprofit website for free using YouTube technology in 2 simple steps

Product Description: A PDF tutorial of 10 pages.

This 10-page lesson is for you if:

• You want to place videos on your Website at no cost whatsoever

• You want to explore YouTube technologies

• You want to use YouTube to promote your nonprofit

After exploring and using the information provided in this 10-page PDF document, you will better understand all that YouTube has to offer. Its professional purposes are quite useful to the nonprofit sector and can help increase the visual quality of your website. Below are a few of the topics covered in this 10-page lesson:

Key Points:

• Finding relevant nonprofit videos on YouTube to add to your Website

• Exploring nonprofit PSAs on YouTube

• Placing YouTube videos on your Website: a step-by-step tutorial

• Creating your own YouTube Channel for your nonprofit organization to boost your own Website's visibility and increase your "digital footprint" online

Communications Research:
Easy Research and Survey Tools That Work For Do-It-Yourself Nonprofit Communicators

Product Description: A course of 28 pages with 4 separate lesson modules

Module 1: How to get free or cheap market research to support your nonprofit fundraising, branding and awareness: from focus groups to online surveys and more.

Without research, a nonprofit can waste its efforts solving the wrong problems. Module 1 provides a brief overview of the various research methods and goals that are addressed more fully within the other three "how-to" lesson modules in this course. This course is especially helpful for the do-it-yourself communicator from a small, local nonprofit. The most important tool for a do-it-yourself nonprofit communicator is research. Why? Because you can’t afford to waste time on misguided efforts. As a small organization, you have to make sure that whatever you are able to do in terms of communications, you make it count. In working with clients, research is the No. 1 gap we see, resulting often in costly mistakes or missed opportunities. Research is often overlooked because it is a vague term and takes a little time. The solution, as you'll see in this overview module, lies in taking the mystery out of market research and identifying cheap or free do-it-yourself research methods that cost little or nothing and pay off big-time.

Module 2: How to make the most of free publicly available research data to support your communication campaigns

This lesson module will help you if:

• You are launching a new project or program and want to find out how others have gone about it

• You are creating a new program and want to find out how others have measured their results

• You want to know how to research a subject further through easily accessible resources for free

• You have conducted your own research and are searching for secondary research materials for comparison

After experimenting with the tips provided in this module, your nonprofit will have found new and refined ways to research a topic. From learning the tricks of Google search to exploring resources that might have gone untapped, you’ll have plenty of resources from which to begin building a solid campaign.

Key Points:

• Utilizing news alerts and other "delivered-to-your-in basket" Internet research technologies

• Joining the new online bookmarking sites

• Finding keywords faster

• Tapping into often-overlooked research sources

• Advanced Internet search tips

Module 3: How to create and analyze your own online survey today for free

After completing the steps provided in this lesson module, your nonprofit will be empowered to develop, distribute and analyze a survey that anyone can have email access to today…for free.

This lesson module will help you if:

• You know you need to collect research, but you haven’t had the information available to complete it

• You currently have no budget to conduct polls or focus groups

• You know a specific audience you would like to survey for a targeted purpose

Key Points:

• Creating an online survey account

• Choosing a question format

• Wording questions successfully

• Distributing surveys

• Collecting data

• Designing your survey

Module 4: How to uncover hidden opportunities and gain insights by conducting a nonprofit Focus Group with these simple, proven steps

The information in this module will give you the confidence and the specific skills to conduct effective Focus Group research yourself, with internal resources, at very little or no cost. This module will take the mystery out of Focus Group research. You will recognize the strengths and limitations of nonprofit Focus Group research; you will know the straightforward steps for planning and conducting one; and you’ll explore some very advanced tips for getting the most information possible from your session(s).

This lesson module will help you if:

• You are a foundation or nonprofit with no research budget

• Information from your stakeholders could help you do a better job

• You have to provide data to your board or funders about client satisfaction with your programs

• You are launching a new program and want to find out which program features would be most important to your users/clients

• You are responsible for communications and want to understand people’s preferences for receiving information online vs. in the mail, how often, the type of information they want, etc.

Key Points:

• Understanding what a Focus Group entails

• Deciding who should participate in your Focus Group

• Preparing the best question format

• Facilitating group dynamics

Breakthrough Branding for Foundations and Nonprofits
Managing nonprofit programs with a behavioral brand and a 15-minute communications plan

This online training course provides the small philanthropic foundation or nonprofit with a clear explanation of what branding really means in the nonprofit sector. Don't come looking for another discussion of the importance of a consistent logo, etc. This course goes many layers beyond that, to talk about things you can do today, yourself, to plan and build a well-branded organization. Please note that this course is written from the perspective of foundations and nonprofits in the social services, human services and education sectors; there will be a separate course in the coming weeks designed separately for the distinct needs of nonprofits in the Arts sector.

Product Description: A PDF Course of 29 pages.

This lesson is for you if:

• You want to know what branding means, specifically as it applies to your small nonprofit

• You have no money to spend on branding

• You have encountered the word branding, but aren’t sure how it applies to your local nonprofit

• You would like a clear and meaningful explanation of the term branding

• You want some practical steps you can implement right away to strengthen your brand at no cost

• You want to know the strategy behind planning for a brand

• You want some tactical tools you can use to develop and maintain the brand of your small nonprofit, beginning today, for free

More about this course:
Do you know what branding is? Do you think you know? Is branding simply about logos and slogans or is there something to the term, "behavioral branding?" Our definition is that branding = behavior. Having an effective logo is a great start, but you need to take it a few steps further, and we’ll show you how in this course. It’s all about behavioral branding…What is it? How do you determine what’s best for your nonprofit? And how do you work to develop this brand and then maintain it…at no cost? While we won’t go into detail on how to develop a new logo or slogan for your nonprofit (you can get that for free elsewhere), many more advanced branding and planning questions will be answered as we provide step-by-step information and practical tools to help you assess how effective your communications are and how to make them stronger.

Key Points:

• Defining branding from the perspective of a small nonprofit

• Defining behavioral branding

• Discovering what may be holding you back from achieving your best communications practices

• Learning how to get started when developing your brand – at no cost

• Learning to identify potential problem gaps in your communications

• Exploring how to maintain your brand identity

• Discovering who needs to be involved in developing your new brand

Related Course:
This course focuses on Breakthrough Branding and Planning, but research is an integral part of this area as well. Please note that there is a course on this site on Communications Research that can be very useful in your branding and planning. That related course includes modules on Creating a Survey and Conducting Your Own Focus Group that are particularly relevant in a branding initiative.

Media Relations for Foundations and Nonprofits
Getting What You Want From The Media: Essential Skills

This online training course provides some basics as well as advanced tips for managing a local media relations program. From press releases, press conferences and PSAs to pitch calls and follow-ups, we'll show you some of the Best Practices in nonprofit press and media relations.

Product Description: A PDF course of 17 pages with 3 inter-related lesson modules:

Module 1: How to build a relationship with the media and your nonprofit

This lesson module will help you if:

• You want to gain perspective on media relations for small nonprofits

• You want to enhance a relationship with the members of your local media

• You want to learn how to sell your message to the media

• You want to distribute your organization's message effectively

Key Points:

• Enhancing your perspective on media relations

• Emphasizing your relationship with the media

• Setting message priorities

• Using Push and Pull tactics to distribute your message

• Distributing your organization's message in an easy and effective manner

Module 2: How to deliver your message to the media

This lesson module will help you if:

• You want to learn the key steps to phone follow-up calls

• You want to utilize op-ed articles as a PR tool

• You want to use your organization's Website as an online newsroom

• You want to use a nonprofit TV Public Service Announcement

Key Points:

• Making effective follow-up phone calls

• Delivering your organization's message in an op-ed article

• Utilizing your Website as an online newsroom

• Recycling your news release to get the media to pick up your story

• Using grassroots media tactics to convey your message

• Using the News Digest format to increase the frequency of your press contacts without increasing the number of press releases you have to write

• Using the Media Memo format to help the media frame your issue the way you want them to

Module 3: How to get better results from the media

Module 3 offers some more advanced tips on packaging your news with photos and effective headlines; attaching your news to state or national trends in the media; and responding effectively to incoming calls from reporters. You'll also get a checklist that can help you decide which PR strategy to use every time, and then check off the steps needed for ultimate success so you don't overlook any of the small-but-important details.

The 1-page Nonprofit Organizational Marketing Plan
A plan that you can complete today and use every day to make a difference

Product Description: A PDF of 8 pages, including a tutorial and a 1-page marketing-plan template tool.

This 8-page lesson is for you if:

• You do not currently have a written marketing plan and want to create an effective one very easily

• You want to create a plan that assures the support of your organization's top leadership and board

• You want a marketing plan that assures that your marketing efforts support your organization’s most important goals

In a recent survey of small, local nonprofits that serve their local communities – many in smaller cities or rural areas – 8 out of 10 have no written marketing plan at all. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing. One of the advantages that small nonprofits have is that the staff, board and volunteers all work closely enough that priorities are pretty clear and well understood.

BUT, it is better to have a plan. If you spend a little time thinking specifically about your organization’s marketing and committing your thoughts to a plan, you are much more likely to reach your goals.

The good news is that planning need not be a cumbersome chore. I believe in practical, street-smart solutions, and I have created one for those of you who do not have a marketing plan.

If you follow the easy steps in this document, you can go from having no plan at all to having an effective plan – today, with a document that is just one side of one sheet of paper. Then, as you go forward, you can refine this and continually update it, getting better and better as you go. The key to good planning, in fact, is planning fast and keeping it simple. As General George S. Patton said, “A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan later.” So we’re not advocating a textbook marketing plan that takes weeks or months to prepare and then sits on a shelf in an indexed binder. We’re talking about a street-smart plan that works for small nonprofits with very limited marketing resources – no more and no less.

Key Points:

• Discover the easy and effective way to create a marketing plan

• Learn why a 90-day plan is the most effective format

• Use a 1-page planning template that makes planning easy for the do-it-yourself nonprofit marketer

• Enjoy the support of your board and top leadership for your marketing efforts

• Skip the labor-wasting, non-essential parts of planning and focus on what really matters – getting things done (the right things!)

How to Create a Blog
Why blogs are the first best step for nonprofits wanting to expand their online presence, and how to create one in the next 20 minutes

Product Description: A PDF course of 23 pages.

This lesson template is for you if:

• You want to build a presence on the Web without the hassle or cost of a Webmaster

• You want to add an element to your Website that you can update as often as you want at no cost

• You want to replace your electronic newsletter or printed newsletter

After following this step-by-step tutorial you will be able to create your own blog at no cost using blogger technology. Also, you will have total control over your ability to communicate on the Web. You will learn why blogging is the first step in getting started in social media marketing and all of its advantages. Easy to update, cost free, and powerful in the online world, blogs are an important asset for any nonprofit to be using. Below are a few topics covered in this 23-page course:

Key Points:

• Conveying the advantages of free blog technology

• A step-by-step template for creating a blog for your nonprofit

• Bonus Tip: Adding more flair to your blog

Storytelling
Shortcuts To Success for Nonprofit Communicators: 10 ways to get people to take action using effective storytelling shortcuts

Product Description: A PDF Course of 17 pages.

This lesson is for you if:

• You are an executive director, fundraiser, PR manager, or program manager of a small nonprofit charged with "getting the message out" and other aspects of marketing and public relations

• You produce a lot of your own communications material and would like some professional "shortcuts" on telling your story effectively

• You would benefit from 10 writing "templates" that give you different ways to frame your information and make your communications easier to produce and more effective at moving people to action.

Your communications will be MUCH easier after you’ve read and practiced some of the techniques in this short module. This course module will reframe the concept of “storytelling” in a way that is useful by getting you to deliberately and intentionally choose a storytelling device before you prepare any communication.

A device is just another way of saying “shortcut.” It’s a formula, template or structure that gets you going and makes your writing MUCH easier and faster to produce. More importantly, the right device will provide a structure that actually moves people to action. And the use of shortcuts will actually make you more creative by giving you more alternative ways to shape your message.