Engagement Posts

Are you a nonprofit with a large pool of happy, connected donors, who give regularly and volunteer monthly? For any nonprofit, even if the answer to the question above is ‘yes,’ improving donor retention is probably one of your top concerns.  

In the business world, people are always tossing around stats about the importance of customer retention. Here’s the reality: most companies have a higher customer retention ROI over customer acquisition. It makes sense – you’ve already worked to get their business once, so it pays off to keep them happy, keep them around, and even increase their business rather than having to convince a whole set of new customers over again.

In the nonprofit space, the idea of donor retention is just as relevant. Your donors were impressed enough with your work and valued your cause enough to give to you once, and you probably worked hard to get them to that threshold. It takes a lot of work to build up trust with your donors and makes sense to continue that relationship and prove your value to them, so they continue to support you.

Often, and especially early on in the life of an online community, the community manager is the one who has to start discussions. If you’re a community manager, I’m sure you know from experience that creating an engaging discussion is not easy. For example, asking someone what they think about an article and just putting the link out there is not typically enough.

There are a few handy techniques you can use when creating a conversation to facilitate more interaction.

Disclaimer: A real human wrote this post.

Before you start backing away nervously, I know – these two concepts on their own can create stirrings of inner panic. And in a post together? That’s even worse. But, taking a few minutes to sit down and truly understand each one can benefit the marketer. They’re friendlier than they seem, and you’re likely going to be hearing a lot more about them in the marketing world.

This post discusses three common questions about the relationship between marketing automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

Ascend Learning uses 12+ brands to deliver custom products and services to high-value industries like healthcare. They have over 1,000 employees with over 30 percent working remotely. But two years ago, the majority of Ascend Learning employees didn’t think much about other brands in the company’s portfolio.

Modern marketing is complicated. But when you break down the components of a strong marketing program, it suddenly feels familiar and approachable. The best tools out there are easy to set up, easy to use, and get results.

Still, there is an overwhelming amount of technology and techniques marketing teams need to sift through. What do you really need and which tools are key for getting results?

In recent years, digital marketing strategies like search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media marketing, and blogging, have replaced traditional marketing tactics as the preferred methods for promoting products and attracting potential customers. Inbound marketing encompasses these "new" strategies, with a focus on bringing interested potential buyers to your website and product.

Outbound marketing techniques like mail advertising, cold calling, or radio commercials aren’t as targeted, measurable, or cost effective. They simply canvas large swaths of people and are difficult – if not impossible – to track.

But this shift doesn’t make outbound marketing obsolete. If implemented in conjunction with inbound techniques, outbound marketing can help cement brand recognition with your target audience.

No matter where you go these days, you'll find people nose deep in their phones - on the bus, in line at Starbucks, or even as they wait for a meal at a restaurant. These gaps of time are known as micro-moments, and have become the newest frontier for marketers.

These moments are an enormous opportunity, as the average consumer experiences them about 150 times a day. Research shows that on average, people spend an astonishing one-third of their waking time on their mobile devices. About 55 percent of this time is spent in short bursts of 30 seconds or less.  

Tis the season for giving, whether it’s children’s toys, holiday galas, or advocacy groups. For nonprofits and charities, that makes the holidays a great time to focus on fundraising. You’re probably already leveraging the giving season to improve your campaigns and help meet year-end goals.

New and repeat donations are important during the holidays (and year-round) but is your fundraising strategy missing a critical step?

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is more than a century old, but that doesn’t mean it relies on old technology. Their member engagement and technology strategies are cutting edge, which makes sense—they have a global member base, with over 1,600 organizations comprised of 40,000 individuals spanning 100 countries/territories. Managing and providing value to such a wide-ranging membership is no small task, especially given AACSB’s relatively small staff—time and efficiency are precious commodities.

Did you know, according to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of American adults consider themselves lifelong learners?

Education is a huge benefit associations can provide for their members, and online education is a great way of providing it. And today, with learning management system (LMS) options that seamlessly integrate with your online community, it’s possible to create a centralized member experience that includes education and certifications of all types.