Why does your organization exist? (3 of 15)

October 2, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part three of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

The first branch: Why does your organization exist? (Part II)

Why does your organization exist? Because you value something people need.

The second part of clarifying why you exist is to describe the need. In Part I I talked about values, but just because something is important does’t mean an organization should exist to advocate for it. For example, imagine an organization dedicated to safeguarding oxygen supplies. I doubt I could be persuaded to support them. I believe it is important that everyone have oxygen to breath. The importance for life is indisputable. I’m not too worked up over this issue though. Lack of oxygen isn’t a problem in the global air supply. In order to engage people’s hearts, you need to show them the need.

You are probably all too aware of the need for your organization, but others might not be. One way to get outside of your own head is to look around at the environment you are operating in. What are the goals and needs there and how do you fit within that? For example, if you are a local arts organization, you are a part of improving the quality of life for residents in your town. If you run an after school program, you are serving the broader educational needs of children.

In facilitating a conversation about the need for your organization, there are a couple of questions it is helpful to ask. As always, I’ll be using Chirp for examples. Chirp is the school for birds founded by Claxon’s mascot, Roxie, a bird with moxie. Want the back-story? Of course you do. Download it here.

Why do we exist? In asking this question you want to play the role of that inquisitive kid who doesn’t stop asking why. The conversation might look like this:

“Why does our school exist?” “Because birds need a full vocabulary.” “Why do they need a full vocabulary?” “So they can express themselves and communicate with different flocks.” “Why…” and so on.

Before starting this exercise, be sure to explain what you are doing and why. Not only is it helpful for getting people into the right mindset, but without an explanation, “why” questioning can be interpreted as an aggressive challenge to something that is an important core value.

For another example, see Erica’s discussion of Charleston Park Conservancy in a post on sharing your why. They do a fabulous job of communicating where they fit within the larger goals of the city.

What would be different if we didn’t exist? You can also approach the question of why you are needed by imagining a world without you in it. How dreary! It’s fun to queue the It’s a Wonderful Life melodrama, but get serious about it too. In thinking about the things you do, it is easy to be vague. The starkness of not existing, however, can bring focus and clarity. That’s why this line of questioning is a great way to find hard numbers for the impact you are having. Think about things like:

Is there another city or target demographic for which an organization like yours doesn’t exist?

Are the other organizations like yours operating at capacity making it likely the clients would go unserved without you?

Are there outcomes your methods achieve that differ from those of other nonprofits in your field?

Messaging based on the answer to this question could look like this for Chirp:

Thanks to your support, 50 of your fine, feathered friends have completed our program and learned how to put words to their own unique chirp.

As you can see, the foundation we are laying now, in clarifying what your organization is about, will be super helpful when we get to the “How?” portion of the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree. Stay tuned!

Why does your organization exist? (2 of 15)

September 25, 2014 by Sarah Healy

[This is part two of our 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree Step-by-Step series, written by our fabulous intern, Vicki. If you’re new to the series, you can catch up on previous posts. If you haven’t already gotten 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.]

The first branch: Why does your organization exist? (Part I)

Kids ask “why?” as they are learning how the world works. It has become a joke that we adults find it annoying to have every explanation met with this question, but I’m here to tell you, “The kids are right.” Asking “why?” is foundational to understanding anything.

The first question in the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree is “Why does your organization exist?” In some cases, the answer can be less intuitive than you may think.

For instance, let’s look at Alcoholics Anonymous. The founder’s personal why became the organization’s why and permeated the culture and structure of the organization. At first, however, he didn’t have a clear understanding of why he was starting the organization.

When Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous he was trying to help other alcoholics. Early on, however, he found that talking to other alcoholics was what he needed to stay sober. He realized that his true motivation was to help himself through helping others. He then realized that what his fellow alcoholics might really need was an opportunity to help others themselves. A peer-to-peer approach replaced his initial model where he was criticized for preaching at people too much. No one likes to be preached at! His new approach, built from a more authentic understanding of his motivations, saw alcoholics flocking to the new organization.

This shift in understanding of his own motivations had repercussions for how the organization was run. He taught something of an altruistic pyramid scheme where you helped yourself by helping others. The stress placed on anonymity is not just about protecting privacy. It is also about the importance of not letting the organization have a figurehead with a bullhorn. Each group is still independently run rather than being controlled by the central organization. This all gets back to their why.

The question of why you exist can be broken down into two parts: the motivating belief driving your mission and the perception of need. In this post I’m focusing on motivations.

In Erica’s video Heads and Hearts, she talks about her motivations for volunteering with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Spoiler alert! She was motivated by her heart, not her head.

If your organization has not clearly defined why it exists, reflecting on personal values is a great place to start. Have your board, staff, and key supporters pick their top two or three personal values and ask them to explain how those values motivate the work they do in your organization. (If you need help getting started, you can find a value-defining tool here.) Look for the common values that are driving your organization in its mission. Pulling these together is like looking at the repeating theme in a jazz piece. If you just overlaid each musician’s riff, you would get a noisy mess. Instead, you want to pull out the common thread that runs through everything.

Let’s take a look at Chirp to see what this would look like. Chirp is the nonprofit school Roxie, Claxon’s mascot, is starting for her fine, feathered friends. Not sure what I’m talking about? You can download it here.

The leadership of Chirp all thought about their values and wrote about how those values influenced their desire to work with Chirp.

Roxie values joy and expressiveness:

I want to make the world a better place. It is already amazing, but I know it can be better. One thing that I think would help is if everyone could tell others about the wonderful things they have discovered. I want to be able to tell my family about the beautiful valleys and the lake I found when I was out flying today. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. Now that they have been through the Chirp program, I can. And, they can tell me about the great places they have found for digging for worms. Life is great!

Albert values learning and carefulness:

Whenever I have a puzzle or decision to make, I find it helpful to talk the matter over with others. It is easy to be biased by your own point of view and so I try to seek out those with a different perspective. Unfortunately, it is hard to find other birds with the breadth of vocabulary necessary to accurately explain their position. I am sure there must be so much knowledge locked away in the brains of my avian friends. I wish I had access to even a portion of that wisdom. Once more birds learn a full vocabulary, it is my hope that Chirp will expand its educational offerings beyond the language arts. The world’s greatest scientist or economist might be a bird, but we don’t yet know what they have to say because they lack the words.

Myrtle values cooperation and friendliness:

I just love meeting new friends! There are so many nice birds out there. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding them because they use so few words, which is a shame because I can still tell they are real nice. I can’t help but think, if we could just talk to each other – really communicate – we could accomplish so much. I’ll bet we could throw the most fabulous aerial dances! I love working with Chirp because I have been able to meet, and eventually talk with, so many new friends.

Jacques values curiosity and personal growth:

In my travels around the world I have met many birds. I wish I could know more about their lives and hear their stories. Alas, so few of them are able to share their vision for the bird society. I value the work Chirp is doing because I want all birds to have the verbal tools they need to explore relationships with other flocks.

Looking over these four statements, the birds of Chirp agreed that they all wanted to hear what each unique bird had to say. “We are teaching them a full vocabulary because we don’t want to miss a single word they have to share.”

In my next post, I’ll talk about the second part of clarifying why you exist—describing the need. In the meantime, have some conversations about motivations. Look for the common threads and see what you learn! And, hang on to your list of value words. You may find it helpful when you build your organizational lexicon.

Roxie’s Tale

Your Step-by-Step Guide to the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree (1 of 15)

September 18, 2014 by Sarah Healy

Vicki Williams, Claxon Over the coming months, Vicki, our fabulous intern (pictured with jaunty umbrella at left) is going to walk you through the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree, a tool that guides you through the process of creating a Marketing Action Plan. If you haven’t already gotten this tool, now is a great time to either buy the awesome poster-size version or download the free version, so you can follow along. You can find the free version in Claxon’s DIY tools a la carte menu or in the Marketing 101 Toolkit. You can buy the super spiffy poster here.

Because examples are always helpful when learning new things, we will be using the example of Chirp, a nonprofit school that helps birds find their unique voice. (Yes, we did have fun coming up with that, thanks for asking.) This post is a tidge longer because the story of how Chirp came into being is included. You can also download it. Okay, enough back story–let’s dig in!

THE 1, 2, 3 MARKETING TREE

The 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree asks three fundamental questions:

What does success look like?
Who do you need to reach to be successful?
How will you reach your best supporters!

Each main question has a variety of sub-questions. We’ll guide you through each of them over a series of fifteen posts. We’ll explain why these questions are important and offer some tips for facilitating the discussions at your organization.

We have learned that having an example of how another organization might answer the questions in the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree. Therefore, we have created a case study that will be used as an example for each post. The case study features Roxie, Claxon’s mascot, and Chirp, the nonprofit school she is starting for her fine, feathered friends. At the end of each post, you will see how Roxie tackled that question, so you have an example to follow for your organization.

Don’t forget to get your very own 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree so you can follow along. But before we dig in, you have to learn a bit more about Chirp. Read on and learn how Roxie came to start this very special school for birds. If you don’t subscribe to this blog, now would be a good time to sign up. Then you’re guaranteed to get all 15 posts in this series!

Roxie’s Tale

Hatched

High in the branches of the tallest tree in the forest sat a nest. And in this nest lay a group of little eggs. These were ordinary-looking eggs, round and white and speckled. All was quiet in the little nest except for the occasional passing breeze and the faint sounds of snoring.

But then one day something happened. One of the eggs started to stir. It leaned to the left, and then it leaned to the right. It wobbled forward and then it wobbled back. It shuddered and shook, and then…..

CRACK. A little beak broke through the shiny, smooth shell. The beak paused, as though startled by what it had accomplished. It sniffed the air for a moment, and then crunched away at the egg until a large, jagged hole let in the sunshine for the first time.

Slowly, cautiously, a little head rose from the wreckage. Roxie the bird blinked her eyes and stared in amazement for the first time at the big world around her. She saw golden fields and rolling hills, mountains and valleys, forests and streams. She gasped in delight as she looked over this world, HER world, that was made just for her and for no one els……

CRACK again. The egg next to her rattled and shook and another little head peeped out and looked around. “Me!” it chirped. “Me! Me! Me!”

Roxie froze. Maneuvering her newly-discovered eyes, she shifted her gaze over to her left to see who had joined her. Her little brother emerged from his own egg and shook his damp feathers. He looked up at her and grinned. “Me!”

“You?” she asked. “Me!” he replied. This dialogue went on for a while.

Soon the other eggs were cracking and opening and the nest was filled with fledglings. Roxie found herself surrounded by a chorus of “Me! Me! Me!”. She quickly discovered that her siblings were not very good at conversation.

Just as Roxie was about to give up, a dark shadow passed over the nest. Suddenly the “me”s were silent and they all looked up above. A large shape was descending rapidly on the nest, and very quickly Mama Bird thumped down in the midst of them, her beak full of fresh worms. “MEEEEE!!!” shouted all Roxie’s siblings at once, converging on Mama Bird. She laughed with delight and tucked them all under her wings. Roxie, being quite cautious only a few minutes into her life, stood back and assessed the situation.

“Um…. Are you my mother?” she asked. Mama Bird looked taken aback. “Me?” she asked. “Yes, you,” replied Roxie. “Are you my mother?”

“Meeeee! Me! Me!” Mama Bird squawked, shaking her head. Clearly flustered, she flapped her wings which disturbed all Roxie’s siblings. They all quickly joined her in agitated cries of “Me! Me! Me!”

”What’s wrong?” asked a perplexed Roxie.

At this, Mama Bird took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, extended a wing to point at Roxie, and said in as firm a voice as she could muster, “ME.”

“Uhhhh…. Me?” asked Roxie.

“Me!” they all replied in happy unison, embracing Roxie with their wings and pulling her into the fold. Roxie was not sure how she felt about all this.

You mean, “Me?”

In the days that followed, Roxie grew and learned to fly. During all that time, Mama Bird and her brothers and sisters succeeded in saying nothing more than “me”. She tried over and over to start conversations about the lovely world around them or what it meant to be birds, but to no avail. She became sad and despondent until one day she had had enough of saying “me”. Roxie desperately wanted to engage more deeply with her mother and so she tried the only thing she could think of.

The next day as Mama Bird was tucking Roxie and her siblings in for a nap, she whispered “me” and gave them all a little peck on the forehead. Each one responded with a tired sigh of “me.” But when Mama came around to Roxie, Roxie replied with a cautious “you.” Mama Bird looked aghast but, not wanting to wake the others, remained calm. “Me,” she said firmly.

Roxie mustered up her courage and replied, “Mama, I know you want me to use the same words you do, but the world is so amazing. It deserves more words!”

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

“What if you just tried saying ‘you’?” Roxie implored. “It is such a small word. I’m sure you could fit it in.”

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

“You,” suggested Roxie.

“Me,” said Mama Bird.

Roxie sighed. “Me.”

Just before the dawn

One particularly dark and spooky night, Roxie snuck away from her cluster of snoozing brothers and sisters and tiptoed to the edge of the nest. Having become quite adept at flying by now, she spread her wings and swooped out into the inky black. She fluttered though the night, intending to take just a quick flight around and then return to the safety of her home. But the farther away she strayed, the more difficult it was to find her way back. Shadows in the moonlight made it nearly impossible to recognize once-familiar landmarks. As she passed over rocks and creeks she had never seen before, she became increasingly worried. Finally she landed on the sharp branches of a lone dead tree high on a hill. She was totally lost. Feeling more scared and alone than ever in her short life, she began to cry.

After just a moment, her breath caught in her beak and she became silent. She had an overwhelming feeling that she was not alone. Almost afraid to look, she slowly turned her head and opened her eyes. What she saw caused her to gasp.

A huge figure sat still and silent on the branch, with great horns atop its head and bright yellow eyes peering down at her. She was speechless.

“WHOOOOOOOOOO are you?” it asked, piercing the silence.

Roxie was startled but quickly regained her composure.

“I’m Roxie. WHAT are you?”

“Ah, WHAT! Yes, what! I am so glad you have asked me WHAT instead of WHO!” The figure relaxed from its taut position and began pacing back and forth along the branch.

“All of my fellows simply ask ‘Who,’ ‘Who,’ ‘Who’ all the time, and I keep trying to tell them that first you must ask WHAT.”

Roxie had still not found the answer to her question. “Yes, sir, but you still have not told me what you are.”

“Oh my, yes, yes indeed little one,” he replied, chuckling. “I… am an owl. A Great Horned Owl to be exact. My name is Albert. My father’s name was Albert, and his father before that, and his father before that. Very pleased to meet you, my dear.”

Albert bowed, took Roxie’s wing, and pecked it lightly.

“I say, it is refreshing to meet another bird as loquacious as yourself, who can carry on a conversation,” said Albert. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Roxie paused and thought about this for a moment. She was not sure. Language was something that was present to her as she emerged from her egg; she had never really considered from where it had come. She was beginning to realize she had a rare gift.

“I… I’m not sure, sir.” She replied. “It’s just always been there, like knowing how to pull a worm out of the ground or spreading my wings and flying. Where did you learn to speak?”

“Words have been part of my family for generations,” he said, his bright yellow eyes fixed on her unblinkingly. “My great-great-great-grandfather Albert was the first of my family to have the gift of speech, and all of his descendants have been speakers as well.”

“But why don’t all the rest of the birds in the forest speak like we do?” Roxie asked.

“They have never cultivated their ability to speak like you and I,” Albert said solemnly. “As all the birds of a feather flocked together over the years, they became mired in the jargon of their little groups. It became hard for different flocks to understand one another. And then, the less they communicated, the fewer words they used. They just kept using the same words over and over and over again until they forgot the beauty of a full vocabulary.”

Roxie immediately understood why all the birds in her nest said nothing but “me”. They had become too focused on themselves. She immediately wanted to help them.

“Mr. Albert, can you help me find my way back home? I think I can make a difference starting with my own nest.”

Albert looked up and saw the first hints of purple and orange dancing on the horizon, announcing the approach of daybreak.

“It is nearly bedtime, my dear,” he said, “but no proper gentleman would leave a young maiden in distress. Of course I will help you find your way home. We’ll have to search it out together.”

The two of them took flight from the branch, Albert coasting silently on the breeze with Roxie fluttering clumsily behind. As they flew over the countryside, Roxie looked around desperately for something familiar. She was hoping to see a rock, a tree, a stream, anything that would point her in the right direction toward home. A short time later, the sun had fully risen casting the fresh light of dawn on the dew-laden countryside. But they were no closer to finding Roxie’s home.

Where’s Roxie?

Meanwhile, back at the nest, Mama Bird was becoming frantic. Roxie wasn’t there when they had awoken that morning. Mama looked for her all around their part of the forest, but couldn’t find her anywhere.

Roxie had been a particularly difficult chick. Mama Bird only wanted her to fit in with the rest of the birds, but now she feared she had been too hard on her. Perhaps she should have tried to use words Roxie could relate to.

Mama Bird circled back to the nest, exhausted, to check on the rest of her brood. As she sat, nestled in with her remaining chicks, she gazed out over the forest from her perch in the highest branches of the tallest tree. Thinking of Roxie, she quietly whispered, “you.”

Duck, Duck, Goose

After flying in circles for what seemed like hours, Albert and Roxie both needed a rest. Albert led the way down into a bright meadow and a pond. They landed on the low branches of a shady tree to relax for a moment and get their bearings. As they sat, however, a steady stream of chatter met their ears.

“What? What? What? What?”

Roxie and Albert both instinctively looked up, expecting to find another bird in the branches of the tree. There was no one there. Roxie was the first to look down, and was surprised by what she saw.

A parade of ducks was waddling down the bank and into the pond. Each of them was rapidly asking, “what what what what” as they splashed into the water, one by one.

Albert could hardly contain himself. “WHOO! WHOO!! WHO are these wise birds who are all asking the most important question, ‘what!’”

“Hello there,” he called. “WHOOO are you?”

“What what what what what,” came the reply.

“Ahem.” Albert cleared his throat to call more loudly.

WHOOOOOO are you, friends?”

“What what what what what.”

“I say,” muttered Albert quietly, as he inhaled deeply preparing to shout louder than ever.

“Don’t waste your breath, big guy,” came a very different voice from behind. Albert gave a start and turned his head 180 degrees to see who was speaking. A lovely, brown, rather plump duck looked back up at him. “These guys ask ‘what, what, what’ all the time but they’re far too vague. They’re not very smart with their ‘what’s.”

“Of course,” Roxie chimed in. “Mr. Albert has been telling me what an important question ‘what’ is. Though it sounds like your friends here are not being specific.”

“What they want to do changes all the time!” the duck said, with some frustration. “Every day they want to fly, and then they want to swim, and then they want to drive tourists around the pond in an amphibious vehicle. They can never make up their minds. I think the problem is their vocabulary… They can’t put into words what they really want to achieve.”

Roxie and Albert looked at each other, nodding. Here was a kindred spirit, another bird who was just as frustrated by an inadequate use of words.

“Name’s Myrtle,” she said. “How ‘bout you two?”

“I’m Roxie,” Roxie replied, “and this is Albert.” Albert bowed deeply. “At your service, Madam.”

“We’ve been discussing how some birds wordify their speech and some don’t,” Roxie continued. “I have to ask, where did you learn so many words?”

Myrtle laughed. “Oh, just picked it up along the way I suppose. Flying from farm to farm around the countryside, I couldn’t help but overhear the farmers talking, and I always found it interesting how many words they used. I just listened closely and over time picked up a bunch of new words for my own use, like ‘cultivate’ and ‘fertilize’. And whenever the farmers would get really angry they would use an interesting word that sounds a lot like ‘duck’ but I could never figure out what it means.”

Just then, a series of shadows passed overhead. A wide ‘V’ formation of flying objects coasted across the sky and then turned back toward the pond. They flew lower and lower until finally a squadron of Canada geese landed with a splash at the far end of the water. The other ducks were the first to greet them, with an enthusiastic chorus of “What! What! What! What!” The geese responded with cheerful calls of “How! How! How!”

The leader of the geese paddled toward Roxie and her friends, and lifted his aviator goggles. “Bonjour, mes amis!” he called. “I am Jacques. My associates and I are en route from Montreal on our way south for the winter. We have stopped at your lovely pond for a brief rest and refueling before continuing on our way.

Roxie opened her beak to speak, but Myrtle flapped her way in front of them all to be the first to speak. “Well my my,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “We couldn’t be more honored to have such a handsome and cultured group of gentlefowl like yourself. Please do make yourself at home.” The faintest hint of a blush was visible beneath her feathers.

“Merci beaucoup,” Jacques replied.

“Yes, mercy me indeed,” said Myrtle, fanning herself with her wings. “Did you say you have a winter home down south? How cosmopolitan.” She smiled broadly and batted her eyelashes again.

Just then the pond erupted in a cacophony of whats and hows. From the sidelines, Roxie and her friends watched in concerned confusion as the two flocks became increasingly agitated, each trying to form a circle around the other.

“It would seem that they are attempting a game of duck-duck-goose,” noted Albert. “It must be hard to decide who is ‘it’ when you don’t have the words to communicate properly.”

The two flocks soon settled down, each retreating to its own side of the pond.

One of the other newly-landed geese paddled over to Jacques. “How?” he asked.

“Oui, Jean-Luc,” Jacques replied, “we need to find out HOW to continue our course down south.” He pulled out a map and began plotting coordinates.

“Ah, what sort of measurements are you taking?” asked Albert.

“Yes,” Myrtle added quickly. “A big, strong fellow like yourself was born to be a leader. Where exactly are you going?”

Jacques looked up from his map. “Orlando!” he replied, enthusiastically. “Sea World! Disney! Putt-putt golfing!”

“How!” Jean-Luc added, for emphasis.

“I am plotting how to reach our destination, but naturally we will have to assess our progress and make course corrections along the way,” Jacques continued. “This is a map of your local area.”

“How does a map work?” asked Roxie.

“It is a drawing of important landmarks. See here,” explained Jacques, unfurling the large parchment. This is the pond where we are now. Over the ridge, you should find Mrs. Timberlake’s birdfeeder, marked on the map with the sunflower seed symbol. We want to head south, so we need to fly in this direction, toward the tallest tree in the forest.”

Roxie gasped. “Did you say the tallest tree in the forest?”

“Oui,” replied Jacques. “I know that landmark well. We fly by it every year.”

“How,” said Jean-Luc, nodding.

“But that’s where my home is!” exclaimed Roxie. “I got lost and I’ve been trying to find my way back. Can you show me the way?”

“But of course, mademoiselle,” agreed Jacques. “It would be an honor.”

“I’ll come too!” interjected Myrtle. “I know this neck of the woods. I can help.”

“Oh, that will not be necessary,” said Jacques. He quickly added, “but of course, as you wish,” upon seeing a disappointed look cross Myrtle’s face. “Indeed, I’m sure you would be of great assistance. You can get Roxie settled as we fly on.”

“What?” she protested in alarm. “So soon? But you just got here!”

Jacques gave a little shrug. “We must fly south. Winter is coming. It is what we do.”

“But why? What do you need to accomplish in the south that you can’t do here?” Myrtle lamented, looking increasingly distraught.

Jacques opened his beak to respond, paused, and then shut it again. “This is an interesting question you ask,” he noted, tilting his head and giving Myrtle a look of wary appreciation.

“It is? I mean, oh, yes, it is! ‘What’ is a very important question. You can never hope to make reasonable decisions if you don’t first decide what you want to achieve.” Myrtle beamed, happy to finally be getting some much-deserved attention from Jacques.

“Hmmm… You have given me much to think about. Perhaps we could… Might we discuss this further? I would be delighted to have you join me in the front as we return Roxie to her home.”

“Oh! What! Oh!” blurted Myrtle, blushing bright crimson and, for once, at a loss for words.

Wordspiration

As the slightly irregular V-shaped flock headed south, Roxie slowly began to recognize more and more of the terrain beneath them. She thought of her family and smiled, choosing not to worry just yet about how Mama Bird would react to the plan she was developing.

“You! You!”

Roxie turned to see who had said that and saw Mama Bird flying toward them.

“You! You! You!” she called.

“Mama!” cried Roxie.

The birds all quickly landed at the edge of a nearby meadow and Roxie was quickly enveloped in Mama Bird’s wings.

After their tearful embrace, Roxie introduced her new friends to Mama Bird.

“You,” said Mama Bird, smiling gratefully at Albert.

“A pleasure to meet you as well,” he replied, giving her a little bow.

Roxie could contain herself no more. “Mama!” she exclaimed, “Where did you learn to wordify?”

“You,” she explained.

Roxie could barely believe it. Her short, frustrated lessons had doubled Mama Bird’s vocabulary! Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to make such significant progress. Her plans no longer seemed far-fetched.

“Everyone, I have an announcement!” the little bird declared boldly. “The only thing holding us birds back is our words. Individual birds aren’t heard because their voices aren’t unique. Different flocks can’t engage with each other because each is caught up in its own language. Teaching birds how to use a full vocabulary can solve both of these problems! If we can all come together and share our own message, we can make the world an even better place. I am going to start a school to teach birds how to wordify their message.”

All the birds fluttered their wings in excitement.

“What? What? What? What?” squawked Myrtle.

“Who?” intoned Albert.

“How?” nodded Jacques.

“Great questions,” replied Roxie. “ We need a plan!

A School for Birds

Roxie’s school for birds, Chirp, has been up and running for a year now. Their mission is:

To mobilize all birds everywhere; regardless of feather size, shape, color, or water repellency; by providing a first class educational experience in language arts which can empower them to talk to other birds with different (valued) experiences and viewpoints, ensuring optimal diversity, effectiveness, and sustainability for the bird community.

The initial class was comprised of Roxie’s family along with Jacques and Myrtle’s flocks. The eager students were taught an expanded vocabulary which they are using to make new friends. Chirp wants to be able to grow, but first needs to demonstrate that their teaching methods can work on different flocks of bird

A Success Story

Before coming to Chirp, Canada goose Amelie and mallard Bud had never had a conversation with a bird from a different flock. While working on their lessons, however, they found in each other a helpful study partner, a valued friend, and maybe something more. “I never knew I could have so much in common with someone from such a different background,” explained Amelie. “As we started to put words to our hopes and dreams – for clean water and free access to small bugs – we found we weren’t so different after all.” The budding duck-goose romance has been the talk of the school. Their teacher, Myrtle, is overjoyed to see the partnership develop. “I know some birds don’t see a bird from a different flock as a potential romantic partner, but I think this just goes to show that you shouldn’t be so quick with that sort of judgment.” With more open, accessible, and understandable communication, all of the staff and students at Chirp hope to build a future where all birds can make beautiful music together.

The Competition

Steve the crow started a choir, which is rehearsing The Bird’s the Word. Chirp was initially hopeful of creating a partnership. However, Steve was insistent both on having choir members all say the same thing and on teaching only the nonsensical phrase “Papa-ooma-mow-mow.” Chirp felt that both of these points ran contrary to their core values and so negotiations broke down. Currently, Roxie is not counting crows amongst her supporters, though she remains hopeful that a relationship could be forged once Chirp has established a stronger reputation.

Marketing Needs

Roxie and her friends are ready to take the lessons they have learned from their first year with Chirp and apply them to new students – but where to find them? Chirp needs to bring in new students, both to keep the doors open and to test their teaching methods with a more diverse set of birds. Albert has received inquiries from owls familiar with his family’s reputation, but they have no other potential students as yet.

Roxie has decided to use the 1, 2, 3, Marketing Tree to develop a marketing action plan for Chirp.

Roxie’s Tale

The Winner of the 2014 #WorstMissionStatement Contest is…

September 16, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

…The Center for Justice!

Of all the entries, this one really stood out:

“The Center for Justice is a legal advocacy organization that works to empower individuals and provides vigorous oversight and advocacy when community rights need to be defended and community voices need to be heard.”

Before we dig into what could be improved about this statement, let’s talk about what it has going for it:

In the land of nonprofit Mission Statements, it’s relatively short. It isn’t a laundry list of absolutely, positively everything they do (although it could be more rigorous…more on that in a minute).
It’s not totally vanilla. There are some words with oomph in here—vigorous, defend, etc.

That said, this Mission Statement doesn’t do justice to the work of the Center for Justice.

The Reading Ease Score is a mere 3.3. That means the reader can’t understand 96.7% of it. #Drat
Even though it’s not a big ol’ long laundry list, it’s still trying to do too much. Your Mission Statement should concisely state what you do (and sometimes, space permitting, how you do it). By my count, there are five examples of what they do: 1) empower individuals, 2) provide oversight, 3) provide advocacy, 4) defend community rights, and 5) allow community voices to be heard. Are all these created equal? Usually the answer is ‘no’. Are some more important than others? Usually the answer is ‘yes’.
The statement hedges. Rather than “empowering individuals” they “work to empower individuals”. The addition of qualifiers such as work, trying, endeavoring, etc is very common in nonprofit Mission Statements. They get added because you don’t want to overstate your influence, i.e. the Center isn’t single-handedly responsible for empowering the individuals it serves. This is true and yet I still recommend you ditch the qualifiers.

Folks will know you’re not completely and utterly responsible for every single aspect of the empowerment (or oversight or advocacy, etc). We add qualifiers because we worry we’ll find ourselves at a BBQ with someone waggling a drumstick at us and saying, “Oh yeah? How is it that you do all that empowering?” That seems scary but it’s actually a good thing! Because question are good, right? Right. So no more qualifiers.

I don’t love the word ‘empowerment’ because it’s overused, but I appreciate and understand that for some groups—and often for those working in the field of legal advocacy—it’s an important word. Assuming that’s the case for the Center for Justice and we leave ‘empowerment’ in their statement, they might end up with something like this:

“The Center for Justice empowers individuals and communities through legal defense and advocacy.”

Other options with a significantly higher readability score include:

“The Center for Justice uses the law to protect individual and community rights.”

“The Center for Justice uses the law to defend individual and community rights.”

Remember: The job of your Mission Statement is to communicate your essence, not your everything. If someone is interested in your essence, there will be plenty of time to tell them everything else there is to know about you and your wonderful work.

Thank you again to all the organizations who were brave enough to submit their Mission Statements for the Worst Mission Statement competition. We hope some of these suggestions will help you develop a Mission Statement that’s as great as the work you do!

Why smart fundraisers pay attention to pronouns

September 9, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

“I would love to get together for coffee.”

“Would love to get together for coffee.”

The difference between these two sentences may seem subtle, but it’s actually staggering:.

The difference, obviously, is that the second sentence drops the “I”. Why is this so earth-shattering? And why should you care? Because pronouns reflect power dynamics. Pronouns could reveal just how many cups of coffee you may need to have before they cut you a check.

When you’re in the power position, you use pronouns less often. You’ll drop them altogether. You won’t notice you’re doing this. We all do it subconsciously.

Using the example above, the second response would indicate that the donor is still mulling over whether your organization will be on their Philanthropic Hit Parade. They’re holding their cards close to their chest, one eyebrow raised. Their pronoun-free response is their subtle way of saying, “Still on the fence, dear fundraiser. Make your case and I’ll ponder.”

We can figure all of this out simply by looking at a measly pronoun? Yep, that’s right. Pronouns. I, we, he, she, us, them. These itsy, bitsy words matter. A lot.

“I” is the single most frequently used word in spoken and written texts. Indeed, thanks to Professor James W. Pennebaker and his research team, we know that “I” accounts for 3.64% of all words used. That alone is interesting as it reflects what we care about most–ourselves. To be clear, being focused on yourself doesn’t make you a self-centered jerk. It means you’re human and, therefore, hard-wired to focus on survival. Just cuz a tiger is no longer chasing you across a tundra doesn’t mean your brain isn’t fighting to survive. It just looks a little different these days.

Focusing on ourselves is inevitable. And our language reveals this.

Pronouns and the larger category that they fall under called “function words”, are your linguistic BFFs. Paying attention to them can pay off in a big way. The more you use “you” and “your”, and the less you use “I” and “We”, the more you speak directly to what the donor (as a human being) cares about most–him or herself.

If your goal is to engage donors, mind your p’s and q’s and absolutely, positively pay attention to your pronouns.

What karate taught me about marketing

September 3, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

When I was 19, I started doing karate. I quickly became completely and utterly obsessed. I trained 15-20 hours a week. It was fantastic. #OhToBeYoungAgain

Six years later, I moved back to Vancouver, Canada. I tried to find a dojo that felt like a good fit but nothing felt quite right. So I stopped training. Aside from the occasional back kick to close the fridge door, karate played no role in my life (save for watching Bruce Lee flicks, which isn’t quite the same thing).

Then about a month ago, I ended up with a running-related injury that was bad enough I had to stop running. I started doing some basic punching and kicking as part of my daily exercise routine because, well, punching and kicking is a good cardio workout and didn’t annoy my flamed out calf. I was instantly reminded of just how much I love karate and why.

Karate isn’t about beating people up–it’s about discipline and focus. These attributes come in really handy if you’re a marketer.

With spiffy new tools, ideas and technology coming at you faster than Jason Statham’s right hook, it’s easy to get distracted. You have to be extremely disciplined and stay focused on your goals and objectives. In karate, if you lose focus, you end up with a broken ankle and/or ribs (been there, done that). In marketing, if you lose focus you risk falling prey to Shiny Object Syndrome. Not quite as painful as a broken rib, but certainly sub-optimal.

If you’re 5’4″ (like yours truly) and your opponent is 6’4″, a roundhouse kick gets the job done better than a straight punch. Translation: If you’re not getting the results you want from your marketing efforts, take some time and make sure your actions align with your objectives. Not as fun as checking out your Facebook feed for the 47th time today, but effective.

I promise, Grasshopper, your discipline and focus will pay off.

A Super Easy Way for Nonprofits to Replicate the #IceBucketChallenge

August 28, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

The success of the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge is a sight to behold. Everyone from Bill Gates (who has a much better sense of humor than he is given credit for) to Matt Damon (who uses toilet water cuz he’s the co-founder of water.org and a marketing genius) is getting in on the action. It has generated tons of buzz and so far raised $94 million. #Yowza

It’s obvious that part of what made the #IceBucketChallenge a success is its exceptionally high fun factor and that it was easy, i.e. people were instantly engaged. Who wouldn’t want to see Laura pour a bucket of ice cold water all over W, after all?!

The ALS Association are making it super easy for people to get in on the fun. So long as you have water, ice, a bucket-like container and a way to take a video, you’re set.

Put another way:

Fun + Easy = Successful Engagement

If we know this combo works, why oh why are nonprofits using boring, convoluted language to talk about their work? Doesn’t make sense.

Yes, I’m going to harsh on Mission Statements. Again. Remember this list of Mission Statements that were un-fun and technically incomprehensible? Mm-hm. That list. The one that sparked our Worst Mission Statement contest.

But it’s not just nonprofit Mission Statements that make people nod off. We did a survey of 384 nonprofit websites and learned that, of the 250,000 words in the English language, nonprofits are only using about 1,000. Gimme a B-O-R-I-N-G.

Totally fine to try your hand at creating something as successful as the #IceBucketChallenge, but seeing if you can use language that’s fun and easy-to-understand would be a worthy challenge as well!

Want to win prizes for spunking up your Mission Statement? Enter to win our Worst Mission Statement contest by 8/31!

Really? Really.

August 21, 2014 by Sarah Healy

This is the latest post from our word-nerd-erific inter, Vicki.

I have a love hate relationship with the word really. There are times when it is great.

Thank you very much.
Thank you, really.

Both sentences use an intensifier on “thank you” but the sentence with “really” feels more, well, real. I like that the thing it is highlighting is the authenticity of the sentence. There are many times when really is a fabulous word choice, but I have two issues it.

First, I over use it. Grossly. I annoy myself with how often I say “really.” To deal with this problem I search for every instance of the word really when editing and make sure it needs to be there. It’s at the top of my editing checklist.

The other issue I have is something I learned while editing it out. Really, like other intensifiers, often hides vagueness. As the term implies, we use intensifiers when we want to make a statement more (you guessed it) intense. However, if the statement needs more intensity, it deserves more than just an extra word slapped on. In these instances, figure out why you need to make your words intense. Is there a more specific word or do you need to elaborate? I’m all for parsimony, but sometimes you need a few more words to make your point.

Let’s revisit our example from above and look at the term “Thank you.” Imagine you’re thanking a new volunteer at your organization’s soup kitchen.

Thank you. We were able to feed fifty more people because you helped today. The kindness and patience you gave our clients show that you share the values that motivate us all in this work. I know Penny appreciated your help with that tray. She hesitates to ask so it was sweet of you to jump in and offer assistance.

There are no intensifiers in that version, but it has a stronger impact because I’m showing the connection to the mission and core values as well as giving some personal detail.

Look for places where you are using intensifiers in your own writing. How many can you replace by being more specific?

Looking for more tips on “Thank you?” Erica has a few posts on the topic. This one is my favorite.

Thinking of creating your own list of things to check for when editing? You may enjoy Tessa’s post on editing checklists.

Never Say You’re Sorry

August 14, 2014 by Sarah Healy

This is a post from our super smart intern, Vicki.

“I’m sorry.” Two words that seem powerful, but are really pretty lame.

To fail is human. The time comes when even the best of us have to own a failing, but promise me you’ll never say you’re sorry. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t own up to your mistakes. I am saying “I’m sorry” is a terrible way to do it.

Apologies are important. Let’s look at how to do them well.

In crafting your language, be clear on the type of failure you are addressing. There are two types of failures: routine failures and serious failures.

Routine failures should not be apologized for. You are amazing, but you don’t have superpowers. You can’t keep equipment from breaking down or keep key volunteers from moving away. Apologizing for things like this builds the expectation that everything should always be perfect. Don’t do that.The only way to avoid ever failing is to never try anything. Without trying things, you can’t find new and better ways of doing things. So trying is good and failing is to be expected. But don’t apologize simply because something you try doesn’t work out.

In some cases, the failure is more serious. Situations of mismanagement or ethical breaches require genuine apologies. The more grave the need for an apology, the more reason to plan it carefully.

As you can see, in either case, a knee-jerk “I’m sorry” is vague and ineffective. So how can you address the issue (which is important to do) without saying you’re sorry since that’s vague and ineffective? By following these steps:

The building blocks of an effective apology:

In any communication plan, the first step is to be clear on what your goal is. Each situation is different, but the core goal is restoration. You need to restore trust. In the immediate aftermath, many people simply want the painful repercussions of failure to stop. Not only is this goal shortsighted, it focuses you on the wrong person: yourself.
That brings us to the second step. Focus on who you are speaking to and their needs. They don’t need to see you grovel and cry. They need to feel confident that the situation will get better.
How can you give them hope? By sharing your plan. The third step of your messaging plan is where you get to shine. Tell them where things went wrong or at least how you are investigating the source of the problem. If the failure involves an ethical breach, identify the values that have been violated and express the organization’s recommitment to those values. Tell them what procedures you are putting in place to keep this from happening again. Tell them how great things are going to be when you are done. Be specific. Be positive.

Does the What, Who, How structure of this post look familiar? If so, pat yourself on the back. You’ve been paying attention! What, who, and how make up the core components of the Claxon Method and the 1, 2, 3 Marketing Tree. We usually talk about applying the Claxon Method to marketing action plans, but you can apply it to all sorts of things.

For a beautiful example of effective communication about failure, check out Splash’s fail log.They link to it from the front page of their website, and they are right to be proud of it. When I see an organization handle failure like a champ, I trust them all the more.

Enter to win the ‘Worst Nonprofit Mission Statement Contest’

August 5, 2014 by Erica Barnhart

Mission Statements, Worst Mission Statement, Nonprofit Mission Statement I’ve been spending lots of time thinking about Mission Statements because of our Mini-Mission Makeover series. Turns out there’s nothing mini about how bad most Nonprofit Mission Statements are. To wit, this submission from Leslie Hall of the Michigan Rural EMS Network:

“MiREMS is a diverse network representing EMS interest in Michigan developing partnerships with providers, to identify challenges, strategies, and opportunities to improve patient outcomes for all Michigan residents.”

Leslie also wrote, “If you have a Worst Mission Statement Contest, I believe I will be a strong contender!” With all due respect, Leslie, I couldn’t agree more.

Here we are, all about mission and yet the statements that are meant to reflect that mission are incomprehensible combos of meaningless words. This must stop. Mushy, incomprehensible Mission Statements drive people away, rather than bringing them in. And that’s no good. Let’s do a Failure Bow and move on.

We’re taking Leslie’s suggestion and hosting the Worst Nonprofit Mission Statement Contest. We need to get all this ridiculousness out of our systems, so we can move on to having Marvelous Mission Statements that clearly and compellingly communicate what we do so that people can quickly and easily decide if they want to get involved.

Here’s how the contest will work:

By August 31, you enter to win by posting your organization’s Mission Statement on Claxon’s Facebook page.
In September, we will announce the three finalists in the Claxonette. (If you don’t already subscribe to the Claxonette, now’d be a good time to get yourself signed up.)
You will get to vote on which statement you think is the worst.
The Mission Statement with the most votes wins a copy of Pitchfalls and a Very Special Secret Gift!

Once we have all these terrible Mission Statements behind us, we’ll figure out how to get you a marvelous one, okay? Okay. Now hop to it and submit your statement!