Business Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-29-2022

This Cheat Sheet summarizes two important aspects of data governance: creating policy documents and the responsibilities of a data governance council.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-28-2022

Whether you wind up helping as a volunteer, joining a staff, or serving on a board, you connect with a nonprofit organization because, first and foremost, you believe in the work it’s doing. At some point, you realize that the fundraiser’s role is right at the heart of the organization. Without funding, the organization wouldn’t be able to do any of the good work that got you hooked in the first place. Here, you'll discover a fundraiser’s important tasks, the folks who make up a fundraising department, and tips for continued success.

Article / Updated 11-28-2022

As if a fundraiser’s job weren’t hard enough, sometimes the economy takes a tumble, causing contributions to your organization to slow down. You may need to revamp your fundraising message to make it clear that demands on your program are up, but donations are down. It’s also a good idea to take a look at your budget to see what you can live without until funding picks up again. Use the following tips to help you get started: Know what your organization needs, daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Make contingency plans — know when changes in funding will affect programming or staffing. Increase your efforts to add to your annual fund. Be as realistic as possible — and be candid with your board, staff, and constituents. Use the downturn in giving as a prompt for your givers. Maintain an attitude of “we’re all in this together.” Cut costs where you can — by reducing print pieces and increasing e-mail contact, for example. Use your resources — past board chairpersons, engaged donors, fundraising professionals — to help you navigate through challenging times.

Article / Updated 11-28-2022

The backbone of your fundraising campaign is a strong case statement. A case statement outlines what need your agency addresses, how you address it, what makes your organization unique, and how others can help, whether through time or money. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you write your first draft: Make it clear. Be concise and focused in your mission statement, goals, objectives, and program information. Make it urgent. Give your reader a reason to care about your cause today. Make it complete. Address the five Ws — who, what, when, where, and why — and include them in your case statement. Make it interesting. Tell stories. Both success stories and heart-tugging stories stir the emotions of your readers. Paint images in your readers’ minds. Visual words and action words activate your readers’ imaginations and help them remember your mission. Don’t overdo it. Tugging on heartstrings requires an even hand. Resist gushing. Do your homework. Make sure your facts — financials, program design, staff info, and plans — are accurate and well researched. Include a call to action. Give your readers a clear way to help. Reread, revisit, and revise. Write your best draft, take two aspirin, and ask for reviews — from past donors, volunteers, staff, and your board. Figuring out what others think of the case statement helps you communicate more clearly and compellingly, which, in turn, helps your case statement hit its mark.

Article / Updated 11-21-2022

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Article / Updated 11-18-2022

Fundraising is a never-ending task for most nonprofit organizations. Although you may raise money with various campaigns for different programs within your agency, your overarching fundraising strategy requires you to Write your mission statement — make it clear and memorable. Develop a case statement that reflects who you are and what you do. Develop a fundraising plan. Choose dynamic leaders for your fundraising campaigns. Involve your board in various aspects of your fundraising strategy. Continually build, slice, and dice your donor list. Build an online audience with social media. Use all communication avenues — in person, by phone, through social media, the Web, e-mail, newsletters, and print — to connect with your donors. Assess your effectiveness in all campaigns and do more of what works — and less of what doesn’t.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-10-2022

Meeting success requires a combination of proper meeting design as well as meeting processes that strive for inclusivity. In this handy Cheat Sheet are lists of best practices for leading in-person, virtual, and hybrid meetings. There's also a checklist of best practices for attending meetings. Also, when you're planning meetings, you need to think about the kinds of technology you'll need and what will be available to you.

Article / Updated 11-04-2022

In today's crowded marketplace, sellers have limited time to influence customers' buying decisions. For example, in B2B sales, reps only get about 5 percent of the customer's time before making a purchase decision (The B2B Buying Journey, 2020). This means that the information customers receive before connecting with a salesperson is critical to advancing, or in many cases, getting to a sales conversation. One of the most effective ways a marketer can attract and engage prospects to them closer to a sale is content marketing. Content marketing is an inbound sales strategy that uses high-quality content published by a company that is likely to reach the target customer. The idea is that providing valuable information about the firm's products or services with little or no commitment will improve the prospect's perception of the business, brand, product, or service. In his 1996 essay, Bill Gates famously said, "Content is King," and now, nearly 30 years later, content still reigns supreme. According to HubSpot (2021), 82 percent of marketers actively invest in content marketing to answer pre-sales questions and build trust and credibility with their audience. Free and easily accessible content is no longer a nice to have but an expectation. If a prospect can't easily find helpful information about your products or services online, you have no chance of gaining them as a customer; they will simply move on. Effective content marketing is directly linked to improved results. Demand Metric found that content marketing generates three times as many leads as outbound marketing initiatives and can cost 62 percent less. Seventy-eight percent of content marketers surveyed by Semrush in 20 industries across 40 countries believe that their content marketing was very successful in 2021. All this adds up to a simple truth, if content marketing isn’t part of your strategy, you’re missing out. Today's buyer journey is not as linear as it once was. Prospects are researching your company, brand, and products long before ever connecting with a salesperson. Content marketing helps you align your messaging across the various distribution channels used by your target customer. Message consistency and cohesion are just as important as the quality or volume of your content volume. Conflicting information will confuse your customers, causing them to lose trust in your ability to help them solve their problem. As you begin your content marketing journey, here are some things to keep in mind: Identify your audience — the best content marketing strategies involve finding your audience and publishing the right content to interest the people and add value to their lives. Shift your mindset from marketer to publisher — as you create content, do so with your audience in mind and not your business goals. Establish goals and choose the best form factor for your content — content marketing is a long-term strategy, so be sure to set realistic goals, or you won’t be satisfied. You also need to consider the types of content your target audience is likely to respond best to so you can make intelligent choices. Keep one eye on the competition — don’t assume you know what the competition is doing. Look for gaps in their messaging or opportunities to distinguish yourself. This article is from the book Content Marketing For Dummies, a Dummies Custom Solutions Special Edition. To learn more, download our free eBook, Content Marketing For Dummies. If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more marketing tips, check out the rest of our “Getting Started Series” articles and free eBooks on Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Integrated Marketing, Account-Based Marketing, and Email Marketing. About the Content Sponsor Dummies Custom Solutions creates co-branded custom marketing content that helps our clients “wow” their customers. We create content that positions our clients in front of a larger, global audience, establishing them as thought leaders in their industry, driving demand, increased engagement, and more qualified sales opportunities. References Not Another State of Marketing Report. (2021). Retrieved from HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/State-of-Marketing%20(2).pdf Salkin, M. (2022, March 29). 40+ Content Marketing Statistics to Power Your 2022 Strategy. Retrieved from Semrush Blog: https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics/ The B2B Buying Journey. (2020). Retrieved from Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey The Current State of Content Marketing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Demand Metric: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-26-2022

Scrum ensures transparency, inspection, and adaptation to enable a focus on continuous improvement, scope flexibility, team input, and delivering quality products. Scrum aligns with the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto, which focus on people, communications, the product, and flexibility. This Cheat Sheet outlines the main principles of the scrum project management method.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-25-2022

You can read a dozen books on marketing strategies for current times, or you can read Marketing For Dummies, 6th Edition for everything you need to know about engaging today’s complex consumers, succeeding at e-commerce, winning the SEO game, driving sales through email, social media, and direct mail campaigns, using diverse channels effectively, and much more. This Cheat Sheet outlines marketing strategies and tactics, and ways to boost results with creativity.