The success of your online outreach hinges on your understanding of the inner workings of the human mind. Learn the basics of the new and revolutionary field of behavioral economics and how you can use these principles to craft more effective messages that will win the hearts and minds of your audience.
People are not rational beings, but the patterns of irrationality are consistent, and understanding them is key to effective marketing and fundraising.
Some ideas to look forward to:
- Small, not big - The bigger the scale of what you're communicating, the smaller the impact on your audience
- Hopeful, not hopeless - People tend to act on what they believe they can change--If your problem seems intractable, enormous and endless, people won't be motivated to help
- Peer pressure still works (Nope, it doesn't end after high school) - People are more likely to do something if they know other people like them are doing it.
This special Nonprofit 911 call identifies more guiding principles like these and focuses on takeway lessons for marketing, fundraising and public engagement.
About our speakers
Katya Andresen (Chief Operating Officer, Network for Good): Katya is a speaker, author (Robin Hood Marketing) and blogger about nonprofit marketing, online outreach and the basics of social media. Katya has trained thousands of causes in effective marketing and media relations, and her marketing materials for non-profits have won national and international awards.
Alia McKee (Principal, Sea Change Strategies): Alia helps nonprofit clients innovate engaging, inspiring, and successful online fundraising, advocacy and marketing campaigns. Currently she works with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Environmental Defense Fund, the International Rescue Committee, and Conservation International among others. Alia holds a masters degree in public policy and communications from the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mark Rovner (Principal, Sea Change Strategies): Mark is one of the pioneers of using the Internet for fundraising, organizing and strategic communications. Over the past ten years, he has led online efforts on behalf of a host of organizations, including World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the International Campaign for Tibet. Mark took up scuba diving in 2005, and it's hard to get him off the subject. He's also a lawyer, but he is not proud of that fact, though it keeps his mother off his back.