Three Things I Learned At ProductCamp For Your Nonprofit

This past weekend ProductCamp Austin held their 10th event.  It is the first ProductCamp globally to hold 10 events, and I was very excited to be able to a part of it.  For those of you who have never attended such an event, you are probably wondering “What is ProductCamp?”  ProductCamp is a nonprofit organization that serves Product Management, Product Marketing, and Marketing professionals with an opportunity to teach to, learn from, and network with each other. ProductCamp is a un-conference, meaning that it is FREE for anyone who wishes to attend! While your nonprofit may not have a product to sell, you do have a cause that needs donors to buy into your mission and support your organization.  Product camp is a great source of inspiration for innovation, marketing, service delivery etc.

I was excited to attend the event to get inspiration and wonderful new ideas.  Over the course of the day, I saw several presentations ranging from “how to tell your story” to “how to segment your customer base to better suit their needs”.  I got to thinking how some of these lessons could really benefit Sage Nonprofit customers who are looking to market their cause in a competitive environment.  There are three key lessons from ProductCamp that could benefit you and your organization:

1. Create and communicate an overarching strategy.

Day and day out I am sure you have a million ideas and programs that run through your mind. It is also easy to sit in meetings when ideas are being thrown across the table, which can lead to each person in the organization running in different directions. When it comes to communicating to potential donors about your organization, make sure you have a clear concise message.

You want your donors to know what your end mission is and what you are trying to accomplish, so they know what they are supporting.

This clear message will make it seem like you have a clear focus on your mission and that their money will be going to an organization that is making a true impact.

2. Tell a compelling story about your cause or nonprofit.

There is a lot of communication out there around how to position your organization or product to look better than everyone else out there.

I heard a great session from a gentleman named Mike Boudreaux who discussed how to tell a compelling story.  Mike’s points were backed up from this great video from Scott Sinek. Both of these speakers talk about why companies like Apple tell such a better story than everyone else.  What Apple does is use “why” to differentiate themselves in the market.  Apple is a great product because they challenge the status quo.  They don’t throw their product in the face of the customers, they throw their mission.  This is a great lesson for nonprofit organizations, who are looking to share their mission.  Not only will it cause your donors to feel more connected to you, it can create a movement that makes them want to be a part of your organization. Making that connection will not only lead to people donating to your cause once, but also keep them coming back.

 

3. Know your ideal donor and what is going on in their lives.

One of the sessions I listened to was from a woman by the name of Becky Trevino who discussed the importance of properly segmenting customers.  In the marketing world, it is important to understand, exactly who to reach in order to grow the organization.  Not only is it important to understand who that person is, but also to understand what is going on in their lives.  The more information you can collect on your donors, the easier it will be to identify how your donors will respond to the messages you are sending them.  For example, if you are targeting donors between the ages of 25-50 who love animals, think about how these donors find out about your organization.  Is it online via social media, are they watching your advertisements on TV?  Also, how do these people want to donate?  Are they living on their mobile phone or maybe they want to mail a check.  You can make the greatest impression on your donors by integrating the donation process into their day to day life.

Want to attend a Product Camp?  Visit http://www.productcamp.org/  to find one near you.

Brooke Grimes
Associate Product Marketing Manager
Sage Nonprofit Solutions

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5 Ways To Make Your New Year Resolution Agile

Agile software development poster from Wikipedia.

Here at Sage, we adhere to the Agile methodology of development. Does that mean we all practice yoga on our lunch hour? Not exactly! In a nutshell, it translates to a continuous reevaluation of our priorities based on customer and market feedback.

As the Agile Manifesto proclaims, we value “responding to change over following a plan.”

Each month (or “Sprint”), we determine what is most critical for us to accomplish in the time available and we commit to achieve those tasks. At the end of each month, we demonstrate our accomplishments, seek feedback, reflect on how we can improve, and start the process again for the next month.

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions each year, but most of us end up falling off the wagon pretty quickly. Take a page out of the Agile book to set meaningful, achievable goals that lead to real improvement. Five ways to make your New Year’s resolution agile:

1. Break it down. – Often our resolutions are too big to address. In Agile terms, we call such resolutions epic. Perhaps you create an epic goal to improve your health- but how will you break it into tasks you can accomplish? Figure out what steps you can take in one month to achieve your epic goal. Maybe this month you assign yourself the task of exercising 3 times per week.
2. Be realistic. – Evaluate all the things you have to do (work, family obligations, sleep!) and realistically determine the number of available hours you can dedicate to achieving your goal. Achieving a goal feels great, but too often we forget all of our other commitments and set unattainable objectives. Avoid overbooking yourself by being brutally realistic about your time.
3. Prioritize. –  As much as you may want to be a marathon runner tomorrow, you can’t do it all at once. Not everything can be your top priority. If you only have 10 hours to work on your epic health goal each week, prioritize preparing healthy meals to freeze vs. exercise. That way, when crunch time comes, you know what to do and don’t get as overwhelmed by all the things you “should” be doing.
4. Show off. – Be transparent about your accomplishments.  Get yourself some good old gold star stickers and put one on a big calendar every time you work out. Force yourself to track your progress every day, even when that means no progress. Then revel in your success!
5. Reflect– Carve out time to discuss or journal about how the month went. Did you do what you said you would? Did you set realistic goals? Determine your priorities for the following month and figure out how you can do better. Remember to keep your tasks clear, specific, and achievable.

Finally, remember that everyone has off days, and the key is to keep tracking, keep being transparent, and keep trying. Who knows? You could be a yogi by this time next year!

Want to see how we improved your software this month? Attend one of our Sprint Demonstrations and give us your honest thoughts. For an invitation to a Sage Grant Management Sprint Demo, email me Kathleen (dot) Hall (at) Sage (dot) com.

Kathleen Hall
Associate Product Manager
Sage Nonprofit Solutions

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