It’s easy to picture printed publications as relatively old-fashioned or even wasteful these days, especially if you spend $250,000 on them. But that’s exactly what Michelle Sanders Brinson and the Nashville Rescue Mission did – and it resulted in raising over $1.6 million in nine months from print publications alone. Michelle joins the show to share how, when executed effectively, print publications can reach and motivate people in ways that electronic mediums can’t. No matter the medium, however, the core of any send-out is the content. Giving readers a few segments that are featured every publication creates anticipation and helps drive conversation and interest. Michelle feels the strongest content stems from supporters’ stories – how and why they got involved in the organization, whether it be an employee, volunteer, or donor. The key to making an impactful publication is striking a balance between recurring segments and time-sensitive events or themes that need to be highlighted.
Michelle and Beth discuss:
- How a successful newsletter evolves and changes over the years
- Print publications and electronic mediums filling different needs
- The extent to which design guides a reader’s feelings on a publication
- Using readers’ interactions with publications as a springboard into other engagement
- Crowdfunding as a different form of donating
- When the best times are to send out physical newsletters and giving forms
Resources:
- Email Michelle, visit her website, or connect on Twitter or LinkedIn
- Nashville Rescue Mission Homepage and Twitter
- NRV’s recent IndieGoGo Campaign
- Books by Tom Ahern
- Driving Participation: Anchor Pages with Adrienne Frank and Crowdfunding with Michael Anderson
Enjoy Driving Participation! If the program is helpful to you, please subscribe in iTunes to have sessions sent to you as they go live. And please consider leaving a review in iTunes as well. Reviews help other organizations find the show and learn from these terrific stories.
