10 Tips For Last-Minute Year-End Fundraising

Here we are again at the end of another year. It’s always coming, yet always seems to sneak up on us! And for nonprofit leaders who are up to their ears each day in helping others, long-term planning can sometimes feel like a luxury.

But year-end fundraising is essential for nonprofits because the general public is caught up in the spirit of giving and generosity (and tax deductions). And with so many others soliciting donations right now, your organization should get a piece of the pie, too. After all, there are so many people who could benefit from your work.

When the good folks at GiveCentral asked if they could share 10 tips for last-minute year-end fundraising, I easily and eagerly said yes. Whether you’ve been planning for December since this summer or are are only realizing that the New Year is around the corner, you will find a few gems below to put into practice immediately.

Wishing you much success in your year-end fundraising!

For nonprofit organizations, year-end fundraising is of undeniable importance. This is so because it is between October and December that nonprofits receive half of all annual donations. Understanding your donors and really getting to know them is important, and that’s how you will pave a way to line up your supporters.

For any kind of fundraising in the nonprofit industry, technology plays an important role. Of course, there have been changes in the nonprofit landscape after the pandemic hit and it's a mistake to try to make the old ways work in every situation. It is good news that new and improved methods have been adopted by organizations at large.

As for year-end giving, there is a lot of planning that goes into making the campaign work. However, there are a few last minute actions you can take to make sure that you are on the right track. 

1. Check Priority Goals

It is very true that all nonprofit organizations wish to perform better each year. In order to precede last year’s result, you must look at your downgrades and upgrades. Have a look at your retention—your database can indeed be a gold mine while reviewing your year-end fundraising objectives. Additionally, go over the nonprofit fundraising trends that have worked for nonprofits this year and draw a quick takeaway for your own year-end fundraising plan. 

2. Be Website Ready

Sometimes, you’re so busy paying attention to bigger things that you miss out on the simpler and the more obvious aspects. Your website is a representation of you, and what you display on it speaks volumes about your organization as a nonprofit. Fundraising for nonprofits requires updated and functional donations forms and Calls-To-Action on your website. Buttons, banners, and visuals that talk rightly about your cause and campaign is definitely a prerequisite. 

3. Go Mobile

Definitely a must-do if you haven’t already since 52.2% of website traffic is known to be generated from mobile phones. Nonprofits can increase their donations by 126% on average simply by incorporating mobile-responsive design to their websites. Therefore, mobile optimization of your website and all your communication materials is essential. Adoption of modern giving tools such as text-to-give and choosing a good keyword for the same should absolutely be on your checklist.

4. Personalized Communication

It is not easy to get people to talk about you and your organization. Yet, communication can help increase the attention that you receive. Tailored communication requires an excellent segmentation of donors. It is likely that most nonprofits already have a good sense of audience segmentation. These are mostly current donors, lapsed donors, prospective donors, and so on. Personalizing every message to each section of your audience is the best practice. Rather than launching a generic blast to your entire list, tailored messaging for each segment is more likely to result in donations and gifts. At the very least, include their name in the email to make it more individualized.

5. Adopt A Year-End Email Series

In addition to the above point, having a year-end blitz is recommended—at least three e-appeals between December 26th and 31st can help you get a better response. Set up your emailers in such a way that you can also talk about it on your blog posts. For example, write a year-end fundraising trend article on your blog that is an introduction to the emails that you’ll be sending later. As for your email subject lines, try to be engaging yet short and crisp. Considering the fact that there are more than 4.2 billion daily email users around the world, you wouldn’t want to miss out on this chance. 

6. Steward Bigger Donors

Not that you should ignore the mid-size and smaller donors, but pay extra attention to the bigger donors. At the end of the day, your goal is to bring in more funds while turning your donors into passionate fans. Have the top professionals in your organization such as Executive Director and Chairman to reach out personally to these major donors. Send personal, one-on-one emails and messages thanking your big donors and talk to them on a phone call. Know the interest of your audience and weave the conversation around it. 

7. Lest We Forget Social Media

Social media has become an everyday habit for many. Well, nothing wrong in that but this is exactly why some nonprofit organizations miss out on creating a well strategized social media communication plan. Improving your organization’s social media takes effort and pushing your year-end campaign through your social media handles takes planning. This planning, however, doesn’t have to take up too much time. Carefully pick the image or videos you want to use, have a link or a Call-To-Action button that leads to your donation page, and include an “ask” message. Create a calendar and see to it that you post about your campaign at least four times per week. 

8. Focus On The Inner Circle

Your inner circle within the organization would mean your board members and staff. Board members have a huge role in the functioning of a nonprofit—when the board takes action, everyone else follows. Ask and encourage your board members and office staff to give. It is very impressive when the staff is donating no matter how big or small; it shows oneness. You can also request the circle to spread the word to their friends and family.

9. Create A Thank You Page

In addition to auto-generated thank you messages for your donors who give online, create a dynamic thank you page to show how grateful you are. Once your supporters have made their donations, they should be taken to an inspiring thank you page that makes them feel good about having donated. An immediate email thank you should not be missed as well. 

10. Optimize On Testimonials

Show a video or an image of someone or a group that has received help from your organization, made possible due to donations from your donors. Do this everywhere—emails, website, social media, landing pages, thank you emails, etc. Visuals speak louder than words and what better way to communicate your message than this! 

Conclusion

As the year nears its end, it is good teamwork that will bring you closer to your year-end fundraising goals. Last minute or not, good communication within the team is important - discuss your ideas, ideate together, and bring the best to reality. Good luck!

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Patrick J. Coleman is the President of GiveCentral and Coleman Group Consulting. As a CEO to two enterprises, he is on a mission to help reduce costs and increase fundraising for all charities through ways such as mobile giving. With a diverse educational background and over 25 years of experience in operations leadership and strategic planning, he has developed a proprietary methodology that focuses on the art and science of negotiation to deliver measurable, implementable, and sustainable results. Mr. Coleman has served as Board President for Elk Grove United Way of Suburban Chicago, and as a board member of both Talkline/Kidsline and Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS).

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I’m Kristi Porter, and I help cause-focused organizations understand and execute effective marketing campaigns so they can move from stressed to strategic. Your resources may be limited, but your potential isn’t. Whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise, or small business who wants to give back, I’ll show you how to have a bigger impact.

12 Epic Marketing Ideas Your Nonprofit or Social Enterprise Will Want to Copy

If you’ve got something new to promote, like an event, product, fundraising campaign, book, awareness campaign, or course. . . . pay close attention. We’re about to discuss 12 epic marketing ideas your nonprofit or social enterprise will want to copy.

Before we do that, though, let me make a couple of things clear.

Creating and promoting something new, also referred to as a “launch” in the marketing world, can present its own opportunities and challenges.

On one hand, they're often exciting, and a great chance to build buzz and get people's attention. On the other hand, they're usually short-lived, so you have to make them count because they may only happen once, annually, or at most, a couple of times per year. So, you need to maximize your time and effort with strategies and tactics that support your social impact goals.

There are definite trends you want to ride when it comes to launches (ex: email sequences and social media blitzes), but you'll also need to be creative. Innovative ideas are more likely to make people take notice—and bring in the sales and donations you want. 

Below you'll find 12 unique marketing ideas for your next launch. But, here's my caveat: don't just copy and paste. Put your own spin on them. They'll only be successful if they align with your mission.

(PSST: This post is part of a series about launch marketing for cause-focused organizations. Read Part 1 and Part 2. Or take it to the next level with my launch strategy guide.)

Nonprofit or social enterprise Event Marketing

Idea 1: Meet Ups

I was the Event Marketing Director for The Orange Conference for almost six years. And during that time, one of my favorite event marketing strategies was to host local meet ups all over the country. The catch: we didn't have staff all over the country. So, we let people in our tribe host them for us.

We hosted several meet ups here in Atlanta, where the nonprofit is headquartered, as well as in locations across the US where we did have staff. But there were a lot of places we obviously couldn't reach on our own, and our fans were more than happy to jump in.

They wanted to meet others like them in their hometowns, and we were thrilled they wanted to connect with each other. So, we provided downloadable flyers, social media images, guidance, and even allowed each gathering to give away a ticket to the upcoming event.

Whether people came to win a free ticket or to network with peers, these meet ups built community among the people who showed up—and got people excited about our event. Plus, it was a really fun way to empower our fans.

It also goes to show you that launch events don’t have to be a huge production.

Idea 2: Membership

It can be very difficult to get and sustain momentum for your nonprofit or social enterprise when your entire business model rests on one, big event. Yellow Conference is one of those. Yes, they have a regularly-updated blog, social media, and things like that, but in a sea of events, blogs, and social media accounts, your message can get lost or forgotten, even by your fans.

One of the ways they fight through the noise is the Yellow Collective. It originally began as a subscription box, which I thought was very clever for their business model. In its second year, it has evolved into a membership group that includes many of the original elements: in-person, at home, and online resources. And it also includes discounted tickets to their annual conference.

They've done a really great job at keeping their community connected throughout the year so that, when it's event launch time for their next conference, their fans are already primed and waiting.

Fundraising Campaign marketing

Idea 1: Get Out of the Office

Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery. For Atlanta Dream Center's "48 in 48" fundraising campaign, the founder of the nonprofit lived on the streets for two days. One of their three, primary ministries focuses on homelessness, so it made perfect sense with their mission.

And because the founder actually had the past experience of being homeless himself, it magnified and personalized the cause. He made the issue relatable and gave first-hand insight. Leading up to the event, a lot of buzz was generated among their supporters because it was not something you expected to see from a nonprofit founder.

During the 48 hours, he also did multiple Facebook Live videos so that people could follow his experience, and that generated additional donations once people saw it in action. He talked about his life, what he was seeing, and interviewed others on the streets with him (with permission, of course).

It was a brilliant way to shed light on their mission, and give people an up-close encounter they might not have otherwise.

Idea 2: Shared, Uncommon Experiences

Similarly, Nicholas House has an annual fundraiser where their supporters can sleep outside in an effort to raise awareness about homelessness. Each participant is asked to raise $2,500, taking some of the annual fundraising responsibilities off of the organization itself.

What I liked about this nonprofit’s event, in particular, is that my friend who participated is a board member. Often, events like these attract more adventurous high school and college kids. But seeing adults and their families involved was special.

Yes, the environment for this fundraiser was more controlled than the example above, but it was a more approachable way to bring others in who may not ordinarily be up for that type of experience.

And having individuals raise support on their behalf provides more "social proof" for the nonprofit because someone else is doing the talking. My friend’s fundraising letter conveyed her heart and excitement for their work—and that's not something you can force or buy.

 

Book marketing

Idea 1: Blog Book Tour

Unless you have the full might (and budget) of a traditional publisher behind you, it can be difficult to get the word out about your new book. And, even so, today's publishers want authors to take an active role in their own marketing. Enter the blog book tour.

My friend Katrell, who owns Dr. Bombay's tea shop here in Atlanta, participated in one of these for her book. She didn't have a big name or a big audience, so this was a fantastic way to spread the word without traveling around the country to book signings and interviews. Even though it was set up by her publisher, it would be relatively easy to pull off for just about anyone.

For a blog book tour, you'd simply set up a series of book reviews, guest posts, or author interview posts during a defined time period leading up to the book release, such as one to four weeks. This strategy definitely helped expose her to new audiences and sell books.

(Psst: You can also do this with podcasts!)

Idea 2: Galley Copies

If your social impact organization has one or more large events each year, you probably already know that it's best to release new products there, while you have a captive and engaged audience. But once-in-a-while, the timing just doesn't quite work out.

This was the case for the latest book by Growing Leaders about inspiring and mentoring today's students. So, what they decided to do was to give all 200+ attendees at their annual conference a galley copy of the book.

This opportunity allowed them to promote the book and build interest for it's release the following month. They also had a special pre-launch price with bonuses, which were designed to further entice attendees.

Nothing replaces a face-to-face pitch, and by giving out galley copies, they were still able to capitalize on a live audience for future sales.

Awareness/Community-Building Campaign MARKETING

Idea 1: Recreate an Experience

Some causes are sensitive in nature, and require you to protect those you help by offering them anonymity. This could include victims of sex trafficking, domestic violence, or issues involving children. Not only do you want to avoid capitalizing on someone else's tragedy, but you want to keep them safe.

Street Grace launched Suburban Horror Story as a way to accurately portray the issue of sex trafficking for the community without disclosing names and faces. You could watch videos online that were recreations of actual events, and also learn more about the issue. They also had guided "tours" to houses where arrests had been made to show real-life scenarios, as well as talk about warning signs and the experiences inside.

This gave those in attendance (donors, potential donors, and media) an up-close look at the problem, and showed them how they could be involved in the solution. It was a very effective way to talk about the people behind the issues without actually involving victims.

It’s a captivating idea on it’s own, but the quality (and frankly, scariness) of the website did a lot to stir up interest for people to take a tour, learn more, get involved, or even donate to the nonprofit.

So, make sure that even when you're promoting an in-person event, the promotional materials, like the website, do a good job of drawing people into your cause. This site did a fantastic job. They could've just splashed up a single page with stats and a description, but they definitely took it further to great results.

Idea 2: Take Advantage of (or Declare) a Holiday

I've talked about the idea of taking advantage of holidays—both official and unofficial—on this blog and my newsletter before, but it's always important to bring it up again. Because there are so many to choose from!

People love celebrating special occasions, so take note of any that you can work into your launch marketing plan. It often gives you a new way to talk about what you're doing.

There are, of course, plenty of legit options like Christmas, Halloween, and Fourth of July that might play nicely with your marketing and promotion. And how about #GivingTuesday to kick off your year-end giving campaign? Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Black History Month, and White Ribbon Against Pornography are a few others.

However, there are plenty of wacky or unofficial observances as well. For example, you can try World Kindness Day, Adopt a Rescue Pet Day, Digital Detox Day, or Read a Book Day. There is literally a day, week, or month for just about anything you can think of.

There may be even times when you need to create your own holiday. When I worked at Captain Planet Foundation, we created a Captain Planet Day. We had a formal ceremony down at Atlanta's City Hall, received a proclamation, and the whole nine yards. It was to celebrate a milestone in the foundation's history, but also garnered attention for the organization as we kicked off promotions for the annual fundraiser.

SOCIAL IMPACT Product MARKETING

Idea 1: Giveaways and Contests

My friend, Jen, just wrapped her first successful Kickstarter for her physical product called the Hope Deck. One of the strategies she used to get attention for her campaign was by doing free giveaways on influencer social media accounts.

She used both existing relationships and good ol' fashioned research to locate a handful Instagram accounts that fit her target market and were interested in doing a giveaway. Jen allowed them to give away a couple Hope Decks in exchange for pointing them to her account or campaign page. It was that easy.

This allowed her to easily expand her audience, and when she started promoting her campaign, she had a lot more eyes on it. And it made a difference! 

Idea 2: Giveaways for Reviews

I'm surprised at how little this strategy is used, so I thought I'd bring it up. I think most of us feel we need to bootstrap everything and get by on our own, but why? Getting help is often way better.

Now, I do know that people often launch in a rush or last minute and that may be a factor. (That is definitely one way to sabotage your launch!) 

But when you can get someone else to talk about your launch—you should!

Yes, sometimes you may have to pay or ethically bribe people to review your product, but again, use existing relationships and do your research for free or budget-friendly opportunities. There are so many blogs, magazines, newspapers, social media accounts, and YouTube Channels. A few of those leads are likely to respond and participate.

A client and I recently talked about this because she's releasing a very cool new product that creates culturally smarter kids. She thought that she would have to pay for people to review or talk about her product, but I named a handful of people in just a few minutes who would do it for free because of the product’s target market and social impact focus.

Put your thinking cap on, or ask around, and I bet you'll come up with your own list, too.

Tip: We often want to target the Oprah's of the world so we can make it to the top faster, but these folks are just plain hard to reach. Find people with a few thousand followers, or depending on your product, up to 100K followers. Often the "littler guys" (micro influencers) don’t get contacted as often, would love to participate, and have very engaged fans who would love to hear about your product.

nonprofit or social enterprise Course marketing

Idea 1: Facebook Groups

Facebook groups have become ALL. THE. RAGE. over the past couple of years. But course creators are cleverly using them to their advantage now as well.

Typically, they are meant to accompany an online course, or at least that's how I see a lot of them playing out. Especially when the courses are written or video-based, this allows the creator to interact with the students, and students to interact with each other. I am a member of a couple of these, and they're really fun.

But there are other ways to use them as well. Take the Myth of Balance, for example. Originally, it was released as a book. It's very short and practical, but the transformation isn’t in the information—it’s in the action.

So, the author created a Facebook Group to serve as the outlet for the course, which he calls a workshop series. He can release worksheets, conduct Facebook Lives, ask people about their progress, and coach them through obstacles right there in the group rather than having to build an online platform for the course (and pay those fees). Much easier and more DIY.

In the Myth of Balance launch, we used a lot of traditional marketing techniques to get the word out initially. Most other course creators do the same. But the difference in having a Facebook Group is that you don't have people going through the course on their own and then moving on with their lives.

Instead, you have people interacting with the course creator and other students, getting results due to the community and accountability, and afterward, you literally have a group of evangelists to help you promote when you're ready to relaunch!

Idea 2: Involve Others and Let Them Promote

Putting a course or curriculum together is no joke. I plan to do it in the future, but find it overwhelming to even think about. And then, when you have your shiny, new course, you still have to get the word out! It's a long process.

But the folks at Plywood were really smart. They have a lot of knowledge and know-how on their staff. However, they also know that one of their strengths is their ability to connect people and showcase others.

So, for their video-based curriculum course, they featured not only the founder, but individuals from their community. Each module features an interview with a different nonprofit or social enterprise leader putting that week's lesson into action.

Besides making content creation easier, Plywood now also has a group of people willing to help promote the course because they’re featured in it! The founders in the videos are well-known in the Atlanta area, with their own distinct audiences, which helped get the word out quickly about this curriculum.

By now you'll definitely notice a theme about recruiting others to help you spread the word. It's just one of those techniques that can look different each time, and is always effective.

What about you? What unique launch marketing ideas have you come across?

(PSST: This post is part of a series about launches. Read Part 1 and Part 2. Of if you’re ready to take it to the next level, check out my launch strategy guide, Promote With Purpose.)

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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What do successful launches have in common?

Do you watch other nonprofits and social enterprises launch their campaigns, products, or events to great success, and then wonder what it took to make that happen? Do you assume it's beyond your capability?

While it is incredibly helpful to have more money and manpower behind your launch, the truth is that many of them share a lot of commonalities. And there are a number of tactics that you can use whether you're a solopreneur or a team to make your next launch your best yet.

This is really good news because it means that there's hope for all us little guys! So, allow me to give you a shortcut to what works for some of the big dogs.

(By the way, before we get started, this post is based on the assumption that your product, service, campaign, event, etc. has already been "vetted." Meaning, we're assuming that it's something people want.)

Let's continue . . .

(PSST—This is part two of a series. Read Part 1 and Part 3.)

Begin With A Launch Plan

This is the not-so-dead horse that I will continually beat on this blog, and in any conversation that you and I ever have. You'll also see it woven into a lot of the items below too for good reason. Successful launches don't just happen unless your nonprofit or social enterprise has an enormous audience or tremendous amount of influence. And how many of us do? Planning includes the details, tasks, and, yes, even the right headspace. 

At the very least, be sure to write you plan down. The list-maker in me would love to see your timelines too, because I think organization is a key to success. But push yourself to at least be more organized than you were the last time.

Don't just let all the ideas float around in your head. I'm guilty of that because I'm naturally an organized person. But it's incredibly helpful to see everything laid out in front of you, whether it's on paper, on a Word or Google doc, in Evernote, or a project management system. (I'm currently loving Asana.)

Simply creating some sort of plan will make you feel so much better about your launch.

You Time To Make a Launch Happen

Launches take a lot of time and energy. It doesn't matter if it's for a fundraising or awareness campaign, book, event, course, or other type of product.

Chances are that you already have a full calendar. So, it's important to make space in your schedule as you're preparing for a launch of any kind. Either get some work out of the way prior to the launch time period, or start weeding out tasks that can wait until after the launch.

You may need to work longer hours to prepare for your launch, just to ensure your day-to-day responsibilities get taken care of when you're attention is focused on the launch. Not a fun thing to think about, but remember, it's only for a short time. 

The other option is to move items off your plate. This can be done through delegating, reassigning, nixing it, or putting it off to a later date. Sadly, most of us live our lives in response to either the urgent or shiny object syndrome.

But people who plan successful launches know that they are focused on making the launch a priority. 

Don’t Forget: Plenty of Preparation

Not too far off track from the items above, launches take special preparation. It may mean author interviews, gathering testimonials, selecting a location, writing emails, scheduling social media, or any other number of To Do's. These tasks can feel never-ending.

The point is that launches aren't to be taken lightly. You'll need not only the space in your calendar, but all your ducks in a row. It's highly unusual to launch last-minute and make it a success, unless every waking moment is dedicated to that project, the goals are small, or there is a team of people that can help pull it off.

Think farther out. Your launch may be six or 12 months away, but what can you start doing right now to make it a success? (If it’s a big launch, you’ll need all of those months anyway.)

Communicate Both Head and Heart Information

I don't have to tell you that people learn in different ways. So, unless you are talking to an incredibly niched and small group of people (like vegan, Tabby cat lovers who only wear purple on Thursdays and have a side photography business) you'll need to communicate your message in multiple ways.

Usually, this is done not only by having both visual and written content, but also by speaking to both the head and the heart.

Plus, we are all multi-faceted individuals, and what might resonate with us on one day could change the next.

Because I work around the social justice space, statistics are thrown around quite frequently. And while stats can be compelling, most people really need to see the faces behind the numbers to make it real for them.

So, definitely include the facts and figures that make your cause unique and worthy, but don't forget the stories. You'll probably need both of these things to make the sale or donation.

Use A Variety of Communication Means and Methods

Circa 1990, we were just delighted to get a plain text email in our newly minted Inbox. Boy, how times have changed! (And frankly, some of you reading this weren't even alive then to remember! I feel incredibly old all of the sudden . . . ) 

Now, just to be heard, you need to talk to people in a variety of different ways to get their attention. At the very least this means email and social media. But, as you already know, there are lots of other fancy techniques you can try as well.

While this isn't groundbreaking information, the marketing problem I see with too many cause-focused organizations is that they just send one or two emails and post once or twice on social media, and then sit back and expect they've done their best. But, guys, that's juts not going to cut it. 

Your launch marketing emails need to be set up as a series of emails that build on one another.

And in social media world, you need to consider ever-changing algorithms and short life spans. I've heard that the average Facebook post has about a two-hour shelf life, and Tweets are only 18 minutes! If you don't have money for advertising, to keep it in front of people whether they want to see it or not, you need to be posting much more frequently.

This doesn't even take into account people's good intentions. If you only send one email a few weeks before your book launches or your event tickets go on sale, for example, it's going to dog-piled by hundreds of other emails. Then, it just ends up as something someone once wanted to take advantage of, but never got around to. 

Stay top-of-mind by showing up repeatedly wherever they happen to be, either in-person or online.

And I mentioned this above, but you also need to make sure you're incorporating text, video, and images into whatever is going out ,when possible. Some people are more visual and some prefer to read (me!). Keep in mind that social media platforms are also giving more preference to images—and especially video—right now, which means that they'll show your content to more people.

I know this can be overwhelming! However, the good news is that we live in an age where there are a lot of DIY tools to do things on the cheap. If you can't pay for it, take the time to learn a new skill you can implement into your next launch to ensure more people see your message.

(Side note: A giveaway would also fall under this category. People love winning things, and it creates a buzz!)

Get Launch Marketing Help for Your Nonprofit or Social Enterprise

Successful launches are never a one-man (or woman) show.

Even if no one is helping you promote, you may still need advice from others, or to pay to get graphics done, or have an intern that helps create and schedule content. I know a few unicorns who have an unbelievable amount of skills, and can function pretty autonomously, but even they can't do it all.

Outside of getting help for your launch, public relations is another worthy addition. This may come in the form of setting up guest blog posts or podcast interviews, Instagram takeovers, being featured in magazines or on blogs, speaking gigs, and things like that. These are free opportunities that showcase you, your nonprofit or social impact company, your cause, or your launch specifically.

The trick here comes back to preparation. Some of these need to be scheduled months in advance. Start making a list of places you'd like to be featured so that you don't have to scramble when you're ready to take this step.

And another vital piece to the successful launch process is word-of-mouth. This may be by friends and family, co-workers and staff, or sponsorships and partnerships. If you can get more people to talk about you, the wider your news will spread.

You may need to tell them exactly what to say, create social sharing buttons, or be okay with them winging it in their own words. But always make it easy for them.

Anything Extra You Can Include?

Depending on your type of launch (book, event, product, fundraising or awareness campaign, etc), you may also want to consider other types of add-ons, extras, or bonuses that will help you get your message across. Here are a few ideas:

• Meet ups

• Posters/flyers in local businesses

• Conference, event, or trade show booths

• Kick off and celebration events (ex: book signing or launch party)

• Affiliate links for sales

What's helped make your launch a success? I'd love to hear!

(PSST—This is part two of a series. Read Part 1 and Part 3. And if you’re ready to take it to the next level, check out my launch strategy guide, Promote With Purpose.)

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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