It’s time to say goodbye to the Engaging Millennials To Raise Big Money 2021 course and calling it an incredible experience would be an understatement.
Thanks to the amazing guest speakers that shared their experiences with us during each class and all the wonderful people that attended the course, it was a journey none of us will be forgetting anytime soon.
We ended the last class with guest speaker Julia Campbell. For those of you who haven't come across the stellar Julia Campbell yet, here’s what you should know about her.
Julia has run her digital marketing consulting business for almost a decade, focused exclusively on mission-driven organizations. A mom of two and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, she is the author of Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, a call-to-action for nonprofits to use stories to accomplish their missions.
Based in Boston, Julia is a global authority on digital storytelling, with happy clients spanning the globe from Moscow to San Francisco. She has provided workshops and training to Meals on Wheels America, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Facebook. Julia is a frequent contributor to Nonprofit Tech for Good, Social Media Today, Maximize Social Business, Elevation Web, Network for Good, Wild Apricot, and others.
Her passion is to get nonprofits of all sizes to stop spinning their wheels on social media and to start getting real results using digital tools. You can check out her thoughts and ideas on all things nonprofit digital storytelling and social media at www.jcsocialmarketing.com/blog.
Julia joined the last class as attendees began to draft their plans for Millennial engagement. The session focused on learning how to get this generation engaged in supporting development needs, from hosting independent fundraisers, virtual events, and one-on-one fundraising. Her advice was clear and easy to implement; to both gather and engage more followers on social media.
When a class attendee asked for the top reasons a donor might not give to you online, she responded with this wise statement: “Well, speaking from a digital space, make it so easy for people to donate. I worked with a client recently and we did an entire audit and you could not make a donation without ten different clicks on their website. Ten clicks! No, no, no. You will lose people. Make it easy to make a donation. We have to look at both the messaging and the technology and make sure they are both as frictionless as possible.”
In addition to this, Julia reminded class attendees something that’s crucial but often overlooked; to bring followers into your community on a daily basis: “Celebrate milestone moments and what your organization is accomplishing, every day!”
Her words directly reflected our core belief for fundraising, an abundance mindset. You can read more about Simple Ways To Begin To Shift To An Abundance Mindset At Your Nonprofit here.
On a side note, Julia also mentioned three of her favorite organizations to follow on social media below:
Finally, a class attendee had a great question that many fundraisers are asking these days: “Direct mail versus digital? Is it worth it to send the letter?“
Julia’s response was knowledgeable and integral to any development effort that seeks to grow and always do better. “You have to do data analysis after your campaign. Take some time to really see if they gave digital and got the letter too. I would do an analysis and really look at whether or not you think it moved the needle and of course take into account the costs - mailing right now, the mail is slow and the cost of postage to take into account environmental factors that we can't control too. I only make donations exclusively online but I will read a mailed appeal letter from a group I know and love and it will remind me to give or inspire me to click and give more.”
All in all, we are so grateful for Julia’s time with the course! New and smart ways now exist for our attendees to drive more traffic to their sites and quickly engage the financial gifts of Millennials.
Make sure to give our available courses a look and register for 2022 via https://www.wrightcollective.co/events to continue to get access to thought leaders like Julia.
Happy Fundraising!
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