Over-communicate, trim your message & get a cheatsheet.
Three weekly insights to get funding
Xin chร o
Iโm in Vietnam this week. A country I love for its artistry, fierce confidence, and history of feminism. Reading The Sympathizer, getting a new tattoo, and eating ridiculous amounts of phแป.
Any subscribers here from The Land of the Blue Dragon?
โ Kevin
๐ช๐ฝ๐
Three insights
1. Over-communication is not micromanagement.
Your team should be mocking you.
Because you repeat the same message.
Over and over and over again.
Why?
Regular internal communication is different from micromanagement. Thatโs telling people ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ to do their jobs.
Overcommunication is constantly reminding your team ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ their work matters, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ is responsible, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต they should be doing, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ it needs to be done, and ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ the organization is going in the future.
Thatโs just good leadership.
And that leads to maximized funding, because you operate more efficiently and make the most of your fundraising. So repeat, repeat, repeat your messaging, theory of change, and strategy. Repeat your brand.
Until it sticks.
And โover-communicate,โ says Alex Irvine. โItโs better to tell someone something they already know than to not tell them something they needed to hear.โ
2. Trim your message, fatten your funding.
Nobody will read all that you write.
Nobody will listen to all that you say.
Not your donors nor your team. Because humans scan headlines, skim subject lines, and browse images. Our attention spans are just 8 seconds โ shorter than a fish. ๐
(๐๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต: ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.)
Thatโs why lengthy text destroys your fundraising game.
So get three writing tips in this 1-minute guide.
Keep it short.
Keep it funded.
3. Theory of change cheat sheet.
The ultimate theory of change cheat sheet.
For your comms and fundraising.
A classic logic model isnโt enough โ it falls flat. And many theories of change are too complex โ with arrows, assumptions, and academia โ leaving donors confused.
But this magic one-pager helps you:
Raise money
Improve M&E
Inform staffing
Motivate teams
Clarify messaging
Fine-tune programs
Generate partnerships
Develop a strategic plan
Make the most of funding
Borrow this infographic. Make it your own.
And turn theory into tangible funds.
The weekly bonus
A few of our sector friends wrote a collaborative article in Stanford Social Innovation Review:
COVID Was the Rehearsal
Just a few years ago, philanthropy showed what it could be at its best: nimble, coordinated, unusually brave. This time, facing the sudden slashing of foreign aid, the cavalry is quieter.
In the piece, they offered this excellent 2x2 which showed the menu for philanthropy in the wake of foreign aid cuts.
Get my help
My new book is a four-time bestseller with a 5-star rating on Amazon with 4.97 on Goodreads.
One recent review said, โA game-changer for every non-profit leader.โ
Another, โStarted reading and highlighting but put the marker away when I realized every page, nearly every paragraph held something important.โ
P.S.
How to get 55 million views with a simple video.