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[Delete please] Help me save my job brothers!! :(

by smokenapple
22 replies
All good now Thank you all for your kind support and guidance.
#brothers #job #save
  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    First, I think this would get you more help if you posted it in the Offline forum.

    Second, you'd have to say what you've done so far, otherwise, you might end up with a lot of people suggesting you did just what you did (without bothering to tell you how to do it differently).

    Since we do not know what you did so far, we don't know if it's in the execution of a strategy or if the strategy itself is the problem.

    Add some info...

    Generally speaking, what's in it for them (the ones that give you money)?
    Who have you chosen to approach? (Going after everybody is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot, right before the big race.)
    How did you choose to approach them? (If the people you're targeting are not on facebook, facebook ads are a waste of resources, for instance.)

    So, what kind of market research did you do?



    Originally Posted by smokenapple View Post

    Hello guys,
    This is the first time I'm putting my faith on you all to help me save my job. I have been a Warrior Forum member since years and I'm dead sure you guys would do the least possible to help me out.
    Dear moderators, please understand this is not a spam or advertisment based post and I wont ask for any financial help from the fellow members.
    I work as Cyber Operations Manager at First Choice Personal Care Foundation Inc, a 501(3) Pennsylvania based nonprofit which provides housing and personal care to homeless veterans and their families in need.
    We are hosting online fundraising automobile & 50/50 charity raffles for operation of our veterans home located in Lake Ariel(PA). My role is to manage all the marketing and sales and I have spent thousands of dollars on facebook advertising and google adwords but it is always a break even when we account the expenses. We are losing more than what we are being able to raise. It has been nearly 1 year since I've got this golden opportunity to work for a US based organization and now I'm facing a 2-month deadline for boosting up the fundraising drastically so as to compensate for all the bad investment we have done in facebook and adwords.
    I really need all of your help that you could suggest me to improvise the websites and all your ideas that can help me perform better and save my job.

    The nonprofit website is :
    Code:
    http://www.fcpcfoundation.org
    Please feel free to suggest how we can reach out more people without wasting too much money on advertisement and open the doors of the veterans' home.

    Help me, I need you warriors!

    -Smoken Apple
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    • Profile picture of the author smokenapple
      Originally Posted by DABK View Post

      First, I think this would get you more help if you posted it in the Offline forum.

      Second, you'd have to say what you've done so far, otherwise, you might end up with a lot of people suggesting you did just what you did (without bothering to tell you how to do it differently).

      Since we do not know what you did so far, we don't know if it's in the execution of a strategy or if the strategy itself is the problem.

      Add some info...

      Generally speaking, what's in it for them (the ones that give you money)?
      Who have you chosen to approach? (Going after everybody is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot, right before the big race.)
      How did you choose to approach them? (If the people you're targeting are not on facebook, facebook ads are a waste of resources, for instance.)

      So, what kind of market research did you do?
      Dear DABK,
      Thank you so much for your reply.
      The basic problem we have been facing is with marketing and conversion. I don't know about the offline forum.
      I could get the thread moved if that will be useful.
      Here is all that I have done so far in 1 year.

      Developed the nonprofit website (www.fcpcf.org) and a promotions website (www.nationalautoraffle.com) and facebook pages for both. The raffles are hosted on nationalautoraffle and both the websites have cross links to each other.
      We started off with promoting our nonprofit fb page to audience with interests in charities and veterans and the national auto raffle page to audience with interests in online raffles, sweeptakes, mustang, automobiles and online casino.
      We got quite much response from facebook ads for the first 2-3 months where we started getting the feeling of self sustaining fundraising.
      We also used mailchimp and sumome plugin to start building the mailing list and everything worked well returning back twice the money put in advertising. But soon after 3-4 months we started seeing a fall in our sales. We figured out facebook was turning into a mirage and not really giving us leads anymore. So we decided to try google adwords.
      I targeted keywords related to online raffles, lotteries, charities, mustang and phrases related to the vehicles we raffle. But it again turned out to cost us a lot more than what people would donate.

      I am totally confused about where the things are going wrong, is it something about the way we are advertising and marketing or the website needs to be modified.

      You can visit both the website for once to get the idea about what all is going on.
      I'm really running out of ideas as to how I can avail the best of this opportunity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Originally Posted by smokenapple View Post

    I have spent thousands of dollars on facebook advertising and google adwords but it is always a break even when we account the expenses.
    Originally Posted by smokenapple View Post

    We are losing more than what we are being able to raise.

    The first order of business is to get a new accountant. How can you spend thousands of dollars on ads and "break even" as you say, and then in the next sentence you say you're losing more than you make. I don't get that.

    Your next realization should probably be that non-profits are different animals than most businesses with a profit motive. Your cause is what's important as opposed to any business product or service.

    That is what you should be focusing your marketing efforts on - your cause. People will respond with empathy and kindness (with donations) if you can present your cause in an appealing, emotional, but sensible way.

    Don't make potential donors feel shamed, pressured, uncomfortable, or guilty about the cause and your need for donations. It's a big turn off.

    Only those who understand your charity will know the right feelings and emotions that will spur people to respond.

    What promotions have you done in the past that resulted in positive responses? Do you have a celebrity or locally famous person that can be a sponsor/spokesperson? What can you give in return for a donation that will be seen as valuable to a prospect? Have you outlined how a donor's contribution can be tax deductible as a possible incentive? Have you taken the time to show the "before and after" of how your agency performs? Have you spelled out how safe, easy, and convenient it is to donate online at your website? Have you made recurring monthly payments of a small amount an option?

    These are just a few things I would focus on right now.

    Good luck to you,

    Steve

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  • Profile picture of the author VidasVegas
    Take this seriously what am going to say:

    If you want make money you have to NEVER worry about the money - your thoughts create your future.Think and feel more instead of doing mechanical things. Trust me I know where the money is.I used to never make any money first 5 years even with my ads on first page of google and youtube until I did start learning "Invisible" staff. SALE IS A TRANSFER OF FEELINGS. The matter is not what you do but how you do it. Take your time before you going to do something be in good mood never sit at the PC with bad mood. Am talking from my personal experience 8 years in online marketing.IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR RESULTS ( FRUITS ) TAKE CARE ABOUT THE ROOTS ( YOUR INNER YOU )
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    • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
      Originally Posted by VidasVegas View Post

      Take this seriously what am going to say:

      If you want make money you have to NEVER worry about the money - your thoughts create your future.Think and feel more instead of doing mechanical things. Trust me I know where the money is.I used to never make any money first 5 years even with my ads on first page of google and youtube until I did start learning "Invisible" staff. SALE IS A TRANSFER OF FEELINGS. The matter is not what you do but how you do it. Take your time before you going to do something be in good mood never sit at the PC with bad mood. Am talking from my personal experience 8 years in online marketing.IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR RESULTS ( FRUITS ) TAKE CARE ABOUT THE ROOTS ( YOUR INNER YOU )
      This is another person who did not read the OP thread just put up some crap to get their signature seen , as you can tell the idiot did not read it at all

      Jason
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  • Profile picture of the author Mattj84
    I would suggest taking a look at your audience and getting that a little bit more laser targeted. With Facebook you can target anything. So whatever the demographic is for what your company does should be pretty easy to zero in on. Then when you market to those people you should get a better ROI as they are more interested in what your company does. Hope that helps and good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    I like Steve's answers.

    Your answer makes me think you didn't do the first part right, the strategy part.

    Like it's been said, what I (a donor) am interested is not what I win but that I did something good. And I'm more likely to do it if your cause is something I'm familiar with (I know people who have the problem you're solving) or if someone I trust says it's a good idea (celebrity would work; but so would a letter from my insurance/mortgage/car repair/accountant saying they did it so I should to).

    Do you have a list of people who're known to donate to causes like yours?

    Facebook died off because, after a while, the ones who were going to donate donated and you did not give them a reason to re-donate.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    Two months to turn things around is not going to be feasible for someone who doesn't know what he is doing.

    The best thing to do at the moment is pause the game and seek for solution before you drag your company into more debt.

    A lot of things could be responsible.

    Your product, pricing, market potentials and marketing tactics.

    The right thing to do is find where the problem lies and deal with it head on.
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  • Profile picture of the author salegurus
    Sorry but i have no sympathy for people who take on jobs or who get hired on false pretenses and then can't deliver what they promised..
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    Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

    ― George Carlin
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    • Profile picture of the author smokenapple
      That was useful af. Thank you.
      By the way, i am a Cyber Operations Manager and not the Marketing guy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Junaid khawaja
    Hey,

    The biggest mistake people make while marketing non-profit is dealing it differently than For-profit organizations....Why?

    Because the non-profits assume their prospects to be the most generous people alive on earth...and they keep on begging them for donations without adding any value. There is a limit to which you can strike "kind-heartedness" emotion.

    The day you start dealing non-profits as a regular sales procedure - where exchange of substance takes place, you will see your CR changing overnight.

    Create content, just like for-profits do. Add value, just like for-profits do. Show the people how their $100 has brought smiles. Go more specific. Stop blatant donation pitches...Instead, use the POWER OF WORDS to move them.
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  • Profile picture of the author RefuseToLose
    Nobody seems to be touching on your actual website...

    It's pretty bad. It's not optimized at all and to be honest it doesn't look very professional.

    Junaid also touched on an important subject. You can't get by doing non-profit stuff thinking everyone you talk to is going to open their wallets. There are hundreds of non-profits competing for donations. What you're doing right now isn't good enough.

    You need to hire a good marketer to fix your website and advertising situation. I've done a lot of work for non-profit organizations and if you can't get people to donate to your cause, with the all the advantages a non-profit has in terms of what they can get away with in marketing, then you need to find someone who can do it.

    I will give you a big hint as to why your website isn't working... You have no story.

    No story = nobody cares...
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  • Profile picture of the author MeelisM
    Well reading your post, I'm thinking that you have to work on yourself.

    You want better results.

    Well to get better results you need to do different things.

    You can't expect to get better results if you do the same things, right?

    To do things different, you need to think different.

    To think different, you need new information in your mind and new experience.

    So what I suggest you to do, is learn as much new strategies as possible.

    Read books.

    Attend seminars.

    Become better.

    Hang out with people smarter and more successful than you.

    Then you will become better yourself and so will your results.

    MeelisM
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  • Profile picture of the author Veritas123
    I agree with most of the things people has already said here, your main problem is definitely the message, you are not bringing value to your audience, and you are not trying to use their feelings and emotions to appeal them, without those two things, your fundraiser is doomed.

    These days people are wiling to donate money for almost everything, taking the credit card out of the wallet and donating is extremely easy, however, you need to convince them for doing it, and you wont convince them if you dont play with their emotions.

    I would also say that you need to have a look at your segmentation, maybe another reasons your ads didnt work is because you had a wrong segmentation.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    I'd move away from DOING anything, initially - all advice above could be super helpful, but all is based on DOING - and simply be honest, accepting and open to your desperate vibe. Hey I've been there But the reason money seems scarce is because the collective energy of all those involved is scaring off money. Like the more you invest in Facebook advertising, the more ya lose.

    Really, there is never a money problem. Only a vibing problem

    Count your blessings. Your website looks solid. Be thankful for having a clean looking site in the first place. Start there, build up your vibe and you'll align with some of the solid tips offered above. Or maybe money will flow in through the site tonight, if you really raise your vibe

    Ryan
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  • Profile picture of the author aizaku
    first off,

    improve your website..

    user experience is everything.


    you can promote like that.

    -Ike Paz
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    People click your "Donate" button and where do they go? To a web page that gives them an address to mail in a donation. They are on the Internet and clicked to make a donation. They don't have a way to donate so they are just going to click away and never return. Get a button on your page as soon as you can to let people make an online donation through PayPal or a credit card.

    The other issue you will need to take up with management. On the donate page there is a whole list of other charities that their donations will be spread to. One is a library? I would consider eliminating all of those other charities. People already have other ways to contribute to the American Red Cross etc. Focus on what YOUR foundation will do with the funds. I think it will be more believable and people will know exactly what their donations are going towards. If management insists on spreading donations to other charities then you at least need to tell people what that will be. Is it 50% of their donation going to others or is it .00005%. People will only donate to a charity if they are completely convinced it is not a scam and they have a real sense of how their money will be used.
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    • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
      Originally Posted by smokenapple View Post

      ... a 501(3) Pennsylvania based nonprofit which provides housing and personal care to homeless veterans and their families in need ...
      Originally Posted by RefuseToLose View Post

      ... I will give you a big hint as to why your website isn't working... You have no story ... No story = nobody cares ...
      Originally Posted by Janice Sperry View Post

      ... consider eliminating all of those other charities ... Focus on what YOUR foundation will do with the funds. I think it will be more believable and people will know exactly what their donations are going towards ... People will only donate to a charity if they are completely convinced it is not a scam and they have a real sense of how their money will be used ...

      Where are the stories of these homeless veterans and their families who currently need urgent help the most?

      Where are the stories of these homeless veterans and their families whom you helped the most?

      Can't you choose at least one from each group to represent your beneficiaries?

      Where are the stories of the things you've done and are currently doing and are planning to do for them?

      Brief but powerful real life stories can go places ...

      You said your main problem is conversions and repeat donations. Consider creating captivating stories, presented in powerful videos that donors can watch and listen to ...

      Other veterans and their families along with their professional and social networks, especially those in relatively better situations ,would most likely be very interested and could best resonate with the stories of your beneficiaries ...

      I think that's your primary audience - Other veterans and their families in better living conditions along with their professional and social networks ...

      Contact influencers and news media stations and decision makers in other socially responsible public and private organizations, or others who can introduce you and your organization and your stories to those contacts -- Feature stories about your representative beneficiarys and the things you're doing for them could go a long way in reaching your target local and national audience ...

      Originally Posted by RefuseToLose View Post

      ... It's (your site's) pretty bad. It's not optimized at all and to be honest it doesn't look very professional ...

      Fix this. First impressions are important. Your prospects should trust you first before they decide to become donors ...

      Originally Posted by Janice Sperry View Post

      ... People click your "Donate" button and where do they go? To a web page that gives them an address to mail in a donation. They are on the Internet and clicked to make a donation. They don't have a way to donate so they are just going to click away and never return. Get a button on your page as soon as you can to let people make an online donation through PayPal or a credit card ...

      Fix this. Make it quick, easy and painless for them to do what you want them to do in your site. That's to donate, share your stories, receive updates of new stories, be notified of the situation of your targets and recently attained hallmarks, share those things, new stuff your doing, new stories, new activities they could donate to and so on ...

      I was a beneficiary of similar non-profit organizations more than a decade ago. You should definitely have a story. These same institutions now use my story for their programs and activities that deal with disability affairs. To give you some ideas, here's one video that they frequently use:

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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph PNC
    Banned
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  • Profile picture of the author smokenapple
    Thank you so much guys for all the suggestions and comments. Your honest review helped me to figure out that first of all I need to work on improvising the websites.
    Focusing more on the good cause and less on what people are going to win definitely makes sense. I'm going to do some major changes to both the websites today and keep you guys posted. Only once everything seems good to go, then i will restart my advertising campaigns driving the audience to a much more trustworthy and cause-driven website for legit donations.
    Do you guys have some more suggestions that i can keep in mind during the website renovation?
    Thank you so much for helping me out look at the things from audience perspective warriors!!
    Love you all :*
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  • Profile picture of the author Shawn Arms
    Where is this place located? The car?
    Also you need a story as someone mentioned. I see a boring page with no story. Get a veteran who benefited from this project and do a video with him. A good 20 dollar lavalier mic and your phone on a nice sunny day on a little tripod should do the trick.

    Then go about the old fashioned way in the area. Make phone calls. Phone calls are free if you already have a phone. Go to the local businesses in the area and have them donate. Send a veteran in his uniform there to get funds. Sounds like a good old fashioned door to door, public campaign and phone are needed.
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  • Profile picture of the author AussieCoz
    Hi Smokenapple

    Your post sounds very desperate and I am sorry you are in the position where you are worried you will lose your job unless you generate more income.

    I once worked for a not for profit charity and there were plenty of online appeals that worked brilliant and your cause is a very visual and well deserved one so i am sure with a bit of planning you can turn this around.

    Without knowing what you are doing exactly apart from a online fundraising appeal and charity raffles I would suggest you look at a couple of really successful organisations out here in Australia that do online fundraising really well.

    Www.yourtown.com.au is the first one - they hold online lotteries and sell raffle ticks for homes, leisure packages, prestige draws etc. They do a great job and a huge proportion of what they do is online

    https://www.rslartunion.com.au/ is another good one - they are very clearly offering tickets into draws and people win millions in prizes - it is really simple and it all supports war veterans. I have worked with this group personally and it is a huge money earner.

    Both of these do Facebook, however they also do the following:

    - PR and spots on TV -- stories on news programs and local news to promote the lotteries and generate interest
    - Magazines and digital publications for contact lists - eMarketing
    - Call centre drives
    - Special events - such as balls
    - Donor programs - this is ongoing support from donors on a monthly basis

    You have a great opportunity to promote a deserving organisation, you will need to work with a fundraising team if you don't have experience as this is both a marketing task, a fundraising task, donor engagement and much more than just cyber operations.
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