This episode is Part 3 of a four part series on employee giving. Listen to Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

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Overview

ReThink Employee Giving: A 4-Week Series. It's not Christmas, but it darn near feels like it, because it's employee giving branding day!! Aka: Jon and Becky's favorite topic ever🎉 We're diving into storytelling, unpacking your branding recipe and building communications plans that keep everyone speaking with one voice while still being radically in-tune to seeing each employee donor as a gifted part of your philanthropic family.

“Most people think that branding is a logo. We’re here to tell you it is so much more.”

— Becky Endicott CFRE, Co-Founder and Chief Storyteller, We are for Good

Episode Overview

Using the power of branding to connect with your donor base (1:50)
Seth Godin - This is Marketing: A brand is what others say about you (2:00)
Where to start: seek to disrupt (5:00)
How you control the controllables (7:00)
Becky’s tips for drawing meaningful stories out of people (17:50)
Discovering your campaign voice (19:00)
Challenges for today (27:00)
Join our Good Community!

Episode Transcript

Download Full Episode Transcript Here

Powerful quotes

“Most people think that branding is a logo. We’re here to tell you it is so much more.” -Becky

“Your values have to be threaded throughout your campaign.” -Jon

“You can build the most incredible structure of a campaign, have the most beautiful marketing pieces, but if you don’t have the heart baked into your storytelling and campaign, it is simply just a campaign.” -Becky

“When you use the power of real people and invest in great photography, this will immediately set you apart.” -Jon

“Your employee giving campaign can be the base for the annual giving campaign.” -Jon

“How would you define your organization’s voice today? How does it feel? How would you describe it? If it is formal and cold, you have an opportunity with your employee giving campaign.” -Becky

“Create a brand that people can plug their stories into.” -Jon

👉 Where to start: seek to disrupt.

Your number one place to start is understanding the landscape of what people are looking at. When you’re trying to disrupt, you want to look around and make a list of what other internal campaigns are happening. Look at those, and seek to be different. Just being warm and human will set you apart. Where there is a chance to humanize your campaign or movement, that will set you apart. This is your chance to be conversational, use faces that people know, and make it FUN!

Control your controllables.

1. Name your campaign

You want it to be something that invites people into the story. Make it human, and invite people in. Keep it simple.

2. Photography

People connect with people. Investing in your photography is the best hack we could impart on you. Use relatable people that are your average, every day person at your organization. Don’t just go for the CEO. Find a person that is beloved, who has been there a really long time, and take humanizing pictures of them. This will show that they are endorsing the campaign. When you use the power of real people and invest in great photography, this will immediately set you apart.

👉 Hack: You can spend less than $100 and set up a photo booth. You can find an oversized roll of paper, and take photos in natural light. Just doing that, you have an iconic look, and you can get a lot of people in a short amount of time. Make it fun and engaging!

3. Video

We recognize that not everyone has a full scale videography department. That’s ok. We love high end production, but the rawness of having an unedited iPhone video is just as powerful. It’s about the words and the human. Remind yourself, “we need to tell someone’s story.” When you leverage video, you can capture things that you could never capture if you were simply writing it down.

4. Online

Your employee giving campaign can be the base for the annual giving campaign. These stories are such a powerful testimony to take beyond your walls and into the community. Talk about your employee giving outside of your campaign so people can see the investment of the individuals who work there. If this is the base of the story, you begin to take that story and invite others in to join the movement.

5. Storytelling

Storytelling is the heart of your campaign. This could be in written form, video, etc. Everything will flow from these stories.

Becky’s Tips for drawing stories out of people

1. Set your mind mentally

2. Be human and empathetic

3. If you are totally in tune with who you are visiting with, your conversation will be fluid

4. Don’t just stick to the script

5. Be open to pivoting, truly hearing the person, and come in with great honor

🎉FREEBIE!! Top 7 Interview Questions to Humanize a Story (Download below!)

Discovering Your Campaign Voice

👉 Question: How would you define your organization’s voice today? How does it feel? How would you describe it? If it is formal and cold, you have an opportunity with your employee giving campaign.

1. High level campaign speak

What is your campaign about?
- ex. “Find your passion. Consider giving there.”

2. The testimonial

When an individual places their heart on the line and explains why they give, you immediately feel drawn to them. Capture this and inspire people to be a part of that feeling.

Challenges for Today to set up your campaign

1. Have you shared your story?

2. How have we brought people into our mission?

3. Have you listened to somebody else’s story? Have you asked them to share it?

🎉FREEBIE!! Top 7 Interview Questions to Humanize a Story

Join the Good Community!

The We are for good community

This is a safe place for deeper conversations. While we love this podcast, it is a very one-sided dialogue. It is great for starting conversations, but not continuing them. You can find friends, colleagues, and others to champion alongside. We believe community is everything and we wanted to create a place where people could learn and thrive and grow together (and also have a whole lot of fun).