{"id":12180,"date":"2016-09-15T16:49:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sparkvisionnow.com\/\/?p=12180"},"modified":"2016-09-15T16:49:15","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:49:15","slug":"collecting-sharing-and-connecting-the-dots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunneez.com\/sparkvision\/collecting-sharing-and-connecting-the-dots\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting, Sharing and Connecting the Dots"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Effectively Connect the Dots: A 3-Step Guide for Nonprofits to Engage Donors and Stakeholders<\/h1>\n

\u201cConnecting the dots\u201d can be one of the biggest challenges for nonprofits and their external stakeholders. Without a clear connection between the organization\u2019s work and the donors\u2019 interests it\u2019s highly unlikely that a of donation treasure or talent will be made. So why is this struggle so real?<\/p>\n

I recently read \u201cThe Art of Asking\u201d by Amanda Palmer<\/a> where she spoke about this idea of \u201ccollecting, connecting and sharing the dots.\u201d I often talk about connecting the dots, but hadn\u2019t considered that it\u2019s actually a three step process that I\u2019ve been cramming into one. Let\u2019s consider this three step concept as it relates to creating more meaningful connections between an organization\u2019s mission and the greater community.<\/p>\n

Collecting the Dots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Oftentimes, organizations complicate this process. They are so deep into their work that they are unable to look at it from a bird\u2019s eye view and see the biggest \u201cdots\u201d and the ones that aren\u2019t so big. They\u2019re all just so darn important. But are they? <\/em><\/p>\n

When organizations try to cram ALL the oh-so-important information about their organization into a pitch their audience experiences information overload. The connection is lost.<\/p>\n

So when you\u2019re thinking through your \u201cdots,\u201d I\u2019d recommend mapping out every single one – enormous and minute, quantitative and qualitative. Then work with a team of people who ARE NOT a part of the daily grind of it to see which three to five resonate with them the deepest.<\/p>\n

CULTURE TIP: Be sure you are working with a diverse group of folks during the paring down conversation. Otherwise you may unintentionally be segmenting your message to just one group of people you want to connect with.<\/p>\n

Connecting the Dots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Okay, now you\u2019ve got your 3 \u2013 5 dots that you have vetted from the community. You know these are the wowers. These \u201cdots\u201d are the ones that you want to focus on when hosting an event, giving a speech about your mission or even talking to someone one-on-one. But how do you make them come to life?<\/p>\n

Giving a statistical dot like, how much crime has been reduced because of your work <\/em>can be powerful. But how does that connect the audience personally? Here\u2019s where you start to involve the human side of your dot. Who was involved in making that possible? Is there a story you can share that humanizes the statistic?<\/p>\n

Warning: Do not use all 3-5 dots in one sitting.\u00a0 One or MAYBE two are the very most you should expose someone to right off the bat. They need to have digestible nuggets combined with a humanized story to make the message stick and not overwhelm. This connection piece may change each time you give the message depending on your audience and how they personally relate to it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sharing the Dots <\/strong><\/h3>\n

At this stage you have your message down. You have both the qualitative and quantitative aspects, you\u2019ve humanized it, and you\u2019re ready to weave it into your external messaging. But how do you share it in a way that makes the impact you\u2019re looking for?<\/p>\n

This is the step that I refer to as \u201ccreating the breadcrumb trail.\u201d To me, the breadcrumb trail is the idea that people will follow you if you create a path that\u2019s easy to track and nourishes them along the way.<\/p>\n

So when you\u2019re ready to share your dots, think about this path. Where is the easiest place to start? What organically builds from that starting point? How can you get someone who knows nothing about your work to pick up that first breadcrumb and then want to follow your journey?<\/p>\n

For a real-life example of a way I\u2019ve used this process check out the post \u201c3 Steps to Develop a Following: Create a Breadcrumb Trail<\/a>“.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to Effectively Connect the Dots: A 3-Step Guide for Nonprofits to Engage Donors and Stakeholders \u201cConnecting the dots\u201d can be one of the biggest challenges for nonprofits and their external stakeholders. Without a clear connection between the organization\u2019s work and the donors\u2019 interests it\u2019s highly unlikely that a of donation treasure or talent will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,10,13,5],"tags":[48,2,3,19,4,6],"class_list":["post-12180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-engagement","category-experience","category-leadership","category-tribes","tag-advocates","tag-culture","tag-engagement","tag-experience","tag-leadership","tag-tribes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCollecting, Sharing and Connecting the Dots - Sparkvision<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Struggling with 'Connecting the dots'? 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